Rat Busters take on New Orleans
 Cubes of green, EPA-certified bait are skewered onto long wires and carefully hung from the front grill of storm drains.
"I see rats daily…they're just everywhere," said Claudette, a resident of New Orleans' upper ninth ward.
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POSTED: March 22, 2007
By Sarah Pate
NEW ORLEANS - "Let's go bust some rats!" shouts Nick, as he piles into a white 15-passenger van with fellow volunteers.
Within an hour, the 22-year-old from Omaha, Nebraska, along with more than 30 other Rat Buster volunteers were doing just that – planting cubed-sized portions of rat bait in storm drains throughout the city to help suppress a fast-growing rodent population.
In the months since Katrina hit, abandoned homes and mounds of garbage have created a "super-sized buffet" for rats and growing health and safety concerns for residents.
"I see rats daily…they're just everywhere," said Claudette, a resident of New Orleans' upper ninth ward. "If you come here at night, they are sittin' on the porch – like they pay rent and own the house or whatever."
In a city where there is already a fractured health care system, controlling the rodent population and the potential spread of disease is critical, explains Jody Herrington, U.S. director of disaster relief for Operation Blessing.
This week OBI launched their Rat Busters program in partnership with the City of New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board to provide a safe and efficient way to treat hot spots of high rodent populations throughout the city.
Using EPA-certified bait, volunteer teams skewer several cubes of it onto a long wire and carefully hook the wire around the front grill, hanging it just inside the curbside storm drains.
The bait, which has a bittering agent to keep other non-target animals away, is coated with a paraffin-like wax so that it is not easily dissolvable in water.
In one day alone, teams walked more than 277 city blocks and baited 1,441 drains.
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"This is absolutely the safest way to treat rodents," said Steve Sackett, a research entomologist with the City of New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board.
After a period of 14 days, board inspectors will revisit treated sites to track the population and see if the bait has been consumed.
Already, teams are covering a lot of ground and a huge impact is expected.
In one day alone, teams walked more than 277 city blocks and baited 1,441 drains.
For the volunteers baiting the drains this week, many of whom were college students on Spring Break, the work is worth the effort.
"I've done the Spring Break thing," said Nick, a senior and business major from Dana College in Nebraska. "I like that I'm not doing something for myself."
"This was a good day for us," he added, "not a good day for the rats."
How You Can Help Be a part of OBI's ongoing disaster relief efforts by making an online donation today to help those affected by disasters. To volunteer with OBI in the Gulf Coast, click here.
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