--- title: Mapping New York City's Rats | TIME description: New York Department of Health's staff rodentologist has devised a new method of rat control, using geocoding to map and track rodent infestations canonical: https://time.com/video/nOASqPBQ/ og:title: Mapping New York City's Rats og:description: New York Department of Health's staff rodentologist has devised a new method of rat control, using geocoding to map and track rodent infestations og:url: https://time.com/video/nOASqPBQ/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nOASqPBQ/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mapping New York City's Rats twitter:description: New York Department of Health's staff rodentologist has devised a new method of rat control, using geocoding to map and track rodent infestations twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nOASqPBQ/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Mapping New York City's Rats > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Mapping New York City's Rats [Watch (HLS stream): Mapping New York City's Rats](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nOASqPBQ.m3u8) (3:31)  _Published 2008-12-23. New York Department of Health's staff rodentologist has devised a new method of rat control, using geocoding to map and track rodent infestations_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:04 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [How Washington, D.C. Is Handling a Literal Rat Infestation](/video/CwVmDL9e/) ### How Washington, D.C. Is Handling a Literal Rat Infestation [VRICON 3D Mapping](/video/Tzrm8bHu/) ### VRICON 3D Mapping [Watch Amazing Aerial Footage of New York City's Five Boroughs](/video/ngSzrGtA/) ### Watch Amazing Aerial Footage of New York City's Five Boroughs --- ## Transcript >> Norway rats, nighttime raiders of the city. Nocturnal, disturbing, and plentiful. In recent years, New York City's rat population has been exploding, but the city is striking back, led by a renown rodentologist, Bobby Corrigan. >> We have here stuffed Norway rat coming from the city. I collected this from New York City myself. We don't know how many rats there are in New York City. It may be a couple of million and they've been described as diabolically clever mammals. >> Doing battle with cunning rats is ages old. But since December 2007, the Bronx New York has been a testing ground as Corrigan and his team try out a new strategy. Here, we have a vacant home and we can see about 20, 25 rat burrows. >> City Inspector Mike Mills is on that team. >> See the fresh soil indicating that that rat was there not too long ago. We have the Styrofoam cup with gnaw marks from the rat chewing. >> Rats are creatures of the night, scurrying about for food then hiding out in the day. But a sharp eye can spot their telltale signs in the daylight. >> You have uncovered garbage cans. If we look closely, we can see droppings from right here. >> The old system was based on responding to complaints with inspectors going out to fix the problem. >> We can also see some chicken that somebody threw out at a window. >> The new strategy puts six inspectors, including Mike, out pounding the pavement, hunting down every rat hotspot they can find, but the biggest innovation is in Mike's hand. He comes armed with Geo Map software. >> This is a specialized computer that contains that blocks and lot and addresses in the five burrows. It's handheld. We're able to quickly assess the area. At each stop, the details are entered, all linked to the exact address, then that record joins the rat map of the entire Bronx. >> Yeah, it's a nice hiding place. >> Yeah, it doesn't take much. If their skull can fit through it, in the case about half an inch, the rest of the body follows. See, it almost takes the shape of a rat. As it comes in, it gets behinds it. The new system seems to be working. In its first year, the results show rat hotspots down by about 40 percent. >> Easily right from the base. >> Uh- huh. >> Their job may be unsung, but for Mike Mills and Bobby Corrigan, it's a good day's work. >> You know, I have six brothers, two sisters. At Thanksgiving, they'll joke around and say, how's the rat guy doing, you know. But I say, you know, people involved in pest control, they protect the roof over your head, the food that you eat, your comfort, your safety, your health. I said, the rat guy is doing pretty good. >> In the Bronx, this is Christine Gorman for time. com. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mapping New York City's Rats","description":"New York Department of Health's staff rodentologist has devised a new method of rat control, using geocoding to map and track rodent infestations","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nOASqPBQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2008-12-23T23:25:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nOASqPBQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/nOASqPBQ/","duration":"PT3M31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/nOASqPBQ/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```