City of Boston Experimenting with Dry Ice to Control Rodents

BOSTON - The City of Boston is experimenting with dry ice to control rodents, the Boston Globe reported.

 

For the past several weeks, workers from the agency have been using picnic coolers to pick up dry ice from a local company.

 

They take the supercold substance to known trouble spots. The workers use steel scoops and wear gloves as they place the dry ice into the multiple exits of each burrow. They use their regular work boots to pack the dry ice in.

 

Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. As it melts, it turns into carbon dioxide gas, which fills the burrow, suffocating any rats inside.

 

EHS Pest Services has been using this method for three years, and the Boston area company did the training for the city of Boston, EHS President John Stellberger told PCT. “We have been successfully using this method for three years, including city properties as an approved vendor. EHS does not use rodenticides at all in open air burrows,” Stellberger said.

 

Additional source: Boston Globe