Rats Snatching Bats Out of the Air and Eating Them–Researchers Got It on Video

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rats-are-snatching-bats-out-of-the-air-and-eating-them-and-researchers-got-it-on-video-180987610/

Comments

molteanuDec 5, 2025, 6:36 AM
Previous discussion,

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45730366

zwnowDec 5, 2025, 7:31 AM
Didn't think I'd ever read about a neighboring city of mine on HN. We're also the state that piloted using open source software for public offices in case that's interesting to someone. Yes, Germany goes further up north after Hamburg.
throwaway2046Dec 5, 2025, 10:01 AM
https://archive.ph/9NvGV
ardit33Dec 5, 2025, 6:32 AM
Oh, dang.... the great 2030 pandemic is coming...

I don't think this bodes well for the future. Both rats and bats have been huge vectors of diseases. This is going to produce some kind of super virus that will be another middle age plague like pandemic.

echelonDec 5, 2025, 6:50 AM
This probably isn't new behavior, simply something we're witnessing for the very first time.

We haven't observed orcas predate moose or primates, but the former has plenty of supporting evidence and the latter has probably happened at some point.

In any case, zoonotic reservoirs likely slosh around a lot more than we think before spillover events.

jacquesmDec 5, 2025, 10:21 AM
2/3rds of all human pathogens originated from zoonotic spillover!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8182890/

nephihahaDec 5, 2025, 1:01 PM
We also pass on diseases to animals so it is a never-ending cycle.
nephihahaDec 5, 2025, 1:00 PM
I agree. This has probably been happening for millions of years. Bats often live in dense colonies in caves and tree trunks with small exits making rat predation possible.

Some native Arctic peoples have traditions of killer whales eating people, although officially they have only killed people while in captivity. A person in a skin kayak would be easy prey for one.

thewtfDec 5, 2025, 7:09 AM
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QemDec 5, 2025, 11:37 AM
Now I wonder if Ratman would be a fourmidable enemy to Batman.
hamonryeDec 5, 2025, 10:42 AM
[dead]
squeefersDec 5, 2025, 12:00 PM
[dead]
CulonavirusDec 5, 2025, 6:48 AM
> 13 confirmed kills

We got SOF rats before GTA6.

zombotDec 5, 2025, 10:30 AM
SOF?
matheusmoreiraDec 5, 2025, 11:15 AM
Special Operations Forces.