# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/21 "2014-01-24T01:09:11Z")
SyFy channel will have a movie about this in about a week. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/22 "2014-01-24T01:20:50Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > 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. Or even two, I mean, if the ship started out with NO rats, then there would still be none. What happened to the people? Did someone just fill a ship with rats and shove it out to sea? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/23 "2014-01-24T01:25:36Z")
Maybe not European royalty, but they could arrive as one huge [rat king](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratking) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/24 "2014-01-24T01:29:50Z")
Editor: Write up a story on that lost ship from a while back but spice it up a little! Journalist: Ok, how about if I write about it possibly crashing onto land, and running a piece about the dangers of abandoned ships to piers and other water craft? Editor: Who’s gonna care about that? Journalist: Ok what if we write about rat infestations on this ship and others and what’s being done to combat it? Editor: _Yawn_ Journalist: _sigh_ What if I got it on record from some B-list biologist somewhere that if the boat were carrying thousands of rats when it was lost at sea, that they would become cannibalistic, and that if this boat should happen to come ashore, those cannibalistic rats might make it onto land? Editor: Have it on my desk by Monday. ---
**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, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/25 "2014-01-24T01:38:35Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Maybe not European royalty, but they could arrive as one huge [rat king](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratking) Fascinating and deeply disgusting. I love The Dope !! ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/26 "2014-01-24T01:43:49Z")
So the original scrapper wrote it off for a loss after it broke from tow, which makes it fair game for salvagers? If so I can’t help but think if it were still afloat this would be a splendid little exercise for the RN or the NATO Standing Maritime Group North Atlantic, like that derelict Japanese fishing boat the USCG had to eliminate a couple years back. Declare a hazard to navigation then issue the orders: Find the rat ship, sink the rat ship! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/27 "2014-01-24T01:49:28Z")
Rats multiply very fast. \ They are inbreeding in that confined area. I wouldn’t step foot on that boat. Shoot it with a torpedo and sink it at sea. 😉 ---
**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 24, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/28 "2014-01-24T01:49:31Z")
When the ship finally runs aground on the Scottish coast, a couple of unwary inhabitants climb on board to explore. Deep in the inky blackness of the ship’s hold, their flashlights play on the body of an enormous, cow-sized rat with no eyes or legs, who exists only to breed giant mutant cannibal rats. A hideous mewling comes from the beast…the flashlights flicker and go out… Wait, that’s been done. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/29 "2014-01-24T01:54:29Z")
Serious question: Wouldn’t any country’s coast guard take steps to keep this ship from running aground on their coastline? Those rats could pose a real health risk if they escape onto land. Rats swim really well and can easily leave a grounded ship. ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/30 "2014-01-24T02:23:11Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Rats multiply very fast. \ > > They are inbreeding in that confined area. > > I wouldn’t step foot on that boat. **Shoot it with a torpedo and sink it at sea.** 😉 I just laughed so loud that I woke the cats up 😃 ---
**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, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/31 "2014-01-24T02:25:41Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Rats multiply very fast. \ > > They are inbreeding in that confined area. > > I wouldn’t step foot on that boat. Shoot it with a torpedo and sink it at sea. 😉 Oh sure. They’re already mutating wildly. Now they’re mutated cannibal zombie vampire aquatic rats, swimming towards your shores. 28 days later… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/32 "2014-01-24T02:29:09Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Oh sure. They’re already mutating wildly. Now they’re mutated cannibal zombie vampire aquatic rats, swimming towards your shores. > > 28 days later… Is that when the rats get out of rehab? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/33 "2014-01-24T02:46:37Z")
[Rat Invasion.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FryIuQISkKY) Obviously the ship isn’t that bad. But even a few hundred can multiply pretty quick. [http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats#.UuHUPfvnbsk](http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/20-things-rats#.UuHUPfvnbsk) > [@](#): > > A female rat can mate as many as 500 times with various males during a six-hour period of receptivity—a state she experiences about 15 times per year. Thus a pair of brown rats can produce as many as 2,000 descendants in a year if left to breed unchecked. (A rat matures sexually at age three to four months.) An average rat’s life span is two to three years. > > 5 A rat can tread water for three days and survive being flushed down the toilet. (And it can return to the building via the same route.) There is approximately one rat per person in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/34 "2014-01-24T06:49:51Z")
I’m not sure there would be any rats alive by now. The operators wouldn’t have left any substantial amount of food on board. No doubt whatever rats were on board would have scarfed down whatever scraps they could find pretty quickly. There would be no new sources of food for a year. Cannibalism in a closed system can’t continue as some sort of perpetual motion machine with an endless cycle of rats feeding on rats. I don’t know how long it would take to spiral down into the death of the last rat, but it’s been a year. I would have though at worst there would remain a handful of near starving rats on board. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/35 "2014-01-24T07:38:04Z")
Internet: A female rat can mate as many as 500 times with various males during a six-hour period of receptivity—a state she experiences about 15 times per year. Broadsheet: A promiscuous female rat can marry as many as 500 times in six hours with a different husband on 15 occasions per annum, said a reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous, as he spoke without first gaining sanction to do so from senior levels within his organization. Tabloid: **500 times!** Sluttish rats do it 500 times in six hours, and each of those 500 times is with 500 males 15 times per year with the same 500! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/36 "2014-01-24T08:04:38Z")
Bloody benefit tourist rats, coming over here and stealing our jobs. Has anyone interviewed UKIP for this view on this? ---
**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 24, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/37 "2014-01-24T08:20:20Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m not sure there would be any rats alive by now. (Snipped) > > I would have though at worst there would remain a handful of near starving rats on board. _Zombie_ starving rats. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/38 "2014-01-24T09:53:10Z")
😕😕 Isn’t Discovery Magazine a legit source? I know it’s not a peer reviewed science journal. But the Discovery Channel used to do some pretty decent science documentaries. The link I used was from 2006. It’s only been in the past few years that Discovery sold out as a reality show bullshit channel. > [@Kenm](#): > > Internet: > > A female rat can mate as many as 500 times with various males during a six-hour period of receptivity—a state she experiences about 15 times per year. > > Broadsheet: > > A promiscuous female rat can marry as many as 500 times in six hours with a different husband on 15 occasions per annum, said a reliable source who wishes to remain anonymous, as he spoke without first gaining sanction to do so from senior levels within his organization. > > Tabloid: > > **500 times!** > > Sluttish rats do it 500 times in six hours, and each of those 500 times is with 500 males 15 times per year with the same 500! ---
**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, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/39 "2014-01-24T11:40:35Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > When the ship finally runs aground on the Scottish coast, a couple of unwary inhabitants climb on board to explore. > > Deep in the inky blackness of the ship’s hold, their flashlights play on the body of an enormous, cow-sized rat with no eyes or legs, who exists only to breed giant mutant cannibal rats. A hideous mewling comes from the beast…the flashlights flicker and go out… > > Wait, that’s been done. Yes, yes. We’ve all seen “International Velvet”. ---
**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 24, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554/40 "2014-01-24T12:47:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Rats multiply very fast. \ > > They are inbreeding in that confined area. > > I wouldn’t step foot on that boat. Shoot it with a torpedo and sink it at sea. 😉 > [@Gatopescado](#): > > SyFy channel will have a movie about this in about a week. Introducing horny cannibal rats to sharks? Hmmm, could be. I mean, what would a man eating shark say to a cannibal rat anyway? _glub!_ _glub!_ _glub!_ [shark]“Getcher stinkin’ paws offa me, you damn dirty rat…!”[/shark] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ghost-ship-full-of-cannibal-rats-about-to-crash-into-coast/679554.md?page=3)