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Photograph courtesy of sxc.hu |
As floodwaters poured into New York City鈥檚 tunnels and subways, rodents that make their homes in the holes and crevices underground found themselves inundated, a result of Hurricane Sandy that may have more effectively eliminated the pests than years of poisoning.
鈥淔looding does flush some rats to the surface, but [the hurricane] drowned many rats, particularly young rats,鈥 Sam Miller, assistant commissioner for public affairs at the city's , wrote in an email. 鈥淭hat is a benefit. We have not seen increased reports of rats on the streets.鈥
It鈥檚 a good thing that there aren鈥檛 more of the rodents sidling along the sidewalks. Rats carry a variety of , from typhus to Hantavirus, which can have ill effects on people. They also have an effect on urban wildlife: they eat birds and bird eggs. 鈥淭hey are very effective predators on pigeons,鈥 wrote Miller.
No one is quite sure exactly how many rats live in Gotham, or how many expired because of Hurricane Sandy, but it鈥檚 a rare commute when one doesn鈥檛 show its whiskered face near the tracks. 鈥淩odents, it turns out, reside inside station walls, emerging occasionally from cracks in the tile to rummage for food,鈥 The New York Times in 2010. Still, 鈥渢he legend of teeming rat cities tucked deep into subway tunnels is, in fact, a myth. The electrified tracks, scientists said, are far too dangerous,鈥 The shrewd animals also make their home in sewers, alleys, parks, and many other suitable urban environs, so one storm won鈥檛 be the end of them. (Nor will the nor鈥檈aster scheduled to blow through the city tonight.)
The storm did prove deadly to lab rodents used to study disease at a New York University research center, however. There is one silver lining鈥攔esearch institutions are donating animals so that the work can continue.