For decades the people of New York City have claimed that rats live in the municipality. However nobody has actually seen one. Well, since it has been estimated that more than 60 million rats live in the city perhaps a few have been seen. The most conservative estimate claims that more than 250,000 share the city with other creatures and humans.

Some citizens claim they have seen rats the size of bull dogs. The scary hippopotamus size rat left years ago to live in Paris.

One exterminator claims Manhattan rats have the appearance of cats while Brooklyn rats actually look like rats. I don’t know if his Manhattan comment was dripping with silliness.

Years ago Joseph Mitchell wrote about the rats of New York city and boasted that the brown Norwegian rat is the most numerous, the dirtiest, the largest and the most fierce of the rat species. Your sweater wearing pet tiger may want to avoid them.

Thousands of licensed pest control professionals utilizing gas masks search for them on a nightly basis, clogging holes , putting out traps and fumigating. If the rat control specialists decided to move to Florida perhaps the city would have a few billion rats. Be nice to the rat exterminators. 

Recently a woman died and a man is seriously ill due to receiving kidney transplants from a donor who carried the LCMV virus. The virus was responsible for the death of three other kidney transplant patients on the east coast in 2005.

The donor was a homeless man. Experts suggest he received the virus from rodents, pets or wild animal droppings. Typically the virus causes symptoms similar to the flu. 

The virus is not easily passed from human to human. The only known way the virus is acquired from another human is from mother to fetus.

Due to the small supply of available organs, recipients will often take an organ from someone at high risk of disease and health problems. 

It does not seem to be a major problem with pregnant women, but avoiding animal droppings is another issue that pregnant women need to be concerned about more than most people.

Throughout history rodents have always been a problem or a nuisance for people all over the world. Professional rodent control services in New York City and New Jersey can be quite helpful if you have not been able to get rid of rats and other unwanted critters. Be sure to avoid their droppings.

If rats or mice are causing you trouble, Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program is the answer. The smart solution to rodent problems, Track & Trap uses a special tracking system that allows you to actually see all the places where disease-carrying, destructive rodents are getting into your home or business. One-pound, one-foot long rats can squeeze through an opening the size of a quarter. Mice can push their tiny bodies through spaces that don’t seem to be much bigger than a baby’s fingertip. Finding their entry points can be a challenge.

The Track & Trap program begins with installation of a special tracking box. Packed with tasty rodent treats, the box is dusted with a special fluorescent powder that adheres to the feet of the hungry varmints. As they come into feed, they track the powder around, leaving trails to their entry sites and back to their nests. Stern’s rodent eradication experts use a special UV light to follow these tracks. We know exactly where homes and buildings have to be sealed to prevent rodents from entering.

The program is eco-friendly and comes in two sizes for mouse or rat control. Click here for more information on Stern’s innovative Track & Trap rodent control program.

New York City has gone on a rat rampage in an attempt to make a dent in the city’s considerable rodent population. Rat czar Bobby Corrigan, the noted rodentologist, and his team (dubbed the rat pack) are scurrying about the city looking for signs of rodent infestation. When a problem is found, property owners must correct the problem quickly.

The world record for biggest rat is held by an Asian rat that weighed in at a hefty 1 pound 7 ounces. (As a comparison, “purse dogs” like those favored by Paris Hilton weigh about 3 pounds; the average house cat weighs, 6 pounds.) Fortunately for NYC residents, it’s the Norway rat that makes the Big Apple its home. Weighing just a pound, adults grow to be between 1 and 1.5 feet long, though that’s plenty big enough.

At least we don’t have the problems found in some parts of the world. In the remote state of Mizoram, India, an army of rats has caused a critical food shortage. Initially attracted by tasty bamboo flowers, the rats have been feasting on standing crops and rice stored in granaries.  Rats have devoured nearly three-quarters of the region’s annual rice supply. State authorities have initiated a “kill a rat, get cash” program, paying 5 US cents for every dead rat. What they need is Stern’s Track & Trap mouse and rat control program.

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day and everyone’s talking about “green” solutions to save our planet. Stern Environmental Group has long been a believer in environmentally friendly solutions to pest control problems.

Stern is one of an elite few pest control companies to introduce to the U.S. the revolutionary new non-toxic Cryonite system so popular in Europe. Cryonite uses no toxic pesticides or harmful chemicals and is extremely effective against bed bugs, pesticide-resistant German cockroaches, Indian meal moths and other annoying insects. With no noxious odors, messy wet residues or health implications, Cryonite is safe for children, pets (even fish!), asthmatics, allergy sufferers and the elderly.

Cryonite kills insects by freezing them with a carbon dioxide vapor that can penetrate into cracks and crevices and reach the undersides of furniture. The CO2 used is food-grade quality recycled from industrial processes. A truly “green” system, Cryonite does not add CO2 to the atmosphere.

Our unique Track & Trap mouse and rat control system is another “green” solution to pest control. This innovative system uses a fluorescent powder to track rodents to their nests. Entry points into your home or business are pinpointed and permanently sealed, keeping rodents out. The fluorescent tracking powder allows nests and dens to be located and rodents trapped and permanently removed.

In Hollywood you can tour the Homes of the Stars, but the Rat Tour is only offered in the Big Apple! The Rat Tour was the culminating event of last Friday’s town hall meeting hosted by NY State Senator Bill Perkins to highlight NYC’s new rat eradication initiative. Held in Perkins’ 125th Street office, the meeting featured “Rat Czar” Bobby Corrigan, the city’s noted rodentologist.

Dragging a dead rat from his backpack and tossing it into the air, Corrigan got the meeting off to a quirky start. “I caught this rat myself in New York City, so there’s one less out there for sure,” he joked. Corrigan, who has been stalking rats for 35 years, said, “I have a lot of respect for this mammal.” Rats are smart and capable of learning from experience. However, they also destroy enough food worldwide to feed more than 200 million people a year.

