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It’s a war that stretches back centuries – humans versus rats.

(SOUND FROM ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The rat is a scoundrel and a murderer who thrived on adapting to the ways of man. The rat problem is a man problem.

SHAPIRO: Well, there’s a new front in that war because cities across the Northeast are seeing an increase in rat complaints. Walter Wuthmann of member station WBUR in Boston reports that some cities are getting creative as they try to combat this rat.

WALTER WUTHMANN, BYLINE: Just off this bike path in the dense city of Somerville, Michael Collins wades through the bushes and pulls out a metal box. He is an exterminator, and this box is a trap. It kills rats with a shock of electricity.

MICHAEL COLLINS: No catches in that one.

WUTHMANN: He walks a few meters down the path and opens another box. It releases a rancid smell.

This guy – how long do you think he’s been gone?

Every time these traps kill, they email the town. Somerville is only the second city in the country to use this type of trap called a SMART box. Colin Zeigler, the self-proclaimed rat czar of Somerville, says the data from the trap helps identify the location of specific colonies. The city can then tackle problems nearby, such as sealing trash cans, filling burrows and teaching people how to rat-proof their homes.

COLIN ZIEGLER: We think they’re the next step in rodent control and a good urban response.

WUTHMANN: The pandemic has tipped the balance in the ongoing battle between humans and rodents. After lockdowns, large cities across the northeastern United States began to see more complaints about rats. This is Michael Parsons, an urban ecologist at Fordham University who studies wild rats.

MICHAEL PARSONS: It makes sense that with restaurants closing, rats will need new places to eat. And – because they usually eat leftovers from restaurants in the garbage cans.

WUTHMANN: Parsons and his team analyzed data from New York 311 and found complaints increased in the areas near restaurants. Parsons says it appears rats have moved from areas filled with restaurants into residential areas around them. People used to seeing the occasional rat suddenly started seeing many, many more. Now that feeders are open again, Parsons believes some rats have stayed in their new territories, but others have migrated back to their old dens. Boston 311 data shows that rat complaints rose nearly 50% citywide last year compared to before the pandemic. City crews are trying to respond to those complaints by killing rats with carbon monoxide.

WUTHMANN: Early on a recent morning, a pair of sanitation workers drove a green metal machine out onto Boston Common. They wound its hose down into a rat hole, then began filling it with gas. This is Environmental Health Inspector Brendan Sheehan.

BRENDAN SHEEHAN: So what happens is the smoke comes down and fills the cavity. And when we see the smoke coming out of the other burrows, we start sealing them. That’s how we know it’s a complete system.

WUTHMANN: Sheehan says the carbon monoxide euthanizes rats by slowly putting them to sleep. Animal rights activists tend to agree that carbon monoxide is more humane than other forms of rodenticide, especially poison. Rat poison also kills other animals such as hawks, owls and eagles that feed on contaminated rats. It sickens about 10,000 children in the United States every year and kills a number of pets. Some communities do away with rat poison altogether and try alternatives such as edible rat birth control. Holly Elmore, an animal welfare researcher with the group Rethinking Priorities, thinks we need to stop trying to eradicate rats entirely.

HOLLY ELMORE: If they can’t do that on islands where they, you know, put millions of dollars into getting rid of every rat, I mean, you can’t do that in your own house. You cannot solve the problem by killing every rat.

WUTHMANN: The Summerville Rat Czar feels the same way. Colin Ziegler says his city’s electric traps are only part of the solution.

ZIEGLER: You can never solve a rodent problem just by trapping. You have to look at food sources. You need to look at water sources and shelter.

WUTHMANN: Despite all the money spent on cutting-edge technology, urban exterminators say nothing beats a dry yard and a tightly sealed garbage can to keep the rats at bay. For NPR News, I’m Walter Wuthmann in Boston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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