I thought it was the fleas on the rats that spread the disease?
That has always been the general consensus. Fleas don’t need rats to be their hosts. Few if any of the flees that have bitten me jumped off a rat. My guess is that people in the middle ages were likely better at catching and killing rats than their modern counterparts, but that they didn’t have as many options when it came to poisons that used to be available to consumers these days.
Has anyone here tried the latest available rodent “poisons”? They are basically worthless. They seem to be based on the principal that the rodent will eat so much of it that it will get a bad tummy ache and leave. The active ingredient is now “Cholecalciferol which uses NO anti-coagulants or neurotoxins.” If you have a stash of the original D-con... it is now worth quite a lot. If the rats currently invading your domicile have fleas that are carrying the plague you had best look for someone who can get ahold of more lethal options.
Of course, I doubt whether any of the fleas which have munched on me over the years came from a rat. Most came from Fido or Fluffy or jumped on me from grass or bushes as they were waiting for some warm-blooded animal to come along.
Cholecalciferol is Vitamin D3. We are helping rats build strong bones and get through the long, dreary winter days?
The article is not saying that the plague was not spread by rats and fleas but that it is unlikely that it could have spread as quickly or for as long as it did exclusively by the rat/flea vector.
It suggest that the plague was spread by human to human contact and that the rats were a supplemental spreader.
This makes sense given at the time human fleas and lice were the norm. Everyone had them.
What I would like to have more info on is the idea that the soil conditions in Europe would not support plague bacteria survival.
“My guess is that people in the middle ages were likely better at catching and killing rats than their modern counterparts...”
They bred plenty of animals to catch rats, both house cats and various dog breeds. But I believe those were mainly used to keep rats from eating all the agricultural production. I doubt there was much attempt at all to stop rats in the cities.
A few years ago I had a rat problem. I bought those little round poison balls. After they went through about $50 worth I asked the guy at the counter WTH. He said they don't eat it on-site. They take it with them and stash it.
So, I bought the solid type. Look like a long cube with a hole in the middle. I mounted a 12" stiff wire on a board. Slid about 5 of those cubes on. Now they had to eat it there. No carry out. Solved the problem pretty quickly.
Rodent poinsons aen’t always the greatest idea - the rats crawl up in some wall and die there leaving a big stink that can’t be got at.