I turned on the TV ... the morning Channel 2 news in Portland , Ore. came on. I missed what exactly what town near Portland the story was in, but the reporter was saying that the no kill shelter trap, spay and neuter folks started this gung ho project to spay / neauter every stray/ ferral cat that they could about 3 years ago. Today, this town only has an aging and/or deceased feral cat population with very few replacement members. So, the few rats had an opportunity to party and the party goers are increasing in numbers exponentially and are having the BIGGEST and BADEST contests . I guess that the solution now is to trap and spay / neuter the rats or to let loose non spayed/ neutered imported cats from New York City.