After writing a post recently responding to comments that rats are literally overrunning our major US cities, I got curious.
I know what my respected colleagues at D-Con said, but statistics and predictions don’t always tell the whole truth. It occurred to me that we have local service offices in many of those major cities mentioned and would therefore have real-world and real-time information. So I asked our offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and New York if they were seeing any more rats than normal this year.
The answer was a resounding “no” (well, how about a resounding “not yet?”) The overall response was that rats have always been, and always will be, a problem in any city. Ehrlich’s District Manager in New York said, “The subway and connected sewer system creates a haven for rat activity. There are also lots of very old structures above the subway lines that rats use as harborages.”
Our Chicago Regional Manager agreed, saying “There is always rat activity because of the size and environment of the city. On top of that, the city always has new construction which rodent activity. Existing buildings are getting up there in age. This is one aspect that makes the city so beautiful, but the reality is that there is constant rodent pressure.”
So my conclusion? The rats are still winning the race and outsmarting humans, but not loads faster than normal for this time of year. Let’s wait and see what happens over the next few months…
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