Rats are grosser than we thought, but it's not their fault.
It's estimated that there are over 2 million rats in New York City alone. They often carry infectious diseases like E. Coli and Salmonella and gnaw on infrastructure, causing billions of dollars in damage every year.
But is any of this the rat's fault? Rodentologist Bobby Corrigan says that rats can only succeed in the midst of human failure. If we were smarter mammals, better at disposing our trash and taking care of our infrastructure, then we wouldn't have to worry about rats in our cities.