Most Rats in America: Chicago takes the crown.

[JMKeynes]

This is interesting.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-new...0's%20list.

Chicago
Los Angeles
New York
Washington, D.C.
San Francisco
Baltimore (+2)
Philadelphia
Detroit (-2)
Denver
Cleveland (+1)
Seattle (+1)
Minneapolis (-2)
Boston
Indianapolis (+1)
Atlanta (-1)
Pittsburgh (+2)
San Diego (+2)
Houston (-1)
Cincinnati (+3)
Dallas (-4)

[Steely Dan]

Chicago seems to "win" this title ever year.

Throwing out a guess here, but I suspect that being the most thoroughly alleyed city in the nation plays a role in it.

Those thousand of miles of alleys bisecting nearly every single block in the city provide all kinds of "unseen" nooks for rats to hide in.

[JMKeynes]

I would have thought that NY would rank first due to the unparalleled density. Other very densely populated cities like Paris and London have serious rodent infestation.

[iheartthed]

Yeah, I don't know how NYC doesn't win this one. I've heard numerous stories of people having a rat get inside their apartment since the pandemic started.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Yeah, I don't know how NYC doesn't win this one. I've heard numerous stories of people having a rat get inside their apartment since the pandemic started.

Do New Yorkers even report rats to pest control? I figure it must be a household skill over there.

[edale]

DC had a pretty terrible rat problem when I lived there in the early 2010s. I'd often see scores of them running around the Foggy Bottom area at night.

I actually don't see too many rats in LA. When I lived by USC, we had lots of alley cats that seemed to keep the rat population in check. And in Los Feliz, we often have coyotes roaming the neighborhood after dark. Maybe they help to keep the visible presence of rats down?

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

Do New Yorkers even report rats to pest control? I figure it must be a household skill over there.

Rats in a residence would definitely get reported. It used to be very unusual, but I've heard a few too many stories since the start of the pandemic.

It's always been common to see them on the street. And they're also far more visible on the street than they were before.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by edale

DC had a pretty terrible rat problem when I lived there in the early 2010s. I'd often see scores of them running around the Foggy Bottom area at night.

I actually don't see too many rats in LA. When I lived by USC, we had lots of alley cats that seemed to keep the rat population in check. And in Los Feliz, we often have coyotes roaming the neighborhood after dark. Maybe they help to keep the visible presence of rats down?

I'm surprised SF made the list too given the prevalence of natural predators but I guess it is a dense city with the most restaurants per capita.

[badrunner]

I never see rats in LA but these guys are basically rats and they're everywhere: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Califo...round_squirrel

[BnaBreaker]

I've seen more rats in New York on a single night than I have in all my time living in Chicago.

[pip]

I call bull on this. I go to Boston for extended periods of time. There is absolutely no way in any dimension Chicago has more rats than Boston. I have been back in Chicago for 5 months now and have seen less rats, maybe a handful in all that time, than I do on a one time one block walk at night in Boston.

[Crawford]

DC is the only American city where I've seen rats just strolling down the street. I even (accidentally) kicked a rat in DC one night, sending it flying.

Don't think I've ever seen a rat in NYC except on subway tracks. Our neighborhood has skunks and raccoons, due to proximity to Prospect Park forestland, but never seen a rat.

[dimondpark]

Rats apparently have good taste.

[sopas ej]

I feel like I see more rat traps than I do rats in LA, usually along alleys.


But I have seen some rats over the years, mainly in downtown LA's older sections or the Arts District.

Where I live in South Pasadena, I'm more apt to see raccoons, possums, skunks, squirrels, coyotes, parrots, peacocks... I live near Garfield Park, and I also live near a wash that forms a border between the cities of South Pasadena and San Marino---coyotes tend to wander along washes and riverbeds, so I've read. About a month ago, I saw what I presume was the same coyote walking down the street 3 days in a row, on my morning drive to work.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Crawford

DC is the only American city where I've seen rats just strolling down the street. I even (accidentally) kicked a rat in DC one night, sending it flying.

Don't think I've ever seen a rat in NYC except on subway tracks. Our neighborhood has skunks and raccoons, due to proximity to Prospect Park forestland, but never seen a rat.

