Rat City

For as long as human civilization has flourished, the brown rat has lived in the shadows, an unwelcome partner thriving in the underbelly of our cities. The ubiquitous rodent is one of the most familiar creatures on the planet but perhaps the least understood.

We know more about life on Mars than how rats navigate life on Earth, says Kaylee Byers, who leads the Vancouver Rat Project.

Rat City dives down the rathole to uncover remarkable superpowers that make brown rats the evolutionary heroes of the animal kingdom. Theyre escape artists, problem solvers and master contortionists: supremely equipped to infiltrate our world.

In New York City, urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan takes viewers on a tour of coveted rat real estate. The rat has learned to live in sewers and skyscrapers, all the way to the top of beautiful $75 million condominiums, he says in the documentary. Travelling along the subterranean highways of subway lines and sewer pipe networks, the rat has a paw-hold in every borough of the city, popping up in graveyards, tree-pits, apartment garbage chutes, and even the occasional toilet.

Despite these daring feats, it turns out theres a limit to the rats sense of adventure. Wildlife health biologist Kaylee Byers made a cutting-edge discovery on the frontlines of Vancouvers urban rat kingdom. The citys rat population is organized into distinct clans who rarely stray more than 100 meters from their home base a key behaviour that helps keep disease transmission at bay.

New science also reveals that studying these masters of adaptation may benefit humans in surprising ways. Kelly Lambert, a behavioural neuroscientist from the University of Richmond, trains rats to drive miniature cars. She and her team have made some remarkable discoveries: not only does driving act as a stressbuster for the rats, it also improves their brains ability to change and adapt. The results may lead to a better understanding of numerous neurodegenerative disorders and diseases such as ADHD and Alzheimers.

Back on the busy streets of New York City, one particular rat enthusiast, a performing artist and social media phenom named Buddy, is on a crusade to deliver the message to New Yorkers about proper sanitation.

In the chaotic boulevards, back alleys and subterranean byways of the urban jungle, Rat City infiltrates these secret spaces, chronicling the rats evolutionary superpowers that allow them to thrive.