It looks like the rat race is back in New York.
A year after the first coronavirus pandemic in which normal life was suspended, save a thought for the city rats that also suffered.
When restaurants and bars were closed and the indoor dining room suspended, as the city was forced to close, a reliable food source for the rodent population of the Big Apple suddenly dried up.
But now, with life slowly returning to normal, so have the number of complaints against parasites with a hotline in the city in March that reported an 80% increase over the same period of last year.
In March, 2,906 complaints were registered. In comparison, it is even higher than pre-pandemic levels: in 2019, the city’s 311 complaint line saw 2,395 for rodents, according to Bloomberg.
In mid-March, an Instagram user in New York posted a photo of a rat on a car knife: it’s unclear how the rat arrived or if it’s part of the recent swarm that invaded the city, but this one user took it as a sign of bad things to come
In late January, when complaints continued to rise since last year, a TikTok user posted in New York a video of not one, but two dead rats on the street.
Social media users have been capturing their sightings and posting them online. This rat was stuffed on the street in Brooklyn in March when calls to the city increased by 80 percent
City information shows that observations of rats and mice increased significantly, with most complaints originating in Brooklyn, followed by Manhattan and Queens.
“As things open up more, you’ll have more food available,” said entomologist Benjamin Hottel. “There will be more pressure for restaurants with rodents as they grow their businesses.”
As expected, those areas that were essentially deserted during the height of the pandemic, such as commercial premises, are experiencing more rodent activity as workers return to officers.
But the closure of New York also changed the behavior of rats, as they were suddenly forced to find new food sources by pests that had depended on eating garbage from nearby restaurants.
One person saw a rat on a railing when he looked out the Brooklyn window in February
Once upon a time, rats are against being seen along the platforms of the New York subway
A pair of rats were seen flying on the New York subway tracks
As the restaurants closed with the exception of the takeaway service, much less food waste was being rejected in the alleys or rubbish, which caused the local rodent population to come out in search of leftovers.
Many people posted sightings of rats on social media accounts
Several rats could be seen running along a wall
In May, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning about “unusual or aggressive rodent behavior.”
“There’s been this chaos for rats. They’re trying to figure out where the food source is easiest, as some food sources disappeared,” Hottel said.
Suddenly, the rats also became more active during the day and moved to residential areas where more food and waste could be found, but the creatures are expected to return to their more familiar behavior as the day progresses. life returns to normal.
“Suddenly a restaurant closes, which has happened to thousands of people, not just in New York City, but from coast to coast and around the world, and the rats that lived in the restaurant, somewhere nearby, and maybe for decades generations of rats that depended on this restaurant’s food, life no longer works for them and they only have a couple of choices, ”Corrigan told NBC News last year.
When hungry rats are moved to areas where there is still food, butchery occurs.
Bobby Corrigan, an urban roentologist who has a master’s and a doctorate. in rodent pest management said rats that depend on households for their food supply are still doing well
A rat has a trash can in search of food in New York
“It’s like we’ve seen in human history, where people try to take possession of the land and come in with military and armies and fight to the death, literally, for who will conquer that land. And that’s what happens with the rats “, Bobby Corrigan, an urban roentologist who has a master ‘s degree and a doctorate. in rodent pest management, he said.
“There is a new ‘army’ of rats and any army with the strongest rats will conquer this area.”
Fierce lawn wars extend beyond ditch fights, which often lead rats to eat each other.
“They’re mammals just like you and me, and so when you’re very hungry, you won’t act the same way, you will usually act very badly,” he said.
“So these rats fight each other, now the adults kill the young in the nest and cannibalize the young.”
In March, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would increase the number of garbage collections after reducing services due to budget constraints during the pandemic.
Last year, in New Orleans, viral videos swarmed of rats seizing roads and sidewalks in normally boiled neighborhoods like the French Quarter (pictured)