3 ms·

I'd love to see a study on the topic, it doesn't seem totally obvious that depaving an area would increase a rat population, but maybe I'm wrong

• card_zero 3y ago
  I read a book titled "Rats" once, which was a journalist embedding with the rats of New York, Walden-style, and watching their habits over a year, talking to rat catchers and so on. My general impression is that populations are controlled by available food for rats, and nothing else. Also, rats aren't so bad.
  • trgn 3y ago
    Yeah, e.g. nyc has plenty of rats and little of these grassy areas like pictured in the artixle. It's just because of the trash above ground, and food garbage in sewers. I live in suburban area with plenty of grass, trees.. no rats because of good trash pickup. I really don't think these depaving efforts will cause real vermin issues.
  • lostlogin 3y ago
    > Also, rats aren't so bad. If you’re blessed (cursed?) with a population that consists of a large number of ground dwelling birds, rats are the enemy. I’m in New Zealand.
  • bobthepanda 3y ago
    IIRC in New York when COVID happened, the rat population ended up in severe pressure due to lockdowns eliminating virtually all sidewalk and subway food trash overnight, and ended up selecting for the most aggressive rats to survive.