Rats and Natural Disasters in India

In my study of natural disasters, I've rarely come across something as odd (and personally disturbing) as this.

The provinces of India near Myanmar are suffering through a huge explosion in the rat population. Every 48 years or so a particular kind of bamboo goes crazy with its flowering. It deposits tons of seeds that rats love. Their populations go through the roof. Then, with no more bamboo seeds to eat, they invade farmers' fields. This has led to severe famines in 1862, 1911, and 1958-59. The article does not much explore the possible human impact in making these famines worse, though if Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts is any guide, the colonial famines were due as much to colonial neglect as the rats. It does however note that the 1959 famine was laughed off by the Indian government and led to a local guerrilla movement, which is certainly interesting.

We can therefore expect a likely famine this summer in India. Hopefully disaster relief can be prepared ahead of time.

In any case, tonight I will have nightmares of hordes of rats running over me. Great.