I’m home for the holidays in New York this week, and went to Central Park with my son the other day.
Now, I have always known or assumed that Manhattan has an enormous rat population, but I had never seen so many rats (or so many huge ones) running around Central Park. They were literally everywhere, in broad daylight.
What’s going on?
All the rats came home for Thanksgiving.
New York needs more Dachshunds. Actually, the world does.
Or more cats.
Years ago they re-homed some hawks to Bryant Park to help deal with a rat problem there. It worked really well until one of the hawks made lunch out of a lady’s chihuahua.
What friedo said. Bryant Park used to be rife with them Rife, I say. I’ve never seen rats in Central Park and am disgusted to hear they’re running rampant.
Back in the late 90’s when I shot the Good Morning America concerts in Bryant Park every Friday in the summertime, we had a 12 midnight call. We’ be alone in the entire park. Just us. And a few tired snoozy drunks. And hundreds of rats. They were ballsy, too. It was their space and we were the interlopers.
I’d be off to the side away from the lawn on a side walking area with very low wrought iron borders that held rhododendron. The rats would walk out of them and just sit there. Watching me. Some as big as house cats.
Made me wish I’d gone into another line of work.
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Have you seen NYC rats? Most cats aren’t up to this job.
You say that like it is a bad thing.
A little googling indicates that there are around 2 million rats in NYC. I’m sure Central Park attracts a largish number of those. Loads of waste food and natural food at the park. I remember 10 years ago having the kids at the Museum of Natural History and we were across the street looking into the park and admiring the black squirrels when a large rat disturbed the scene chasing away the squirrels. Sucker looked like he was probably a 4 pounder. ::shudder:: but that is unlikely as I’ve read they rarely get to 2 lbs.
You got rats on the West Side
Bed bugs uptown
What a mess this town’s in tatters, I’ve been shattered
My brain’s been battered, splattered all over Manhattan
And of course you can’t take your varmint gun to the park… 
A spike in Central Park rat population may mean there was some sort of displacement. Maybe the Second Avenue Subway line construction?
If there is a lot of construction nearby that can bring them out. Or it could just be Central Park being Central Park.
There have been a lot of news stories over the last couple of years about the rat problem in New York. The playgrounds in Central Park have been a focus; the Upper West Side has been complaining as well. One article said that one factor in the uptick is that the city does not use poison during the spring and summer to avoid possible harm to nesting raptors. Another article noted that the subway system removed its trashcans in a largely unsuccessful bid to reduce litter.
DeBlasio has been noticing the issue and announcing some initiatives; like snow removal, it’s the sort of issue that can really bedevil a mayor.
Car 54 where are you?
:smack: How does removing the legal and proper place for discarding trash reduce litter? 
How did anyone expect it would? :dubious:
Yeah, that seems like the totally wrong idea.
NYC Transit is run by some very special people.
We have a relatively new phenomenon happening with the urban wildlife that no one seems to recognize but me and I very well might be wrong. I have been a slightly more than casual observer of these things my entire life.
Urban coyote populations are establishing themselves across the country. One of their prime food sources is cats as well as raccoons. They will also eat rats but not until the cats and raccoons are gone. Coyotes showed up in my cite 2 years ago. An exploding population of raccoons has been drastically reduced. Feral cat populations have plunged as well. Rat populations have soared. I am looking for the owls to gain a better foothold in the near future just as the coopers hawks have recently done with our expanding feral pigeon flocks. The dynamics are interesting and take decades to play out.
The owl infestation is only a problem in New New York.
It’s also the way the park system in NY works, or doesn’t work. “Carry in, carry out”
Um, it normally has that effect. In most of the world. Maybe Americans are just worse litterbugs?
I just had a look around for a citation, but the web is just crowded with reports about NYC subways. Apparently NYC subway users really are dirty: less trash sitting in trash cans, with no increase in rodent numbers, but the same amount of litter on the ground after trash can removal.
<Golf clap>. That was perfect.