I know new trash cans might not seem like news but it all interrelates into the care for our environment overall, rethinking the use of pesticides and rodenticides, and yet “limiting” the rat population while avoiding the placement of poison in the park to kill rats.
The Parks Department to their credit removed the rodenticide they had newly placed in the park and is trying to address the trash issue at the park by installing cans with lids. I also heard the agency was placing “snap” trap boxes for rats (which sort of sound horrible and I’d opt for trying the reduction of trash method first) but I haven’t seen them in the park.
In the city, we need to take a “whole”-istic approach and rat populations are very much influenced by access to food and other things that people discard in the trash. Poison not so much – in fact, it can have the opposite effect and increase the population. (Read why here.) And it affects other species in really bad ways. There have been numerous deaths of hawks (now seven or eight) by secondary poisoning from eating rats in parks throughout the city this year. I wonder if there is also harm to other wildlife of which we are not aware.