Study Finds Rats Are Winning the Rat Race

New York rated most vulnerable to boom in rodent population

By Zach Samalin, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 4, 2007 1:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – Rodent experts labeled New York the US city most open to large-scale rat infestation today, after conducting a nationwide survey that took into account climate, waste management, population density, and age of infrastructure, Reuters reports. New York's appearance atop comes months after a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant was overrun by rats and closed. Houston and Boston round out the top three.

"This isn't a top-10 list you want to be on, but in many cities rodents are doing very well today," said Dale Kaukeinen, who led the survey. Metropolitan areas grew dramatically in the 1990s, and the rodent population boomed, too, aided by lowered spending on eradication. "If you have a garbage strike," Kaukeinen said, "the rat population will explode."

Rodentacide ((c) miss_rogue)

A rat runs between chairs inside a KFC-Taco Bell restaurant in Greenwich Village in New York, in this file photo from Friday, Feb. 23, 2007. Cemone Thomas, the inspector who gave the restaurant a passing... (Associated Press)

A commuter squeezes into a crowded uptown E subway train at Penn Station Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007 in New York. Heavy rains dumped two and a half to three inches of rain on the city overnight, flooding... (Associated Press)

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New Yorkers Living Longer Than Most of Us

City's life expectancy now 2 years above national average

Rat Crawls on NYC Subway Rider's Face

Welcome to Gotham

NYC Uses Blunt, Scary Images for HIV Ad

But critics say it's too negative, ineffective

Bedbugs Invade NYC Cinemas

Times Square theater temporarily shuttered

Victoria's Secret Store Infested: Bedbugs Are Back

Recent NYC store closures mark comeback

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