NYC is populated with Norway rats which range from 1 to 1.5 feet long and weigh about a pound. Highly adaptable, they can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter, jump 3 feet vertically and fall 5 stories without injury. “Rats are not as big as alley cats,” claimed Corrigan, who attributed the myth to the fact that rats puff up their fur when frightened which can appear to double their size.

If you’re a landlord and you get a call from one of Bobby Corrigan’s “Rat Pack” (see our Feb. 6 post), give Stern a call. Don’t risk being saddled with a city citation. NYC’s new rat master will only give you two weeks to evict the varmints if rats are discovered on your property.

Stern Environmental Group provides expert rat and mouse control and eradication. We use snap traps, rodenticides and mechanical traps to get rid of disease-ridden rodents. We also provide rat and mouse inspection services for restaurants, industry, multi-family units and homes.

Our revolutionary new Track & Trap mouse control installation is the perfect choice if your rodents come in small packages (a bigger rat-sized system is under development). The Track & Trap system is the smart, innovative, green way to take care of your mouse problem. A special tracking box is loaded with food to attract the furry critters. As mice scurry around the food trough, their feet become dusted with fluorescent powder, leaving tracks that can be followed back to their dens, ensuring that no mouse is missed by our eradication team. Click here for complete information on Stern’s Track & Trap mouse control system.

Since today is the first day of the Chinese Year of the Rat, it seems appropriate to get to know NYC’s new resident rat master, Bobby Corrigan. The city just signed on the country’s leading rodent expert as a full-time employee. Corrigan’s job is to keep rats from eating the core out of the Big Apple.

NYC is full of prime rodent real estate: lots of low shrubbery, parked cars, construction sites, abandoned buildings, tunnels and sewers. Overflowing dumpsters, trash bags stacked along the sidewalks, and lunch bags tossed in (or near) park garbage cans provide a never-ending supply of culinary delights. Corrigan certainly has his work cut out for him.

A city consultant for the past 3 years, Corrigan used his 25 years of expertise as a rodentologist to help the Health Department devise a new $1.5 million rat inspection program for the Bronx. The 18-month pilot program, which started January 1, trains inspectors at Corrigan’s “Rodent Academy” in the art of ferreting out rat activity. The program employs six inspectors — Corrigan’s “Rat Pack” — to inspect properties and make sure landlords evict any furry, four-legged tenants. If evidence of rat activity is found, landlords have two weeks to get rid of the rats before being cited.

Inspectors will carry hand-held computers that will allow them to record and track data while in the field. “Right now, we don’t have any concrete data,” Corrigan told the New York Post.  ”One of the goals is to collect that data so we can see where problem areas are.” The plan is to create maps to help community boards tackle the problem. “Rats are a barometer for human activity,” Corrigan explained. “So if we can show people where the problems are, they will hopefully do what they need to do” (i.e., get rid of the rats!).

As if regular rats weren’t enough, imagine gross, hairy, dirty rats the size of dogs and they are being found in New Jersey of all places! As odd and even scary as this may sound, these horror-story creatures do, in fact, exist. This furry fiend is called the nutria, and, currently, it’s making its home in the Garden State, New Jersey.

Originally from South America, this 12-20 lb. rodent, somewhat resembling a beaver, is capable of living in water and on land. It is found mostly in Latin America and in the states of Louisiana and Mississippi. Female nutrias can be pregnant with three litters a year, and they are able to get pregnant again within a day of giving birth. However, these creatures aren’t too scary… At least, they won’t eat you. The nutrias are plant eaters. They can devour twenty-five percent of their body weight, every day!

In the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century, nutrias were actually bred for their fine furs. As this trend of nutria farming spread throughout the South and along the Gulf Coast area, the population of these rodents grew and grew. This wouldn’t be such a problem if they weren’t considered to be one of the most damaging creatures to happen upon the marshlands. In just the past half-century, they’ve devoured about 7,000 acres of salt marsh. They’ve been making their way up the Eastern Seaboard, throughout Maryland and Delaware. Maryland is taking firm action to keep the population of nutrias to a low and to protect our waters and marsh life.

Moles are a common problem among many people. We all recognize the seemingly endless labyrinths of tunnels they leave all throughout our otherwise perfect front lawns and beneath our flower gardens. Let’s face it, they can be frustrating, in all of their destructive digging. The game “Whack a Mole” wasn’t created out of adoration. However, you can rest easy, knowing that there are, indeed, ways to protect your yard from our furry friends.

If it suits your preferences, you could start out by investing in an outdoor cat. Most cats will be content with hunting little creatures, such as the mole, all day long. They’re instinctive predators. This may seem a bit gruesome, but it does work. Sprinkling some used cat litter around the entrances of the mole holes also has the potential to drive the moles away, at least for a while.

If you’re one of the faint of heart who’d really rather not have a yard of corpses, there are other ways. Moles hate the scent of humans, so, after your next haircut, take a handful of leftover hair clippings, and put them inside the holes. They also despise the scent of garlic, so consider planting some around your yard. Also, you could venture to attempt to flood the moles out of their holes, by taking a garden hose and simply allowing a good amount of water to run through the tunnels. However, this only sometimes works. It depends greatly on the precision of the location of the water into the tunnels, as well as on the persistence of the moles. Also, try not watering your plants so vigorously. Grubs are one of moles’ favorite foods, and less water in your yard will mean less grubs, which, in turn, will mean less moles.

There are plenty of ways to rid your yard of moles without harmful poisons and snap traps. Give one (or more!) a try, and see how easy it is to whack those moles!