Mexico rats survive cat onslaught: "Mexican health officials say they have failed in their effort to deal with a rat plague in a remote mountain village by sending in hundreds of cats.
Authorities in the state of Chihuahua came up with the plan after the people of Atascaderos appealed for help in dealing with an estimated 250,000 rats.
[Rodent control expert Alberto Lafon] said the villagers would just have to learn to live with the rats.
'At this point, they are going to have to take charge and learn to control them,' he told the Associated Press news agency.
Residents in Atascaderos asked the authorities for help two months ago, saying at least 800 homes had become rat-infested and traditional extermination methods had failed.
Experts launched an appeal asking people to donate unwanted cats, in the hope of recruiting an attack force of up to 700 animals.
In the end, however, they only managed to rustle up a mere 50 cats."
