Does Rat Birth Control Actually Work?

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( MONDAY, MAY 6 urban fauna [Does Rat Birth Control Actually Work?]( And everything else we wanted to know about this novel approach to the city’s rat problem. Photo: Charlie Hamilton James After Flaco was found dead earlier this year with rat poison in his system (and an apparent case of pigeon herpes), Councilmember Shaun Abreu introduced a [bill]( named for the Eurasian owl that would pilot the use of contraceptives instead of rodenticides to help control the city’s rat problem. (Rat poison also played a role in [the death of Barry](, another celebrity owl.) In the proposed pilot, pellets would be spread in a series of ten-block zones around the city and have their efficacy tracked over the course of a year. The rats will apparently eat these pellets because, [according]( to Dr. Loretta Mayer, the co-founder of SenesTech and the scientist behind the product Abreu focused on in his proposal, they taste “better than pizza.” The bill might be something rat haters and [rat lovers]( can get behind, but the city has tried rat contraceptives before and the rats are, well, still here. (An [attempt]( to use a liquid contraceptive in Bryant Park last year was deemed a failure by the Bryant Park Corporation.) So what’s going to happen this time? We reached out to Michael H. Parsons, a rodentologist and former Fordham University researcher, about the science behind rat contraceptives, the tricky matter of tracking their effectiveness, how to measure success, and rat cognition and ticklishness. [Continue reading »]( Want more on city life, real estate, and design? [Subscribe now]( to save over 40% on unlimited access to Curbed and everything New York. [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [Our Campus. Our Crisis. Inside the encampments and crackdowns that shook American politics. A report by the student journalists of the Columbia Daily Spectator.]( [A Cobalt-Blue Jazz Bar, Monumental Sari Sculptures, and More May Design Finds Plus two new downtown design showrooms.]( By Terry Nguyen [A Very Ornate Park Avenue Time Capsule In a building where Massimo Ferragamo, Barbara Goldsmith, and Danielle Steel all once lived.]( By Adriane Quinlan [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( [Sign up to get The Listings Edit](, a weekly digest of the most worth-it apartments in New York. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1701 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2024, All rights reserved