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| Science & Technology |
| Urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan explains city rat problem |
| 2019-08-07 |
| [Washington Examiner] Are there more rats in Washington, D.C., or Baltimore? actual rats vs Rat Bastardsâ„¢? Experts say there's no way to know. As rats in East Coast cities have found their way into the news, residents and politicians have debated the rodents' prevalence. President Trump pointed to the vermin last month as he took aim at Rep. Elijah Cummings and Baltimore, calling the Democrat's home city a "rat and rodent infested mess." Since the dispute, debate has swirled over which city has the biggest rat problem, with residents of Washington, D.C., and New York City complaining about encountering numerous rats roaming the streets. But urban rodentologist Bobby Corrigan, who told an audience in D.C. on Tuesday "Rats are my life," said the debate is most prevalent in the Boston to D.C. corridor, which includes Hartford, Connecticut, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. "The answer is all of those cities have a lot of rats because all the trade ships coming from Europe were pulling into these cities," Corrigan said. "Is Baltimore or D.C. really the worst rat-infested city? It would have to be measured by some kind of study, which, there is none." He added that the only way to estimate which cities have higher rodent populations is by gauging the age and socioeconomic status of certain areas of the city, nothing more. "As cities get old, the older they get without infrastructural resources, they're going to be, without a doubt, more vulnerable to rat populations," he said. This vulnerability is a direct result of cracked foundations of buildings that rodents can squeeze through and sewers not being replaced when necessary. There is zero scientific evidence that there are more rats in one city than the next, experts say. Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, the director of the D.C. Department of Health, said that there is no such thing as a "rodent census," therefore it is impossible to know how many rodents reside in a city. "It's hard to get people to understand that when we get these reports that come out that say, 'D.C. has the worst rodent population in the country,'" said Nesbitt, "that it's a function of the pest controllers and how many requests go to pest controllers." The number of rats in various cities was just one of the rat-related myths Corrigan busted in his talk. Rats don't follow walls, they're not bigger or more brazen than in years past, they're not becoming immune to poisons, and cities can't poison their way out of a rat problem. Humans, Corrigan said, are the real problem. "Sanitation is rat control," said Corrigan. "If you do not want rats, do not give them food. The public thinks just put out some bait in my yard and take care of this, please. They don't want to hear a lecture on, you know, you could use a better trash can." Nesbitt echoed this idea. "Get rid of the things they don't want to eat, then we have less things for them to do," she said. "You can't just hire 300 exterminators, give them buckets of bait and say get out there and kill a bunch of rats," said Corrigan. "We've been doing that for 250 years in America." If you see rats as a result of construction, Corrigan said, those rats were most certainly already there. Subways or trains don't cause them, either. "Subways are not a major player for rats," he said. "They're not a great environment for rats. The public actually thinks subways are a secret rat city because of the dark tunnels." Instead, Corrigan said that sewers are the number one reservoir for rats, which is where all the disease carried by rodents comes from. Scott Mullaney, the director of animal services and principal at UNIQUE Pest Management, which uses dogs to help hunt and control rat populations, agreed with Corrigan's claim that the actual amount of rats can't be calculated or differentiated. "We've done hundreds of jobs in both Baltimore and D.C., and it doesn't make a difference," Mullaney said. "There's such nasty areas in both parts." As far as the president's claim of Baltimore being rat-infested, Corrigan said he believes Trump was "just being colloquial." "It's just too loosely said, quite frankly. I've spent a lot of hours myself doing surveys and inspections in both cities. It has nothing to do with technical science at all, those comments," he said. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #3 As far as the president's claim of Baltimore being rat-infested, Corrigan said he believes Trump was "just being colloquial." It appears Orkin has the data Bobby. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-08-07 07:22 |
| #2 "Is Baltimore or D.C. really the worst rat-infested city? It would have to be measured by some kind of study, which, there is none." I'd go by which has the biggest rats. |
| Posted by: gorb 2019-08-07 02:44 |
| #1 "Sanitation is rat control," said Corrigan. "If you do not want rats, do not give them food. Corrigan's explanation my apply to a bit more than rats. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-08-07 02:19 |
