The life inside the trenches were horrible. One of the main reasons the war lasted so incredibly long was because of the stale mates that were held at the trenches because they couldn't advance or move anywhere. All it was was a blood bath at the trenches, including rats, poor living conditions, and bad tasting food. Since the trenches were dug into the ground there were rats that scurried around across the ground and scavenged for food that could be found around the living quarters of the soldiers. When the enemies made an advance on the soldiers stuck inside the trenches they really had no where to go because they were closed in. However, the trenches did provide a somewhat kind of a shelter against the shells being shot at them from the enemies along with bombs and grenades.