This one’s for Flaco.
The New York City Council is launching the latest salvo in the city’s war on rats, in the form of specialized bait that makes them infertile. Lawmakers see the rodent contraceptives as an alternative to the poison that sickens birds across the five boroughs — like Flaco, the majestic Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and later died after crashing into a building with rat poison in his system.
The Council last week passed a bill mandating the city’s health and sanitation departments team up for six months to target several Manhattan neighborhoods with rat bait laced with rodent birth control. The measure would require health inspectors to issue a report on how effective the bait is at reducing the rats’ ranks.
Animal rights activists said the new strategy would also reduce harm to children, pets and other animals.
A smaller pilot of a rat contraceptive program last year was deemed a failure. But advocates say this time will be different due to a new, delicious formula, as well as the city’s efforts to containerize more garbage and eliminate food sources for rats.
Experts were divided on whether rats would take the bait.
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets, or NYCLASS — a group best known for campaigning to end the use of horse-drawn carriages in the city — said the pellets are specially formulated to be too good for rats to pass up.
“They’re basically designed to be irresistible to rats,” she said. “I think we will see a dramatic decrease in the number of rats. And I think we will also see an end to wildlife being unnecessarily poisoned.”
Birnkrant said the pellets aren’t toxic to humans and that she’d heard countless stories from dog owners about their pets being poisoned by traditional rodenticide.
Kaylee Byers, an assistant professor in the faculty of health sciences at Simon Fraser University who was recently in New York City for Mayor Eric Adams’ inaugural rat summit, said a multipronged approach that includes putting trash in containers is key to reducing rat populations.
“You know, in a city like New York, where there’s food everywhere,” Byers said. “They might choose to eat those other food sources instead of the bait.”
Building super Dominick Romeo frequently traps and kills rats in the Manhattan building he oversees. He said contraceptives won’t work in the long run.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Romeo, adding that he tries to avoid poison, except along the perimeter of the building. He said he prefers a “bait-and-cage” method.
“They go for the bait in a cage,” the super said. “The door closes behind them. Unfortunately, you have to take that cage and then submerge it in water, drowning the rats.”
The contraceptive pilot zone includes the Upper Manhattan district of Councilmember Shaun Abreu, who chairs the sanitation committee and sponsored the bill. The city’s newest trash containers for residential waste will also be rolled out in some of the same areas where the contraceptive pilot will be implemented.
Veteran exterminator Matt Deodato with Urban Pest Management said rats learn from each other and avoid unfamiliar food sources.
“This is like any mom teaches a baby,” he said. “So because of that, they will stay very bait-shy from products they don’t understand or don’t see before. If they never ate it before, they’re not going to eat it now.”
Deodato was skeptical the contraceptive pilot would yield measurable results.
“It’s kind of like rolling dice,” he said. “Is it going to work? Hopefully. But are you going to ever see the result? Doubtfully.”