New York City Using Dry Ice to Control Rats

New York City is ramping up its use of dry ice to plug rat burrows in parks, AM New York reported.

On March 5, members of the pest control division of the New York City Health Department stuffed rat burrows with dry " Rat Ice" in Columbus Park as part of a demonstration.

When properly placed in rodent burrows, dry ice asphyxiates rodents. It is non-toxic to humans and pets and it poses no secondary threats to non-target animals. 

Health Department officials said during a 2016 pilot project dry ice helped slash the number of rat burrows at Columbus Park from 60 to just two; Tompkins Square Park saw a reduction of 368 burrows down to 20, AM New York reported.

The use of dry ice for rodent burrows is part of Mayor de Blasio’s $32 million plan to reduce the city’s rat population, with a focus on the city’s high-infestation areas: Grand Concourse in the Bronx, Chinatown/East Village/Lower East Side in Manhattan and Bushwick/Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn.

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Source: AM New York