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A Summary Of The Rat Problems In New York City

Decent Essays

The rodent problem has grown in New York City vastly in the last decade; according to Jonathan Auerbach a Columbia doctoral student in his statistical analysis on 2014 called “Does New York City Really Have as Many Rats as People”; there are approximately 2.02 million rodents in New York City and according to the Planning Department, New York’s population raised as 8,405,837 in 2013. If these reports are accurate, there is one rat for four humans in New York City. So, the problem is why New York City has so many rats and how can it decrease/eliminate the population.

Given that, city rats are the same breed as a pet or lab rat, they can grow to about 16 inches and weigh up to a pound, moreover, their colonies can grow to 40 to 50 rats, and they have the habit of to travel in packs. In addition, when they reproduce, they can mate 20 times in six hours and female rats can give birth to 40 to 70 rats a year. Therefore, they are extremely difficult to kill and New York City, containing an underground subway system, empty lots, apartment complexes and lots of garbage, is the perfect environment for a massive reproduction of these undesirable animals. …show more content…

Therefore, we must create an integrated plan involving trapping, feral cats, neutralization of reproduction, and the most important sanitation. In addition, an analysis of former practices will be evaluated to make a determination of the methods used and its

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