I’m a country boy. Growing up on a farm, we had us some big rats. I recall helping my grandfather once set traps for the rats that were getting into his corncrib. These traps were freakin’ huge, probably eight inches long by four wide, and if they snapped closed on you they could easily break a finger. You had to be careful when placing them. The next morning, I went to check one of these traps. It was gone! The trap had snapped closed on the rat, and not only had it failed to kill the rat, the rat had dragged it away with it! It was *that* big! I also recall the story told to me by my grandmother, of some people she had known as a young woman, who’d had an infant son whose fingers were eaten off by rats. It’s surprising, given my experiences, that I’ve never been afraid of rats. Considering the way rats carry diseases, maybe I should have been.
Thanks to NOSFERATU, rats, like bats, are forever linked to the vampire legend. You can pretend to be Graf Orlock by visiting the “Dungeon”, a bar in San Francisco, June 13th through the 15th, for a special rat-themed event. And if you miss it, don’t worry. The rats are sure to return. It’s almost impossible to get rid of them.