Anacapa Island Rats Should Be Removed

According to “Animal Activist Finds Himself in Rat’s Nest of Legal Trouble” (Dec. 15), the black rats, Rattus rattus, that Rob Puddicombe tried to rescue on Anacapa Island are known primarily as urban nuisances. They were also a vector for plague-carrying fleas during the Black Death of the 14th century that killed a third of the population of Europe. The rat has ridden a parallel track with human success, living in our cities, towns and farms because we provide them, albeit unintentionally, with shelter and food.

The black rat is not in danger of extinction, and the eradication of the population on Anacapa will not endanger the species. Removing the rat from an ecology where it can only do damage is the responsible thing to do. Every rat that eats a Xantus’s murrelet egg is the ethical equivalent of a human smashing the egg. If humans had been able to take responsibility for the black rat population in the 14th century, history would have been spared one of its worst horrors and the rat would not have the evil reputation it has today.

James Warren

Los Angeles