Rats reprieved as giant gerbils are blamed for the Black Death

The Times of London ^ | February 24, 2015 | Valentine Low

[SteveH]

Gerbils are cute and furry creatures. They may also, according to scientists, have been responsible for killing millions of people across Europe by spreading the plague.

Researchers now believe that gerbils from Asia, rather than native black rats, were behind the repeated outbreaks of the bubonic plague in Europe.

[youngphys01]

My family used to have gerbils as pets and loved them. Such a shame to know that our family was harboring agents of mass murder and genocide. Them’s the breaks I guess.

[Tax-chick]

They're called "tarabagan" out in the eastern steppes, and are generally believed to be the original source of the Y. Pestis pathogen. The fleas which actually spread the disease lived on a variety of (usually) rodent hosts.

In the American Southwest, bubonic plague is spread by fleas carried by native small rodents.

[CdMGuy]

Simply more BS from the PhD (pile it higher and deeper) crowd.

[Covenantor]

Giant gerbils? How interesting.

So..... Where could one be obtained? I'm..uh...just asking for a friend.

[momtothree]

“My family used to have gerbils as pets..”

We did as well. My first one (which I received as a prize for winning a spelling bee at school) I named Gigi. I loved the movie. My parents weren’t thrilled with my prize since I brought her home in a shoe box with air holes. But... I did win her.. what could they do?

[IronJack]

Yep, mostly prairie dogs.

[Tax-chick]

And various species of little mice.

[SteveH]

lol

[Second Amendment First]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Ru944Gq9o

National Lampoon’s Dirty Movie (NSFW)

[JaguarXKE]

I knew someone would have beat me to it by now!

[Don Corleone]

It was neither. It was Bush’s fault. Obama said so!

[WayneS]

Getting an early start on the April Fools pranks are we?

[ConservativeMind]

Does Laz agree?

[Jack Hydrazine]

[Jack Hydrazine]

Armageddon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTrOb8zyrZk

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It’s too hard to understand their little shrieks of “Allah Akbar” when they are spreading the plague.

[gleeaikin]

The disease may have started with gerbils, but it spread to rats, and the rats aboard ships almost certainly carried the infected fleas west to Europe. Another problem is that the vector in Europe was most likely the black rat which lives in the upper part of houses and buildings. The gray Norway rat is a cellar and sewer dweller and probably not as big a danger to people should it be infected by fleas.

[dfwgator]

Surprised it took four posts, we’re slipping.

[dfwgator]

LOL, you noticed, too.

[SunkenCiv]

The rat difference isn’t the where they live so much as their lifestyle — one is nocturnal, the other one (the one seen walking along the sidewalks in large NE cities in the US) isn’t. :’)