'We are at war': New York's rat crisis made worse by climate change
Rat-related callouts rise as experts say warming temperatures are helping New York’s rats feed and mate longer into the year
The discarded slices of pizza that litter New York’s streets have long fuelled its sizeable population of rats, but now the city’s growing swarm has a new reason to enjoy their home – warming temperatures
City officials have reported an increasing number of calls from residents complaining about rats, and have warned that milder winters are helping them feed and mate longer into the year. And as winters warm up, more frequent outdoor activity by humans is adding to the litter rats thrive upon.
Rat-related complaints have been on the rise over the past four years, with 19,152 calls made to the city last year, an increase of about 10% on 2016. There are no reliable figures on the number of rats in New York – estimates range from 250,000 to tens of millions – but the surge in rat activity has been replicated in other cities. Houston, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia have experienced large increases in calls to pest control.
Veteran anti-rat strategists have, in part, blamed climate change. “It’s a complex issue but we are seeing rat population increases around the world now,” said Bobby Corrigan, a sought-after rat-catching consultant who once spent a week living in a rat-infested barn in Indiana as part of his PhD research.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/21/new-york-rat-crisis-climate-change
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Even those tasked with killing rats recognize they will never be eliminated from the New York experience. An anonymous advertising copywriter, who calls herself the “Elena Ferrante of rats”, offers an unusual online gifting service where she will exterminate rats for a fee, providing a certificate to mark the kill.
“I don’t have it out for rats. I think they’re pretty impressive,” she told the Guardian. “There’s just too many of them.”
Deutsch, who has caught rats in places as diverse as Arizona and on cruise ships meandering around Europe, said he has developed “a relationship with rats.”
“They are an incredible animal, I admire their ability to adapt to different situations,” he said. “I look at them as a tremendous success.”
Republicans that think climate change is some fucking crock of shit...............maybe in the next congress someone should call some of these exterminators in and explain to the delusional what this means....................New York is going to spend 32 million dollars on this issue alone.....................32 million.................
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