Residents of a city in southern China have fashioned “skirts” for their cars to protect them from rats, according to a BBC report.
Residents of a city in southern China have fashioned “skirts” for their cars to protect them from rats, according to a BBC report.
Locals in Nanning, in the Guangxi autonomous region, came up with the idea after rodents clambered inside the vehicles and gnawed through the wiring. Many cars in Nanning were spotted with the wraparound shields — dubbed “car maxi skirts” in the Chinese media. Some ‘skirts’ are fashioned from fabric and chicken wire while others are made using bamboo, the BBC said.
Zhao, a local resident told Nanning TV, there were many rats in the area and during cold weather it becomes a problem because the rats snuggle down in warm places, like car bonnets. “Putting these around the cars is a good thing, and it can also prevent small children from scratching them,” he said.
However, the rodents seem to have found their way around these protective covers. A woman shows the Nanning TV reporter a rat-sized hole in one car skirt. “Can’t you see The rats have nibbled a hole through it,” she said.
Meanwhile, Chinese social media users seem amused by the car skirts. One person wrote on the popular NetEase web portal: “I like this elevated Guangxi humour.”
Others share the locals’ frustrations, but some think they’re overreacting. “Are they preparing against a large-scale rodent invasion ” one user asks.
One suggests a solution which doesn’t involve wrapping your car in chicken wire: “They can raise a number of cats, we have a few strays on our estate, the rats don't dare come out.” The problem, however, is Guangxi has a reputation for using both cats and dogs for meat, and is home to the infamous Yulin dog-eating festival, widely frowned upon elsewhere in China.
