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Don't carve your pumpkins just yet, because they'll rot before Halloween. That's if the RATS don't get to them first. And I'm not joking . . .
Watertown, Massachusetts is a suburb of Boston. And they're asking people to keep their pumpkins inside this year, or put out plastic ones instead . . . because as the town's health director says, jack-o'-lanterns are like CANDY to rats.
They've got a lot of construction going on, which is driving more rats out. So that's one reason they're asking people to keep their pumpkins inside. But it might be an issue in other areas of the country too. And COVID is partly to blame.
A ton of restaurants have closed down during the pandemic. And the rats that used to hang out there have had to migrate to other spots . . . including residential areas.
That means there might be more rats around your area in general. And pumpkins could make the problem even worse.
When one rat finds a delicious pumpkin, they tend to let other rats know about it. So jack-o'-lanterns could cause a rat problem . . . and then they'll start having babies.
A female rat typically has six litters a year with five to ten babies per litter. And each one of those babies can start reproducing within five weeks. So theoretically, two rats can become over a THOUSAND rats in less than a year.
Happy Halloween everyone!