ON Rats

   

    "ON Rats" was chosen because it is a bit more sophisticated than "OH Rats!" or "EEK Rats!" and it likely reminds you more of an essay by Montaigne than Mulcahy. But, the exclamatory titles are more appropriate and the point being made here is that there are now a lot of rats. If you have read my unflattering posts about Toronto you will know that I was not surprised to learn that Toronto has lots of them.
   If I had acted more quickly I could have provided you with "Breaking News" which is now more valuable than the regular kind. I would have told you early on about the Ratscallions, if I had known that rats were going to become "a thing." The Ratscallions operate in Washington, which like Toronto, has many rats and again, I wasn't surprised to learn this. The advance news about the rapidly growing rat population in the D.C. area is from this article which begins with an Editor's warning: "This story contains descriptions and images of dogs hunting rats that could upset some readers.". Actually the title should be enough for you: ""Washington is Full of Rats: These Dogs Are Happy to Help With That: On Certain Nights, Behind Some of Your Favorite Restaurants, Roving Groups of Dog Owners Set Their Posse of Pooches Loose on Urban Rodents," Maur Judkis and Jabin Botsford, Washington Post, Sept. 13, 2024.
   This is now old news so I will not develop this story further and simply provide sources for those of you who may have missed this development while spending too much time reading about the other rats in Washington. The major points are that the rat population is booming and increases in the number of people and the temperature are mainly responsible.

  THE SOURCE which all the journalists depended upon is this one: "Increasing Rat Numbers in Cities  Are Linked to Climate Warming, Urbanization, and Human Population," Science Advances, Jan. 31, 2025.
"Urban rats are commensal pests that thrive in cities by exploiting the resources accompanying large human populations. Identifying long-term trends in rat numbers and how they are shaped by environmental changes is critical for understanding their ecology, and projecting future vulnerabilities and mitigation needs."
   The story was reported in Washington where obviously the Ratscallions have not been able cull sufficient numbers: "Urban Rats are Booming Around the World Due in Large Part to Rising Average Temperatures, According to an Analysis of 16 Cities Published Friday: The trend is most pronounced in Washington, D.C., followed by San Francisco, Toronto and New York," Washington Post, Jan. 31, 2025.
    Boston has more than Brahmins and Bruins: "Boston's Warming Climate Leads to More Rats, Study Says," The Boston Globe, Feb. 18, 2025.
"A study published in the journal Science on Jan. 31, said biologists using Boston’s 311 call data estimated that between 2011 and 2021, the city’s rat population increased by 53 percent..."
    Here is yet another reason to avoid Toronto: "Rats! Why Toronto’s Rat Population is Growing, and Will Likely Continue To Do So," By Alex Arsenych, Cp24.com, February 12, 2025.
    It made the National news: "How Canada's Cities Got So Repulsively Ratty: Canadians Are in an All-out War with Rats For Dominion Over our Urban Centers: It's Time to Take Them Back," Jadine Ngan, Maceans, Dec. 9, 2025.
    The problem is an International one: "Cat-sized Rats Are Attacking Our Cars," Rob Mayer, BBC, Feb.28, 2025. These rats are in Birmingham. 

   No, this does not give you an excuse to buy another cat. As you can see from the headline right above, these 21st century rats can be large. As well, if there are many of them, your cat may be outmatched. I recently was looking again at The Great War and Modern Memory and in it, found this passage:
  "The famous rats also gave us constant trouble. They were big and black with wet, muddy hair….Their hunger, vigor, intelligence, and courage are recalled in numerous anecdotes. One officer notes from the Ypres Salient: “We are fairly plagued with rats. They have eaten nearly everything in the mess, including the table-cloth and the operations orders! We borrowed a large cat and shut it up at night to exterminate them, and found the place empty the next morning. The rats must have eaten it up, bones, fur, and all and dragged it to their holes.” p.49 The Great War and Modern Memory, Paul Fussell.

   On a more positive note, there's always Alberta: "'Rat on Rats': Alberta Launches Campaign to Keep Province Rat-free," Steven Dyer, CTV News, Nov.5, 2024.
"For more than 70 years, Alberta has been designated rat-free by keeping rats from establishing a permanent population and dealing with any new infestations, the province said in a release."

The Bonus:
  For additional, sophisticated "ON" posts, see, for example:
"ON Ophiology"
"ON Worms" 
"ON Barfing"

Regional Murder Series

    I have offered a number of posts about books published in a series and you will find ones relating to, Roads, Trails, Rivers, Lakes, Highways and even Customs and Folkways.  "Murder" seems like an odd choice as a subject for an entire series, but between 1944 and 1948 Duell, Sloan & Pearce published nine volumes relating to homicides which were committed in cities scattered throughout the United States.
   The books listed below are all works of nonfiction and the over sixty murder cases contained within them were typically written by reporters and journalists. They will be of interest to murder mystery fans and other readers who prefer "true crime." They are listed in alphabetical order by the city in which the murders took place.
   One of the murderers profiled below was a doctor who had a practice in London on Dundas Street and killed a woman there.

