Norwegian Rats Invade North Sweden Mining Town
If you ever want to get rid of me quickly, all you have to do is point somewhere and say “RAT!”. I HATE rats, and I am deathly afraid of them- which is really rather ironic for someone who has spent as much time in Third World countries as I have.
I’ve always believed that we should all be allowed one irrational fear. Mine just happens to be rats. Yep, you can pretty much assume I’m not going to Sweden anytime soon….
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Kiruna, a mining town in north Sweden, has been invaded by thousands of rats thought to have crossed the border from Norway with garbage shipments for the local recycling center, officials said Tuesday.
“It is most likely that they have come from Norway. They have the brown rat there,” said Kiruna environmental chief Mats Lahti.
Kiruna’s harsh Arctic climate normally keeps rats away, but they apparently love the warm piles of garbage at its recycling plant, which handles 25,000 tons of Norwegian waste a year.
Local officials have called in exterminators to deal with the four-legged invaders. “We’re not used to this kind of thing in Kiruna, and we don’t want to get used to it,” said Lahti.
Kiruna’s misfortune may be a source of mirth in next-door Norway, where poking fun at their fellow Scandinavians is a national pastime.
Mmm…warm piles of garbage…ewww, I get the creeps just thinking about those furry…BAD THOUGHTs!! BAD THOUGHTS!! Yuk….
