Boston has always been known as a ratty city. Not as ratty as some others but still….According to Orkin, which releases the city rat rankings, Boston ranks 13th in rattiest city. The type of rat we have is the Norway rat. Rats that came here in 1775 from European boats-not even native to US!
A lot of them thrive because of the urban environment but also Boston also has a lot of old infrastructure which has created rat nests over time. And due to the climate change induced warmer weather (our hottest summer ever) it means more breeding for rats, who already breed a shit ton.
Rats cause a lot of problems for cities-other than being disgusting to look at: Rats garbage based diet and stomach microbiome make them the perfect sponge for multiple diseases. including salmonella when their droppings get into food. And not only that, they also damage city infrastructure (attach picture)
In response Boston started a Boston rodent action plan-a multi department data driven approach to combatting rats.
In response Boston started a Boston rodent action plan-a multi department data driven approach to combatting rats.
First step is educating the public on best method of keeping rats away which include not leaving trash out (show picture) and keeping up with city sanitation codes-restaurants knowing not to leave grease refuse out. That’s how rat populations grow.
Solutions rat tracking program-using these small powerful rat sensors which send data everytime a rat is detected
Lots of people go with the short term bandaid solution- rat poison. Problem with rat poison is that it does not kill rat right away instead slows them down over time which means that if predators come in and eat them but it can and will harm the predators, sometimes even killing them.
An idea floated was rat birth control-which works by using a contraceptive called contrapest which is put I no airy and fatty pellets and are scattered in rat infested areas.
Let’s get rid of these rats….but safely….
In 2000, a study on non indigenous species in the Us and damage was conducted and it found, conservatively, and a little flawed, but that economic cost of rat damage was estimated at $19 billion/year; many times greater than any other invasive animal species (Pimentel et al. 2000). This didn;t account for infrastructure damage, diseases, so it’s fair to say it’s more that that
What Boston did not do, that other cities have, is hire a “rat czar”
But they don’t really need to. Getting the word out, educating about sanitation, and best methods, working with exterminators, using birth control pellets and rat tracking-all ways boston can get rid of the rat problem for good in the long term. Don’t need to spend more than a billion per year.
