Warmer weather is fueling a rodent surge, straining public health systems and the economy. It’s time for the federal government to step in.
By Emily Atkin
August 23, 2017
Bobby Corrigan is the rat master. Some call him the rat czar. To others, he is simply a rodentologist, or as NBC recently described him, “one of the nation’s leading experts on rats.” Call him what you want; he is mostly alarmed. “I travel all over the world with this animal, and the amount of complaints and feedback and questions I hear right now are all, ‘We’ve never seen rats in the city like this before,” he said. “They’re all expressing the same concern: Our rat problem is worse than ever.”
Most cities know rat woes well. Washington, D.C., for instance, has burned through countless plans to stymie its longstanding “rat problem” or “rodent crisis,” in which disease-ridden critters are not only growing in number but ballooning to the size of human infants.
What they don’t know is how this all will end. Houston, Texas, is seeing a rat spike this year, and so is New York City. In Chicago, rodent complaints for the early part of the summer have increased about 9 percent from last year, forcing city officials to start sprinkling the streets with rat birth control. Philadelphia and Boston were recently ranked the two cities with the most rat sightings in the country. And it’s not just this year; as USA Today reported last year, major cities saw spikes in rodent-related business from 2013 to 2015. Calls to Orkin, the pest control service, were reportedly “up 61 percent in Chicago; 67 percent in Boston; 174 percent in San Francisco; 129 percent in New York City; and 57 percent in Washington, D.C.”
It’s no surprise that rats thrive in cities, where humans provide an abundance of food and shelter. But experts now agree that the weather is playing a role in these recent increases. Extreme summer heat and this past winter’s mild temperatures have created urban rat utopias.
“The reason the rats are so bad now, we believe, is because of the warm winters,” said Gerard Brown, program manager of the Rodent and Vector Control Division of the D.C. Department of Health, at a 2016 rat summit.
Rat pro Corrigan agrees. “Breeding usually slows down during the winter months,” he said. But with shorter, warmer winters becoming more common—2016 was America’s warmest winter on record—rats are experiencing a baby boom. “They have an edge of squeezing out one more litter, one more half litter,” Corrigan said.
One more litter or half litter makes a serious difference when a population boom is not only a nuisance, but a public health and economic crisis. Rats breed like rabbits; as this alarming Rentokil graphic shows, two rats in an ideal environment can turn into 482 million rats over a period of three years. Urban rats caused $19 billion worth of economic damage in the year 2000, partially due to the fact that they eat away at buildings and other infrastructure. Imagine how much they’re costing now.
What’s more, every new litter increases the risk of a rodent-borne disease. A 2014 Columbia University study showed that New York City’s rats carry diseases like E. coli, salmonella, and Seoul hantavirus, which “can cause Ebolalike hemorrhagic fever,” according to the Washington Post. Rats also carry the rare bacterial disease known as leptospirosis, which recently killed one person and sickened two in the Bronx.
Clearly, the coming ratpocalypse is no longer a city-centric problem. It is threatening the health of millions across the country, costing billions of dollars, and is being fueled by global climate change that the U.S. primarily created. And yet cities—which are expected to hold 70 percent of the world’s population by 2050—are largely dealing with their rodent crises on their own. Why isn’t the federal government stepping in?
The federal government wasn’t always silent on rats. From 1969 to 1982, the Center for Disease Control awarded cities grants under what was known as the Urban Rat Control program, championed by then-President Lyndon Johnson. The program started small, servicing only 19 communities across the country, but eventually grew to serve 65 communities with an annual budget of $13 million, which was matched by state and local governments. While the program did experience some hiccups, it was widely considered successful. Quoting the CDC, the Associated Press reported in 1982: “As a result of the efforts, 7.7 million people now live in rat-free, environmentally improved neighborhoods.”
But President Ronald Reagan eliminated the program, saying the rat problem should be dealt with by individual states. That irked former CDC Director of Environmental Health William Houk, who told United Press International at the time that the program was “one of the more worthwhile projects of the federal government.” Reagan’s decision to cut it, Houk said, “is a classic example of the government doing something with the people instead of for them.”
Rat-plagued cities are now left to their own devices. And they’re not exactly doing a great job. In part, that’s because rats are elusive. As Linda Poon wrote this year for CityLab, “no one really knows how many rats there are. Not in New York City, nor Washington, D.C., nor Chicago—all three of which rank among the most rodent-infested cities in the U.S.” Rats in these urban areas depend on humans for food and shelter, meaning their environment only improves as more and more humans cram into cities with every passing year. And as researchers noted in the Journal of Urban Ecology this year, rats rapidly evolve to resist poisons, the most commonly known form of extermination.
Read the rest of the story here.
HT/John R T
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““no one really knows how many rats there are. Not in New York City, nor Washington, D.C., nor Chicago—all three of which rank among the most rodent-infested cities in the U.S.”
Well run liberal cities all. Crying in their soup that they can’t take care of it themselves, asking for federal tax dollars.
If due to food supply, increases in rats may be partially attributable to the uptick in urban recycling programs that store trash rather than promptly dispose of it.
