Trench rats were rodents that were found around the frontline trenches of World War I. Due to massive amounts of debris, corpses, and a putrid environment, rats at the trenches bred at a rapid pace. The rats likely numbered in the millions. [1]

These rats stole food and were attracted by the human waste of war and bodies of buried soldiers that repapered after rain or heavy shelling. The soldiers had to face many problems in the trenches, and one of them was omnipresent rats.

2011年11月11日 · Trench conditions were ideal for rats. There was plenty of food, water and shelter. With no proper disposal system the rats would feast off food scraps. The rats grew bigger and bolder and would even steal food from a soldier’s hand. But for some soldiers the rats became their friends.

2023年9月12日 · Trench Warfare in World War I: Rot, Rats, Ruin. Life as a soldier throughout history has never been easy. But World War I’s trench warfare brought a whole new facet to the phrase “War is Hell.”

Many men killed in the trenches were buried almost where they fell. If a trench subsided, or new trenches or dugouts were needed, large numbers of decomposing bodies would be found just below the surface. These corpses, as well as the food scraps that littered the …

Oversized rats, bloated by the food and waste of stationary armies, helped spread disease and were a constant irritant. In 1918, doctors also identified lice as the cause of trench fever, which plagued the troops with headaches, fevers, and muscle pain.

2018年2月22日 · The trench soldier of World War I had to cope with millions of rats. The omnipresent rats were attracted by the human waste of war – not simply sewage waste but also the bodies of men long forgotten who had been buried in the trenches and often reappeared after heavy rain or shelling.

2021年2月2日 · Despite the waves of toxic gas, the raining shells, the flying bullets, barbed wire, plunging bayonets, and exploding grenades, rats figured out how to survive and thrive in their new ecological niche.

2016年8月18日 · Rats and lice were a constant problem. The large number of decomposing bodies in and around the trenches meant they were overrun with rats, who grew fat on their diet of food scraps and human flesh. Trench warfare has since become the …

2021年11月23日 · The trench soldier of World War I had to cope with millions of rats. The omnipresent rats were attracted by the human waste of war – not simply sewage waste but also the bodies of men long forgotten who had been buried in the trenches and often reappeared after heavy rain or shelling.