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New York Tackles Its Gnawing Rat Problem
Pest control pro Robert Corrigan, on assignment in rodent-infested Manhattan, uses a stuffed rat to show the size of the New York species.
(By David Segal -- The Washington Post)
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"I give them credit for being so public about it," Corrigan says.
The key to Corrigan's success is understanding both how bureaucrats and rats think. He learned the latter during his graduate student days at Purdue University, when he once spent 30 days in a rat-infested barn in Indiana. He lived the nocturnal life of his subjects, watching them eat and reproduce. They crawled all over him. The more he watched the animals, the more he liked them.
"They're masters at adaptation and incredibly sophisticated," he says. "A research paper came out recently that said that rats contemplate their actions. They might run along a wall, stop and think, 'Is this a good move?' "
He doesn't do much rat killing, though as a former exterminator he's killed his share. Instead, he teaches clients where rats live, how they breed, their preferences when it comes to shrubbery and garbage cans.
"Those garbage cans are on stanchions," he says, as he walks through a park. "That's good. Rats prefer garbage cans that are on the ground."
He heads down an alley. Corrigan has been here on nights when the row of trash bags seemed to bustle with life.
"It was like each rat got its own bag," he says.
A year ago, a bunch of traps were set here and Corrigan inspects them as he walks. He has keys to unlock the traps and opens one. Thankfully, it's empty. These traps contain poisoned cubes of what looks like granola, apparently a delicious treat for a rat that kills it in five days, after a whole lot of internal bleeding. You'd think a device like this would at least put a dent in the problem, and maybe even represent hope in the ongoing man vs. rat brawl.
Nah.
"Seen any rats?" Corrigan shouts, to a man digging a hole in the street at the end of the alley.
"Yes," the man replies, a little indignantly. It's like someone asked if he knew how to breathe.
