Fwiw, he also says: it is best to actually go online and comment on the federal register rather than call your rep. Communications said that a comment was worth more because people will actually review your comment.

Heres the article:

www.npr.org/2025/04/17/n...

Yksi maa teki silleen tyhmästi, että tappoi omat majavansa ja toi Ameriikasta eri majavia tilalle (ja me ne ammumme, kun yrittävät tänne takaisin)

cartographymaster.eu/studentwork/...

Looks like a porcupine, with non-prominent quills until it's very back area

This project was a wonderful collaboration b/w 19 academics, city officials, researchers, & students. We're only going to make progress if we put our collective heads together and share ideas, data, successes, failures, & overall experiences from our varied roles in urban rat management. 🐀

We were shocked that it was as hard as it was to find suitable long-term rat numbers for even 16 cities. There are a lot of productive areas for collaboration b/w academics, city rodent control teams, pest management firms, & residents. B/c ideally we're all working towards the same goal.

3) Cities need to start collecting systematic data on rat activity & abundance, & not rely on public complaint data. This information is critical for shifting from reactive to PROACTIVE rat management b/c cities need to know current baselines to track how effective their programs are going forward.

2) Cities & pest control staff will need to focus much less on rodenticide poisons (that only deal with current infestations, not prevention), & re-gear their teams to focus on eliminating "conducive conditions" for rats (i.e., remove food waste access for rats; clear debris & clutter they hide in)

But what can cities AND residents (b/c this needs to be a team effort) do about these rats? 1) Cities that are serious about tackling the issue will have to provide more funding & staff to the departments tasked with rodent control. This is a big problem that requires more resources.

Drawing insights from lab rats, warmer temps can improve reproduction. And as cities warm, rats may be able to be active & foraging longer into the winter or earlier in the spring. More foraging may allow them to squeeze out another litter or 2 around the cold winter months (... so population grows)

This is important b/c rats carry 50+ zoonotic pathogens, impact our mental health, & cause A LOT of economic damages. In our study we found that most cities are seeing growing rat numbers. And cities that are warming fastest & are heavily urbanized have the sharpest upward trends in rats. Ok, why?

For your reading list, in case you haven't seen this one yet. By a fellow F&ES grad: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Damn. I can't argue with AI inference, which I know you are a strong proponent of. I concede that it's a Chicka-destroyer

Losers!