NYC School Shows How to Bait, Trap Rats

New York Opens Rodent Control Academy to Help Exterminators Wage War on City's Rat Population

By SARA KUGLER
The Associated Press
December 11, 2005

Bobby Corrigan Photo by: Dan Moreland

NEW YORK -- City officials hoping better educated foot soldiers can wage a smarter battle against an all-time high rat population have opened the Rodent Control Academy, an insitution of higher learning about vermin that scurry around in low places.

The city enlisted Bobby Corrigan to teach a decidedly creepy curriculum that strives to show city workers how to properly bait, trap and poison the rodents in ways that don't just drive an infestation down the block.

Rodent complaints and health department exterminations are at unprecedented highs in New York, and the little ruffians are everywhere scampering through subway tunnels, rooting through trash, dashing across parks, burrowing into the walls of apartment buildings. They can transmit disease, start fires by gnawing on electrical cords, and sometimes bite, usually children and the elderly.

There's no question that we have a rat problem. "The city has put out traps and poison at record rates," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in September while outlining the city's yearly report card, which showed a dramatic increase in rat complaints.

The dilemma is exacerbated by bureaucracy, because one infestation usually requires the attention of several municipal agencies.

Consider this: A complaint comes in about a swarm of rats overtaking the corner of a city park. That is the parks department territory, but if it's near a subway line, the transportation department is involved. Nearby restaurants mean the health department might want to weigh in. If there are sewer lines, better call the Department of Environmental Protection. The list goes on.

Now, any agency that ever deals with a single rat is sending its employees to the Rodent Control Academy , where Corrigan schools them about everything regarding rats and the best practices for getting rid of them, putting all city departments on the same page.

"It's everybody working together to eradicate the problem," said Flavia Diaz, who works for the pest control arm of the Health Department, which organized the course that is funded by a $600,000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant.