the rat

_event:
if scab [nonunion] construction workers are hired for a project, a giant inflatable rat is erected that stops the whole procedure

_chronicle:
15 years ago, Mike O'Connor,Big Sky Balloons & Searchlights in Plainfield, Illinois
created the first rat at the request of a union member in nearby Chicago

_style:
menacing buckteeth, long claws, and red, beady eyes

_size:
squat-looking 6-footer [$2,000] - towering 30-footer [$7,700]
most popular size: 12-footer

_number:
100-200 rats a year [even though Big Sky is a nonunion shop itself]