People are supposed to wash/rinse the recyclable trash to avoid having the rodent problem. So the problem is people not following instructions.
It is trash, throw it in the trash! Then run that trash through the grinder and drop it into the feeder for the electricity generating incinerator. Why are leftards so stupid?
Could also be from the great push to keep cats inside. If you let your cat out, you are now some kind of devil person who hates cats, and hates birds – so more people are keeping the cats indoors. My home abuts to a field. Our cats have done an expert job of rodent control within our back yard.
If I installed a windmill to kill the birds and the ground windmill (rototiller) for the rodents, I would be considered a good person.
If you have a field that’s safe (e.g., no problem with hawks or coyotes), then good for you. In urban environments, with cars, dogs, hawks, and coyotes, etc., it’s a different story. The life expectancy of an outdoor cat is 3 to 5 years. Inside only cats have life expectancies of 15 to 20 years. If you allow your cat to go outside in an urban setting, then you simply shouldn’t have cats, and soon won’t.
You proved my point. Thanks.
All my cats have been let outside, and none have died from cars, dogs, hawks, coyotes. Your 5 year expectancy is for a feral cat, not a housecat who is let out to sunbathe once in awhile.
Not a problem at all! Ramik Green Bait Packs handle this issue quite well.
“The reason the rats are so bad now, we believe, is because of the warm winters,”
Really? So all the sewers and underground pipe works that rats use are usually frozen during winter? The rise of rats will be in step with the massive increase in suitable shelter that never freezes as its underground, plus a plentiful supply of free food. The modern city dweller has no real perception of cold winters, or the weather for that matter, as he/she will be deliberately insulated against direct experience of natural temperature fluctuation with insulated homes, work places and vehicles that have automatic climate control. Even if there has been an ‘increase’ in winter temperatures that can be measured as a statistic this does not tell the whole story of what happens when temperatures go below zero and water freezes. For some plants and for quite a few animals sub zero temperatures mean death so it is immaterial if it is -20 or -1 if sustained for at least a day. For humans if caught outside without warm shelter or clothing death from hypothermia will happen in hours and so it doesn’t matter if there are less cold days or the temperature was ‘only’ -1 and not -30. If winters are ‘warmer’ for plants intolerant to frost one episode of frost is too much.
Did it go below zero in the UK this last winter? Yes.
Since the industrial revolution and the rise of modern urbanization the amount of shelter available that can protect from cold for all species has increased enormously.
You bring up a point, billions of federal money for energy efficiency and “weatherization” for buildings has been en vogue in the U.S., which means better, warmer homes for rats. Also more insulation means more nesting material.
In the 1990’s, I recall being in Washington DC for a conference. I woke up in the middle of the night and looking out the window at the streetscape below. Just then, a large rat about the size of a housecat emerged from the storm sewer grate, crossed the street and disappeared into the storm grate on the other side of the street. I recall thinking “Wow, these Washington lobbyists start work really early!”
The province of Alberta in Canada is reportedly rat-free – and has been for more than 60 years. This is a constant fight, as rats are always arriving from outside and have to be controlled. We recently elected a socialist NDP provincial government, so Alberta’s status as a rat-free province is now in doubt.
The Alberta NDP have embraced glob warming alarmism, as socialists always do. They are propagandizing Albertans with falsehoods about the health dangers of our coal-fired power plants. In fact, the air pollution from ONE forest fire equals the output from all our coal plants in a year, and there are ~1000 forest fires per year in western Canada. I am referring here to real air pollution, that is NOx, SOx and particulates.
Atmospheric CO2 is essential for life, and CO2 is not alarmingly high, it is alarmingly low for the continued existence of carbon-based life on this planet.
Regards, Allan
Interesting how rats are the only species on the planet that benefits from warmer weather.
Where I live 30 miles NNE of Indianapolis we may every great once in awhile see a specimen of Rattus Rattus. It’s been a very long time since I have seen a specimen of Rattus Norvegicus around here in this semi rural area.
Here in rural west PA we have been seeing an increase of Norwegian brown rats, especially along the Allegheny River and its feeder streams and rivers. Turning into a problem in corn/grain storage and showing up in homes more.
Where I am never was a rat to be seen…until they closed and demolished a nearby horse farm…to build an assisted living (memory) facility.
That’ll do it! They were living happily among the barns and sheds and are now refugees, they will be petitioning for asylum and public assistance before ya know it.
I have never seen a common rat here in WY. Maybe they have them down in Cheyenne. Would make sense as that is the seat of state government. We do have tree rats, ie squirrels, and yard rats, ie rabbits, which are also rodents and we eat them. Which may be the solution to city rats, not including the politicians, of course. We also have packrats but they’re kind of like politicians as well. Real pains in the butt. I don’t think it’s temperature but rather concentrations of people that encourage their population growth. More food, more rats. Barn rats were big in Ohio. Liked those corn cribs and feed troughs. Not much of that in our more rural area as cattle and sheep roam free here. Yep, it’s more food=more rats.
