Aside from the fact that rodents are carriers of numerous diseases, movies love to portray rats and mice as cute and cuddly. Here are 7 movies where a little bit of pest control could go a long way.
7. Cinderella
Though a group of singing little mice might have saved Cinderella from her evil step mother, let’s be honest, by coming into contact with the little rodents, she probably contracted Hantavirus (A particularly nasty disease that causes the lungs to slowly fill with fluid). Cinderella might not have lasted to the wedding day. Even if the mice were miraculously clean, imagine poor Prince Charming when Cinderella decides to break the news, “By the way… I have several hundred pet, uh, mice.” What can you expect from a shut-in?
6. Charlotte’s Web
A nice story about a web-writing spider that, with the help of a rat, saves a pig from becoming pork chops. First off, if you have spiders that are able to read and write, it’s past time for the bug spray. Second, rats are worse than literate spiders. Not only do rats spread bacteria like Salmonella, they are voracious eaters. It is estimated that rats eat one fifth of the global food supply annually.
5. Stuart Little
Any parent willing to claim that a mouse is their newly adopted child is in desperate need of psychiatric evaluation and an exterminator. The CDC lists 11 diseases directly transmitted by rodents. Add an additional 15 when indirect transmissions (vectors such as ticks and fleas) are included.
4. Willard
A man using an army of rats for revenge is a scary thought, but his intended victims needn’t worry. Poor Willard, sharing an apartment with hundreds of disease carrying rodents, wouldn’t last long enough to get his revenge.
3. An American Tale
Thousands of Russian mice sail from the Motherland to America to be free from feline oppression. Upon reaching the United States, the realization that strays are plentiful would devastate even the most robust Mouse-stakovich. It’s a good thing America has so many cats. Other areas are not so lucky. When rodents are introduced into locations where they didn’t previously exist, they destroy ecosystems and cause millions of dollars in damage.
2. The Secret of Nimh
Rats and mice holding secret meetings beneath a rose bush would cause even the most rodent loving homeowner a few sleepless nights. The Secret of Nimh is a bit different from the previous five, because exterminators were called out to the farm. Regrettably, it was too little too late. The rats escaped. Look for the signs. If there are droppings in the yard, it is only a matter of time before they invade your home. Early detection and rapid response reduce the risk of damage and sickness.
1. Ratatouille
Rats again. The idea that a rat could learn to love cooking is pretty neat, but the reality of a rat cooking up a delightful dish is really disgusting. From Bubonic plague (the Black Death) to tapeworms, rats are the source of many dangerous diseases. Include their propensity to defecate and urinate on food as they move through it and you have a culinary chef that any health department would immediately shut down.
As charming and charismatic as Hollywood has depicted these filthy vermin, reality always sets in once the film stops rolling—rodents are disgusting, cause grave amounts of damage, and can pass on deadly varieties of bacteria.
Don’t let the movies fool you; call an exterminator before you start naming the rodents in your life.