Must Have Item Of The New Year

Russian pet shops are reporting a shortage of domestic rats, as shoppers form long queues outside their stores as is the custom in Russia. The shoppers want to buy all the rats up ahead of the Chinese New Year the Year of the Rat.

They are even buying mice, hamsters or gerbils and this has many snake owners worried about food shortages for their pets.

Vets warn that some unwanted rats will be released in the streets as not everyone is going to be delighted to get a real rat as a present.

Old Knudsen described getting a rat as a present on the same level as getting tagged for a meme.

While Russia's main religion is Christian Orthodox, Chinese astrology is a pastime for many.

The Chinese New Year is based on the Moon's cycles and begins on 7th February this year.

Rats are soft, charming and clean and do not need a great deal of care and are quite disposable as far as pets go say traders.

In France and the UK there is already a spike in rat sales due to the animated film Ratatouille about a French rodent who wants to become a chef.

There are now around five million pet rats in France, 60 million living wild. There is an urban legend that a human is always within 20 feet of a rat in Paris the nations capitol. In the UK wild rats are responsible for the spread of the plague, aids and bird flu.

In the Chinese Zodiac, the rat symbolises cunning and prosperity, rats take care of the injured and sick in their groups and a group of rats is called a mischief.

Hungry has been over run by rats for decades, in the last 2 years 3 infants and one man have been eaten alive by a swarm of rats while they slept.

Next year is the year of the Ox and then after that the year of the Tiger. Pet shop owners foresee bigger problems then.