Cities in general are nests of socialism, corruption, crime, gangs, drugs, etc, etc. Only makes sense there would be nests of rats too.
The nest of rats causes the things you mentioned
Nobody mentioned one thing large cities have (besides the rats): UHI
I wonder how the rat problem is in Detroit with it being hollowed out.
“Why isn’t the federal government stepping in?”
The Constitution doesn’t permit the federal government to be involved in this way. It is not one of the enumerated powers. Only the states have the authority to get involved.
There is the “General welfare” clause that some take to mean that the federal government can do anything unless it is forbidden by the Constitution. It is actually the opposite, both in a plain reading of the Constitution, and according to those who created it. They can only use the specific powers granted to it. The general welfare clause only means that they should use the enumerated powers for the general welfare.
This tends to reduce the power of the federal government substantially. And this way, a serious mistake in legislative or regulatory judgment does not impact the entire country.
Enough with asking for a larger federal government! Seems to be the knee jerk answer to everything.
We need more urban weasels. [That’s not a joke.]
I wonder if these folks have ever heard of something call the urban heat island. Now I am no great scientist or anything, but I have read that the UHI effect can be in the 5 degree range. Now basic math tells me that UHI effect is greater than Global warming effect so obviously nobody would ever pass this off on Global Warming would they?
Speaking of heat islands, wouldn’t you think that rats would be MORE attracted to heat islands, because the temperatures surrounding the heat islands are lower?
Wouldn’t you think that rats would be more attracted to human-caused heat islands that lie amidst an overall cooler ambient temperature background? … the difference between the number of heat islands NOW compared to the number of heat islands in the PAST? … and that it is human-infrastructure change (growth), NOT climate change that is attracting all the rats to the new-growth areas?
Rats ! — I guess I messed up that premise for alarmist grants.
Next.
Way back when I was in college a friend, from NY City, use to spend his summer back in the city on rat patrol and control. His first year was the summer before college, the last was his second year of graduate studies. He told us that the first year when he entered a vacant building or basement the rats would scurry away. He would put out poison bait, warfarin if I remember correctly. Each year fewer rats scurried away. The last year as soon as the rats heard him come in they would actually run to him to snatch up the bait he was putting out. He said he was scared initially when it happened because he swore the rats were double from what he remembered when he started out before college. They had become resistant to warfarin but his bosses just didn’t want to hear about it.
Side Bar: WARFarin (Trade name Coumadin) was patented by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation in 1941, after extensive studies of hemorrhaging deaths in cattle established that an anticoagulant (3,3′-methylenebis-(4-hydroxycoumarin)) was present in in moldy sweet clover hay they had consumed. It was registered for rodent control in 1948. It later found use as a blood thinner in human medicine.
My local govt recently stopped the rat vector control. I don’t know why; it’s not news & I only know because one of the pest/bug removal company owners told me about it. There are more rats now.
Conspiracy question:
Has direction recently been given to local govt agencies, by Feds (or some other group), regarding rodent control (for example … be careful, don’t be so aggressive removing the rodents because rats are becoming immune to the poisons)?
Rats like where we humans live and the little treats that we unconsciously provide them. Why wouldn’t more of them be present where more of us humans are present? And why wouldn’t they get better at inhabiting and populating the warmer spaces that we humans provide for them?
Every time we build more environments to better accommodate more humans, do we not also build more environments to better accommodate more rats?, flies?, ants?, …
For the past three days, I have been experiencing flymaggeddon in the kitchen, killing around a dozen flies a day, which I have never seen before.
Of course, CO2 is the cause, because it caused the hurricane to blow them all in from Texas.
The rats costing us the most in every way can be easily counted. There are exactly 100 in the senate for example.
Warm weather. BS.
Here in Portland, they simply stopped using effective pesticides and rat bait, in favor of ‘eco-friendly’ substitutes. When I was a young man, still going out on the town and being up at all hours in the city, I never saw a single rat.
Now, they run right past you in the street.
Yet again, another example of Greenies creating a problem then blaming it on someone else.
If rats are increasing due to warmer winters, then it would make sense that warmer cities should have more rats than colder cities. However, it is not the case — the warmer cities have fewer rats: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-america-roach-rats-infected-cities/
Ship them all to PETA. There must be room for them in their bomb-making facilities.
No, what’s feeding it is two things. One is the advent of enforced recycling and “compostable” pick ups to chase the pipe dream of “Waste Zero.” Of course, refuse companies used this ruse as an excuse to force the use of wheeled “easy opening” cans with hinged tops. Perfect for vermin to access waste, especially the un contained “compstables.” Our district says go ahead and include meat, dairy, etc in “compostables.” We are feeding not only advanced vermin but also maggots.
The other thing they are feeding on is the well developed canopy in now well treed communities. Lots of acorns and stuff. Since the day time acorn eaters such as squirrels and certain birds are no where to be seen during night shift, guess who does night shift.
We’ve always had the easy opening cans with hinged tops, even before recycling. We don’t even have curb-side recycling.