# Ghost ship full of cannibal rats about to crash into coast **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554 "2014-01-23T20:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/1 "2014-01-23T20:26:57Z")
[Ghost ship full of cannibal rats could be about to crash into Devon coast](http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Ghost-ship-cannibal-rats-crash-Devon-coast/story-20487193-detail/story.html) Well, or maybe the Scottish coast. Or Ireland. Or Cornwall. What do you mean “it was a slow news day”? I personally would buy the DVD of this “based on a true story” film… ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/2 "2014-01-23T20:41:49Z")
Not just any old cannibal rats, though. “_Disease-ridden_ cannibal rats.” ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/3 "2014-01-23T20:46:56Z")
And presumably “\*Inbred \*disease-ridden cannibal rats.” ! ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/4 "2014-01-23T21:06:10Z")
Bet the headline writer needed a cigarette after that one. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/5 "2014-01-23T21:06:19Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > And presumably “\*Inbred \*disease-ridden cannibal rats.” ! And apparently \* thousands\* of inbred disease-ridden cannibal rats according to the author of the article who has no idea how the laws of thermodynamics work. Really, unless they started with tens of thousands of rats, I’m not sure how this is supposed to work. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/6 "2014-01-23T21:07:43Z")
Being cannibals wouldn’t they eventually kill themselves off? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/7 "2014-01-23T21:17:37Z")
Man, that’s an headline that oversells itself. They couldn’t even manage one of those pictures of what a diseased cannibal rat “might” look like? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/8 "2014-01-23T21:46:21Z")
One hopes that Mycroft has already put Holmes on the Case of the Giant Rat(s) of Canada. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/9 "2014-01-23T21:50:19Z")
In general, the second half of the article seems to make it clear that nothing in the headline or first half of the article is actually true. Real headline looks like it should be closer to: “Ship that might have had some rats on it probably sank ages ago.” ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/10 "2014-01-23T22:11:52Z")
> [@](#): > > The MCA believes the ship may have sunk, but those searching for the ship to cash in its £600,000 scrap value say sinking would have activated emergency beacons aboard the liferafts. Oh, please. It’s a Soviet ship. _Nothing_ would work, including the ropes that tied it to shore. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/11 "2014-01-23T22:34:27Z")
“Cannibal Rats” - either Band name! or Is that Hannibal Lecter’s sister? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/12 "2014-01-23T23:00:04Z")
It still sounds better than the average Carnival cruise. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/13 "2014-01-23T23:29:49Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > Being cannibals wouldn’t they eventually kill themselves off? Eventually, along with their rat bastards… ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/14 "2014-01-23T23:29:54Z")
> [@randompattern](#): > > Being cannibals wouldn’t they eventually kill themselves off? More to the point, if Ireland has any rat problem, this ship is obviously the solution. The cannibal rats eat the indigenous rats, and then each other, and then die off when winter comes. Or is that the rat-eating gorillas? ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/15 "2014-01-23T23:45:36Z")
Ireland might import snakes to get rid of the rats. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/16 "2014-01-23T23:50:58Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > In general, the second half of the article seems to make it clear that nothing in the headline or first half of the article is actually true. Real headline looks like it should be closer to: “Ship that might have had some rats on it probably sank ages ago.” The nerve of some people! And I don’t mean the headline writer, I mean you for crushing all our hopes with that post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/17 "2014-01-24T00:05:38Z")
Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/18 "2014-01-24T00:19:08Z")
Writer: “Ship adrift at sea.” Editor: “Boring.” Writer: “Filled with cannibal rats!” Editor: “I like!” ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/19 "2014-01-24T00:23:49Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > And presumably “\*Inbred \*disease-ridden cannibal rats.” ! I for one welcome our new damn, dirty, inbred, disease-ridden cannibal rats! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/20 "2014-01-24T00:29:42Z")
> [@Cinnamon\_Imp](#): > > And presumably “\*Inbred \*disease-ridden cannibal rats.” ! This presupposes that [the rats are in fact European Royal Rodents](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty). Generations of rats marrying their first cousins have produced an entire planet’s worth of hemopheliac rats. Ironic, no, that they carry the black plague AND hemophelia ? And don’t even get me started about the cannibalism. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554.md?page=2)