1. Boston Murders
     This was the ninth (the last one published.) 
Contents, p. [5] ; Maria met a gentleman: The Bickford case, 1845, by Marjorie Carleton.--Twelve parts of a lady: The Chester S. Jordan case, 1908, by Paul Whelton.--He fought to kill: The Kid Carter case, 1913, by W.G. Schofield.--A man of too much distinction: The Harry Manster case, 1918, by Timothy Fuller.--The haunted man: The Kearney case, 1924, by Lawrence Dame.--The Brown Derby murder: The Corey-Price case, 1925, by J.A. Kelley.--Who killed Fastasia?: The Joseph Fantasia case, 1927, by John N. Makris.--A calandar of Boston murder trials; A Calendar of Boston Murder Trials, p. 209-220; Bibliography, p. 221-223]

2. Charleston Murders

3. Chicago Murders
   Readers of MM know that I always try to include some CANCON (Canadian content) and this volume has some LONCON (London content). The first story, "The Chicago Career of Dr. Cream" is about Thomas Neill Cream who murdered a woman here in London (click on the link provided at his name.)

4. Cleveland Murders
  For a brief review of the Cleveland Murders and the Charleston Murders see below.

5. Denver Murders

6. Detroit Murders

7. Los Angeles Murders
   One of the authors in this book is Erle Stanley Gardner. "The Rattlesnake Murder" can be read about in this gruesome Wikipedia entry: "Rattlesnake James."

8. New York Murders
   This is the first volume published in the series. 

9. San Francisco Murders
   For a review of San Francisco Murders and Los Angeles Murders see: "Western Mayhem, Plain and Fancy," Russel Crouse, NYT, Aug. 3, 1947.

Many reviews of the books in the series can be found in newspapers and magazines, but academic ones are rare. Here is one for two volumes in the series that is found in: The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 39, No.2, July/August, 1948.

Other sources:
  See this Wikipedia entry for: "Bloodhound Mysteries." The best source is Carol Fitzgerald's, Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors.

All of the books can be found on AbeBooks and Amazon. For those who live in London and have access to the Western Libraries, some may be borrowed. Although the Western Libraries do not have any of them, seven of the nine volumes are available at other Ontario university libraries:
Boston Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s, York)
Cleveland Murders (Queen’s)
Denver Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s)
Detroit Murders  (McMaster, Queen’s, Guelph, York)
Los Angeles Murders (Queen’s)
New York Murders (Queen’s)
San Francisco Murders (Queen’s, York)

"The Embrace"

Has Not Been Wholeheartedly Embraced
 
 "The Embrace" is a sculpture now found in Boston. It is pictured above and is over 20 feet tall. It can be viewed from another angle in the image below. 

   

  The statute is commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, and they are the ones embracing. The bronze sculpture is meant to represent the embrace pictured below when MLK won the Nobel Prize in 1964. 

  There are other angles from which the statue can be observed and many who have viewed it are not happy with any of them. Here is one example, which is perhaps safe to cite: 

“Given that I am not White, I am safe from ANY charges of racism for saying the MLK embrace statue is aesthetically unpleasant. The famous photo should have been a FULL statue of the couple and their embrace. What a huge swing and miss in honoring the Dr & Mrs King. SAD!” tweeted Boston Herald columnist Rasheed N. Walters."

Public Art Is Problematic
   There are two reasons why I noticed the dispute about the object in the Boston Common and it is a fitting way to end what has been a long "Black History Month." You will recall that there are quite a few posts on MM which involve statues. There are even some about statutes carved out of butter. Generally they are subjects about which there have been arguments, but those controversies have been political in nature. The statutes have been removed or destroyed because the person sculpted can no longer be tolerated. In this instance the debate is largely an aesthetic one. Given that I am White, I will not offer a view and simply provide some sources for you to use, so you can judge for yourself. 
   The second reason I noticed all of this is because of the sculptor. His name is Hank Willis Thomas. You may recall the story I told about another of his "Black Sculptures," which is now on private display in a back yard in Vancouver. If it was on public display, it would likely be problematic. 

Sources:

   Here is an 'official' account and more photos: "The Embrace" With Hank Willis Thomas," MASS

   "Martin Luther King Jr. Statue in Boston Draws Online Mockery, Disdain: The statue was inspired by a photograph of King and his wife, Coretta, embracing after he learned that he won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize," Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post, Jan. 15, 2023.

   "I Wanted to Love the New Boston MLK Statue. But It's Just Awkward: Hank Willis Thomas's Tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Has Polarized Opinion Everywhere," Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2023.

Post Script:
    You are likely puzzled about the butter statues. There are two posts: "Butter" and "The Land of Cockaigne."