Word: ratting
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...rat spill...
DEFINITION rat spil n. The environmental crisis caused by an influx of rats after the ship they were stowed on docks at port or sinks...
CONTEXT Much like an oil spill, rat spills can wreak havoc on delicate ecosystems and are a major problem for many far-flung islands. One of Alaska's western Aleutians was even named Rat Island after it was overrun by the critters following a shipwreck in the 1780s...
USAGE Because an invasion of rodents can devastate populations of ground-nesting seabirds, wildlife-refuge managers in Alaska have developed emergency-response plans to deal with rat spills. The Alaska board of game recently passed strict regulations requiring shippers to exterminate any rodents found on their vessels. Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on plans to eradicate the rats on Rat Island without harming the few native species that have survived the onslaught...
...hours and four minutes after takeoff, the passengers broke out in enthusiastic applause: a little celebration of man and aluminum. I was dehydrated from the dry cabin air, despite all those glasses of water. But I felt pretty good. Not exactly perky but not anything like a lab rat, either...