Actually, in spite of the claims of deer and bear repopulating the land, it is much more likely that rodents will. They are one of the most successful species. Over 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are great opportunists. And, according to Richard Dawkins in "The Ancestor's Tale," they will "swarm like lemmings over the ruins of civilisation." He also says that, "Rodents are the ultimate post-human scavengers" and "within 5 million years, a whole range of new species replace the ones we know. Herds of giant grazing rats are stalked by sabretoothed predatory rats." This is conjecture, of course, but Dawkins is definitely an authority on natural processes and evolution.

Why are rats the luckiest animals on earth? Because when they look up into the night sky and see a bat they get to say, "Oh my God, there goes another angel!"
P.S. Bats constitute about 20% of all mammal species.
Sincerely, Pointoforder

I would question the logic of that assumption. Rats have been enormously successful at scavaging off the leavings of human society. If humans dissapeared overnight then the millions of rats in New York would decline just as rapidly.

and the rat population would disappear or decrease significantly. The cockroaches would only survive in the south where it is warm.

You are correct about the rat population decreasing at least.

I'm no expert, but I'm willing to bet that rats, due to their indiscriminate tastes, would flourish for as long as the residue of humankind exists, long after the last man passes on. Of course, a rapid abundance of food would propogate up the food chain as well, and feral cats and dogs would swell their numbers and probably curb the rat population somewhat. When humankind's created resources (I'm thinking twinkies here) run out, those numbers will slowly fall off until they reach an equilibrium conducive to the environment.

Your right ,they have already taking over the presidentsey and the rest of goverment.

Yes, I agree...look at the rodent that won the Nobel peace prize!!!

It's not so much that rodents live well where man does it is that they can adapt to live well under any circumstance. They thrive on remote islands where no man lives today but once transported the migrating rodents as stowaways. Look how well they've adapted to our political system. They get elected from both major parties.