The bizarre solution to America's rat plague - and you might not like it

The bizarre solution to America's rat plague could be learning to live with them in a more harmonious way, according to experts. 

Rodent researchers have said that instead of ploughing millions of dollars into trying to fight a losing battle against the furry animals, cities like New York and Boston should consider embracing cohabitation.

Big Apple officials have has gone to lengths including creating 'rat mitigation zones' where teams of deputies patrol, seal up any entry holes and deploy poisons in pest hotspots like Harlem. 

Kaylee Byers, an assistant professor of health sciences at Simon Fraser University, explained why it's time for officials to re-think this approach to the pest problem. 

'What we're doing now is obviously not working,' she told the Boston Globe. 'Part of that is that our current approach has been 'see a rat, kill a rat.'

The bizarre solution to America's rat plague could be learning to live with them in a more harmonious way, according to experts

Rodent researchers have said that instead of ploughing millions of dollars into trying to fight a losing battle against the furry animals, cities like New York and Boston should consider embracing cohabitation

Byers, who has extensively researched Vancouver's rat population, said this method is ineffective because the rat reproduction rate is so high that as soon as one batch is exterminated, another appears. 

Marieke Rosenbaum, an assistant professor and research veterinarian at Tufts University's Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, added that the health dangers associated with rats has been grossly exaggerated.  

'They can carry and transmit diseases we can catch, but the reality is that, at least in most North American cities, [transmission] doesn't happen with high frequency,' Rosenbaum told the Globe. 

However, this doesn't include the homeless population who are at greater risk to catching disease from the street vermin. 

New York City has seen an increase in cases of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease spread by rats, though at its peak there were still only 24 cases reported over the course of one year. 

In 2023 there were 24 cases reported in the city, which is eight times higher than total cases in the previous two decades.

Humans can become infected with leptospirosis through contact with urine from infected animals, who can carry the disease without suffering any adversities. 

People pick up the disease through handling infected garbage or touching the ground where a rat has urinated. 

However, Byers said the mental health impacts of dealing with rats in your home is often overlooked.   

Rodent researchers have said that instead of ploughing millions of dollars into trying to fight a losing battle against the furry animals, cities like New York and Boston should consider embracing cohabitation 

New York City has hired rat-catcher Kathleen Corradi (pictured right) for $155,000-a-year

Adams said a 'rat mitigation zone' in Harlem would see $3.5million invested into ridding the neighborhood of rodents

'They can cause stress and anxiety,' she told the Globe. 'People that I've spoken to have mentioned helplessness and hopelessness.'

New York City employs Kathleen Corradi, 34, as rat tsar for $155,000 per year. 

Corradi said the city would start by reducing food waste on the streets, and Adams said a 'rat mitigation zone' in Harlem would see $3.5million invested into ridding the neighborhood of rodents. 

The policies do not appear to have had immediate effect. One New Yorker recently described seeing 'rats the size of crocs just running up and down the street' in Harlem. 

In September, a horrified group of New Yorkers were forced to hop over scores of vermin scurrying across their path from bins outside a pizzeria in shocking footage. 

But some people in the Big Apple have learned to embrace the furry residents. Tour guides are even offering trips to the most rodent-infested areas of the city. 

Some are offering walks across the boroughs, including to Central Park, the subway system, near the Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Chinatown.