Why are there so many rats in NYC?

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There are a huge number of rats in New York City. They are everywhere it seems.



No, no one is talking about the kind of people that would betray their gang or neighbors. Those are entirely different kind of rat.

What is being talked about here is tiny little rodent that seems to be everywhere you look within America’s largest city. New York City is not only the home to more people than any other city or urban area in the United States, but it is also the home to millions and millions of rats that have set up their residence within the city.

It does not matter whether you are talking about looking in the basement of a building, in a garbage dumpster, in the sewer, or in the subway, you can find rats just about everywhere you look. This makes many wonder why are there so many rats in New York City?

That is a really good question, but one that is easier to answer than you may have thought. If you think about the things that a rat needs for survival there are just a few necessities. It needs food, water, shelter, and the ability to reproduce. If you look around New York City you will likely see that every one of these is not only available, but available in abundance.

Start with food for a moment. Not only do people throw large amounts of food away every day, giving a rat an incredible food source whether it is in the garbage can, the dumpster, or even on the street. Rats will eat many of the things that we have thrown out, making the garbage can a prime location to get food.

However, that is not the only source. People leave out food for their pet, which the rat will find as enjoyable as your cat or dog would. People have food in their homes, which rats will happily sample as they work their way through your cabinet or pantry. Restaurants have spills and leave food out to be cooked the next day, all of which will make for the perfect meal for rat.

There is also a great abundance of water everywhere in New York City. This is not only collected in drains or sewers, but is found in people’s homes, in the basement, and sinks all over the city. There is plenty of water to be found.

Shelter is what may be the necessity that is in greatest abundance of them all. Because of the way that the structures in New York City have been designed, they afford large numbers of rats the perfect opportunity to colonize and reproduce. Rats like to live in large colonies, and New York City affords that very opportunity by having thousands of locations that are fairly secluded but also quite spacious for a colony to develop. It doesn’t take a great deal of space, and with the large amount of food that is available you can be sure that the rat problem is not one that is going away. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does rat removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of rats - my main rat removal info guide.
Example rat trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Rat job blog - learn from great examples of rat jobs I've done.