Michael Parsons, a visiting research scholar at Fordham University, was recently interviewed for the video program Talking Pest Management. In the interview, Parsons explained why studying urban rats is so important. CLICK HERE to download.
Parsons explained how very disappointingly around 99% of the knowledge we have on rats is based on laboratory rats – there is a dearth of data on wild populations. They are uniform, small, difficult to study and dangerous, yet despite them living so close to us no one is surveying them. No one knows how many there are. "If anyone asked me and well-known rodentologist, Dr Bobby Corrigan, how many there were in New York, our estimates could range from two to 32 million," Parsons said.
Rats in the city are ‘owned’ by someone – they occur on either private or city-owned property, which for a researcher makes them difficult to access. Pest professionals do have access, so Parsons pleads for PCOs to work more closely with academia for mutual benefit in the development of new strategies.
One project currently underway is to evaluate if rodents can become infected with the SARS-COV2 virus, responsible for Covid-19, and also whether they can mechanically transmit the virus. Parsons invites all those interested in participating in the research—a collaboration with the Vancouver Rat Project – to contact him on email. Email: manhattanratsresearch@gmail.com
He would also be delighted to work alongside pest professionals in the development of an app which would link rodent theory with practice and so gather data to build-up a bank of information.
As to the future role of rodenticides, Parsons unsurprisingly mentions bait shyness, resistance and the problems of secondary poisoning of wildlife all becoming increasingly important issues. An additional issue is that of animal welfare. Rats are not only intelligent, they are increasingly being seen to be able to express emotions, or as the scientists say, express emotional contagion. People do not like harming animals and death by rodenticide is slow and painful.
New control methods may become available, but in the shorter term think hygiene and exclusion. Repellents are a possibility, but most interestingly is the the idea of spring loaded traps which inject contraceptives.
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