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It’s been close to a decade since New York City’s “Pizza Rat” took the world by storm with a video that was a bit less revolting than another captured by someone making their way through the airport in Nashville who encountered a mouse roaming over a pile of bagels. Unfortunately, it’s far from the only video documenting those animals roaming its terminals.
Every place that sells food to members of the general public is required to abide by a strict set of rules that promote safety and hygiene. The vast majority of eateries devote a ton of time and effort into ensuring they meet those standards, but you’re still taking a bit of a leap of faith whenever you have someone whip something up for you.
It’s only natural places overflowing with the food they serve up are going to attract mice, roaches, and other pests in search of an easy meal, and you have to trust they’re taking the proper steps to ensure they’re preventing them from contaminating yours.
Nashville wasn’t near the top of the list the folks at Orkin put together last year while ranking the American cities with the biggest rodent issue (it ended up in 26th while Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York respectively took the gold, silver, and bronze), but there is plenty of evidence to suggest its airport is struggling to get that particular problem under control.
A number of travelers who’ve passed through Nashville International Airport over the past year have filmed mice inside its concourses, and while I’m hesitant to jump to any sweeping conclusions based on a handful of videos on TikTok, it certainly seems like it could do a better job addressing their presence.
None of those clips are as stomach-churning as the one that surfaced on Monday courtesy of the person who captured a mouse running around on top of a pile of bagels on display at what appears to be one of the two 8th & Roast Coffee Co. locations inside the airport.
@ashtenweniger Ratatouille spotted at BNA airport this morning 🐀🥯
At the end of the day, there’s only so much that can be done to prevent mice from doing mice things, but that certainly doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in how they’re combating the animals at the airport in Nashville.