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popsci_2013 02615.txt

#NYC Wants To Sterilize Its Subway Ratsthe rats of NYC subways are resilient. The city is an especially well-suited home for the critters which explains why the Big Apple has millions of them even if some were displaced from the subway after Sandy. The latest plan to stem the tide? Sterilize them. Traditional methods like trapping and poisoning are already being used but there are a lot of rats down there and this could potentially slow the population in a more humane way. A sweet-salty sterilizing chemical called Contrapest will be placed in subway bait boxes. When a female rat ingests some it'll target the ovarian follicles permanently sterilizing it. If it's already pregnant some of its female children will even become sterile. Along with those more traditional techniques Metro Transit Authority officials are hoping this puts a dent in the rodent population. Still it sounds like it takes a lot of the compound developed by a company called Senestech to effectively sterilize the rats: one of them needs to consume 10 percent of its body weight in five to 10 days to make it infertile. And there's a lot of discarded food around the subway to compete with. New york times As this chemical melts and gets into the water system how will it effect humans? Why didn't POPSCI ask this question? Oh grow a pair anylcon. But perhaps that is beyond your capability. Hello my name is Joseph and I own an exterminating co in Brooklyn New york . I think that this is a great idea on paper but when you apply it to real life it really doesn't maker much sense. First off to become sterilized the rats are going to have to eat this rodenticide. The main issue the mta is currently having with rats is that the general public is so filthy and throws food and drinks on the tracks. Also the current situation of sanitation on the platform is still very poor. Although its getting better some stations are terrible. The rodents will always eat people's hot dog buns and chips and pretzels before they eat a waxy rodenticide. The second problem is this will just work on the female rats. I think the city needs to look deeper into other preventive ways of avoiding a rise in the rat population in NYC. I am skeptical but curious about this new idea. I would like to see the long term outcome.@@vanderleunas a matter of fact I agree with anyicon (formerly known as robot. It can make a rat sterile and we use rats to test out drugs we are starting to develop for human use...Doesn't sound all too far fetched. Btw I'd like to see you grow a pair after ingesting that stuff . in order to thank everyone characteristic novel style varieties low price and good quality and the low sale price. Thank everyonehttp://al. ly/3jfhttp://al. ly/3jfhttp://al. ly/3jfhttp://al. ly/3jf Hmmmmm NYC has too many rats Florida has too many pythons Pythons eat rats...Pinky are you thinking what I'm thinking? Gee Brain I thick so...But me and Pippy Longstockings?..What would the children look like...Zonk! Seriously...How much does this stuff cost per pound? Who makes it and do they have an in with the city government? cholin3947 Are you asking for China? Bloomberg just banned all rats in N y c. problem solved. Bloomberg just repealed that law realizing that it was written so quickly and pushed through in the middle of the night without an exemption clause for himself and hollywood. No need for more hazardous chemicalstry this www. iotd. patrickandrews. com/2011/06/18/1630-bachelorat/or this www. iotd. patrickandrews. com/2012/01/18/1835-ampramp/or even this? www. iotd. patrickandrews. com/2009/01/26/771-trapole/@Anyicongood point on the water. NYC should be fine though since all it's water comes from reservoirs it own upstate.@@Northeastern ex...First: Quite a bit of an overgeneralization that the general public is so filthy and throws food and drinks on the tracks. While that certainly happens I think it's more from a few bad apples than the public at large. The real problem is when it does happen it just sits there for ever cause the tracks are cleaned never up. Second: If you sterilize the female rats the males ones can't get them pregnant. That's how sexual reproduction works. I agree with Joseph the exterminator. If there is a lot of food around any method that only kills most of the rats will have no effect at all. And if there are no rats what happens to the food? Mice eat it? Insects s

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