New York among 'rattiest' cities in the nation

Rats on the move in NYC

Rats are back on NYC's streets as the city opens to more outdoor eating.

NEW YORK - Rat complaints may have fallen to historic lows in New York City during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, but the rodents remain plentiful and are making a comeback.

In a report by rodent control company Orkin, New York City is the third 'rattiest' city in the nation, only topped by Chicago at number 1 and Los Angeles at number 2. The rankings are the same as the previous year.

Other cities in the Empire State made the list including Albany at 38 and Buffalo at 43.

The rankings were based on the number of new rodent residential and commercial treatments performed from September 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020.

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New York City has historically been home to as many rats as people or about eight million rodents.

This spring’s coronavirus shutdown led to a decline in New York City’s rat population as many starved to death, but as more people emerged from their apartments as restrictions were lifted, the remaining rat population once again enjoyed leftovers.

“It has had a significant impact on the rat population, their behavior, and so on,” said Mike Deutsch, an entomologist.

Many of the sickest, smallest, and weakest rats, the so-called “omega rats,” lowest on the rat hierarchy and living on the fringes of rat colonies starved to death, leaving fewer rats. But the ones that remained were largely the biggest, strongest, smartest, most aggressive rats nature had to offer.

Rats growing aggressive even eating each other during pandemic

The lack of available food sources due to the shutdown of bars, restaurants and other businesses that discard food has lead to an increase in aggressive rats.

“Rodents are experts at sniffing out food and shelter, and they’re resilient in their ways to obtain both,” said Ben Hottel, an Orkin entomologist. “Residential properties offer the ideal habitat for rodents, and once they’ve settled in, they’re capable of reproducing rapidly and in large quantities.”

1. Chicago 26. Raleigh, N.C. (-2)

2. Los Angeles 27. Hartford, Conn. (-2)

3. New York 28. Columbus, Oh (-7)

4. Washington, D.C. 29. Grand Rapids

5. San Francisco 30. Kansas City (+8)

6. Detroit 31. Charlotte, N.C. (-3)

7. Philadelphia (+3) 32. Phoenix (5)

8. Baltimore (+4) 33. Richmond, Va. (-3)

9. Denver 34. Nashville

10. Minneapolis (-2) 35. Greenville, S.C. (-2)

11. Cleveland, Oh. (-4) 36. Sacramento (+5)

12. Seattle (+1) 37. St. Louis (-6)