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'Could Los Angeles become the ‘rattiest’ city in the United States?'
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https://ktla.com/news/local-news/could-los-angeles-become-the-rattiest-city-in-the-united-states/>
'California is the only state to ban the most lethal type of rat poison,
so more rodents are living large these days, especially in Los Angeles.
According to pest control experts, the rat population is booming, and
service calls are way up.
NewsNation headed out with rodent expert Louis Rico, and it took just 30 seconds for him to spot a rat burrow in someone’s front yard.
The rodent residents were not home.
Proponents had pushed for the ban on “anticoagulant rodenticides” to protect pets and wildlife that might feed off toxic dead rats.
When Gov. Gavin Newsom first signed the law, J.P. Rose, Urban Wildlands
policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a
statement that it was a “relief to know the deadliest rat poisons will
soon be off the market here.”
“This important legislation shows why California is an environmental
leader. We’re willing to fight for wildlife protections,” Rose said in a statement. “Birds, foxes and pumas shouldn’t be sacrificed every time there’s a pest problem.”
However, according to exterminators, other types of extermination
techniques just aren’t as effective as anticoagulant rodenticides.
As a result, there has been a ballooning rodent population. Some say
this could lead to a potential public health crisis.
Chicago has claimed the top spot as the United States’ rattiest city for
10 years straight, and Los Angeles is at No. 2.
New York City is ranked third in cities with the most rats. San
Francisco and Washington, D.C., round out the top five.
The California rodenticide ban could mean a change is underway.
“My prediction is that probably by the end of the year, we will become
the rattiest city in the United States, for sure,” Rico, owner of
American Rat Control in Los Angeles, said. “I’m wishing, hoping that we
can get some of the old rodenticide back. That really worked.”
The Southern California wildfires are another factor in the booming rat population.
Many people were displaced during the deadly blaze, and rodents have
been as well, so many have made their way into surrounding communities.
Rat sightings are up in San Francisco as well, prompting a column just yesterday in SFist on whether that city needs a rat czar like the one in
New York City.
In a single year, just two rats can produce thousands of offspring.
Female rats can start reproducing five weeks after birth, and each can
deliver litters of up to 12 every month.
This is why many are pushing for more aggressive efforts in rat birth
control, along with higher public awareness to combat habits that
attract rats, like leaving out bird seed, pet food and garbage.'
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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