Alcohol is NYC’s Newest Weapon in Ongoing Rodent Battle

As part of New York City’s ongoing rodent war, the city is trying a new approach: the use of a machine that attracts rats with bait and then triggers a trap door that drops them into a pool of alcohol-based liquid.

As reported in Phys.org, Anthony Giaquinto, president of Rat Trap Inc., told reporters "It knocks them out and they drown eventually," Rat Trap Inc., imports the devices from Italy.

The machine — called Ekomille — is battery operated and resembles a cabinet around two-feet high.

Rats climb a ladder to eat the bait. A sensor deploys a trip lever which plunges them into a tray that can hold 80 rat carcasses.

A total of 107 rodents met their end this way during a month-long trial around the grounds of the borough hall in Brooklyn, officials said.

On Thursday, Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams presented the device as "humane and environmentally friendly" during a press conference. Following the press conference the device was demoed outside of the Brooklyn Borough Hall.