Really? I see them strolling in the streets all the time around the city. I won't wear flip flops around the city past late afternoon because I've had them run across my feet before.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by homebucket

I'm surprised SF made the list too given the prevalence of natural predators but I guess it is a dense city with the most restaurants per capita.

Our rats don't hide. Look down into the hole left by any demolished building and you'll see lots of them, big and fat, scurrying around.

I blame it partly on the fact the city may have more restaurants per capita but it has fewer trash cans and the ones it has get regularly turned over with the contents dumped on the sidewalk by scavengers looking for recyclables they can turn in for cash. Also, lots of people discard their waste into those same holes where the demolished buildings were and the rats are.

[twister244]

It's the deep dish pizza..... There are costs to having the best pizza scene in America

[Pedestrian]

We need a followup from the media because I'm not sure how this turned out but it may be an "only in San Francisco" experience. Note that San Francisco has long had other sorts of "dungeon" experiences but without rats so far as I'm aware. Plenty of whips and black leather though.

Rat Bar, Featuring Real Live Rats, To Pop Up At Fisherman's Wharf In June
31 MAY 2019

If you're one of those people that needs a next-level gimmick to get you to buy a drink, have I got a bar gimmick for you! Inspired by all those cat cafes, a local outfit will be bringing us a rat-filled version, with booze.

The San Francisco Dungeon, the tourist attraction at Fisherman's Wharf featuring live actors portraying moments of horror and spookiness in SF history — including a newly added, obviously exploitative "Chinatown Gang Wars" scene — as well as an Escape From Alcatraz ride, is re-doing a pop-up that it previously tried out two years ago. It's a bar where you can play with live rats while drinking.

The pop-up runs from June 13 to 15 at 145 Jefferson Street, adjacent to the Dungeon, and the $50 tickets get you into the Dungeon, followed by a 30-minute stay in the Rat Bar. The rats are being provided this time by Ratical Rodent Rescue.

. . . the last time this group tried this rodent-themed pop-up gimmick it left something to be desired. That was a Rat Cafe where all that was provided was plastic-wrapped cinnamon rolls and self-serve coffee in paper cups, and at some point "two women in bright-red shirts arrived, each holding a terrified rat." During that media preview, one rat urinated on a BuzzFeed writer, and no one was permitted to hold the rats unless they had previous "rat experience."

This time, the press release promises 30 minutes of "rat canoodling" in which guests can "touch and hold the real-live rodents." Also it sounds like there's just one cocktail option at this Rat Bar, and it's the Ama-RAT-O Sour — an amaretto sour with some kind of "rat tail" garnish. And they've provided a press photo featuring two happy "patrons," one sipping her amaretto sour with a rat on her shoulder.

https://sfist.com/2019/05/31/rat-bar...ns-wharf-next/

[chris08876]

There's a lot rats in NYC but a lot of them have been tied to a cinderblock underneath the East River.

As for Chicago, I can only surmise that the copious amounts of cheese and carbohydrates in their Pizza doesn't all get eaten because their pizza is a cheese cinderblock, the same thing used to get rid of rats in NY... only with Cheese of the non-lactose type and so it gets throw away and rots in the many alleys that they have, the rats smell this, they eat the pizza, than with all of the carbs have tremendous energy, they mate with a rat female, and a rat baby is born. Leads to overpopulation. The census needs to start measuring this and add it to the population figures!

[twister244]

Originally Posted by chris08876

There's a lot rats in NYC but a lot of them have been tied to a cinderblock underneath the East River.

As for Chicago, I can only surmise that the copious amounts of cheese and carbohydrates in their Pizza doesn't all get eaten because their pizza is a cheese cinderblock, the same thing used to get rid of rats in NY... only with Cheese of the non-lactose type and so it gets throw away and rots in the many alleys that they have, the rats smell this, they eat the pizza, than with all of the carbs have tremendous energy, they mate with a rat female, and a rat baby is born. Leads to overpopulation. The census needs to start measuring this and add it to the population figures!

You're also forgetting the rats are probably getting drunk off Malort that's been dumped down the drain from wimps that couldn't handle a proper shot of it. They get that deep dish and Malort into their system..... make bad Rat life choices, then boom - You have record numbers of rats in Chicago.