When you think about urban environments, certain characteristics come to mind. There is the distinctly ripe garbage smell, the 24-hour noise, and of course the vermin that crawl in the cervices of the underworld of the concrete jungles.
Those who assume that New York is the city with the most rats might be surprised to find they're wrong. According to a new survey, Chicago is the rattiest city in the U.S.
Orkin, the Atlanta-based company named the leader in pest control, released its rank of the "rattiest cities" list, which includes 20 cities that had the most rodent treatments performed in the previous year.
The Windy City is the number one rattiest city, followed by Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.-Hagerstown.
Chicago was also found to be the number one city on the Orkin's top 50 bed bug cities list.
New York's rats came in fourth on the list, followed by San Francisco.
Other interesting rat city rankings include Miami-Ft. Lauderdale at number 10, Atlanta at number 14 and Charlotte coming in at number 20.
"Each city on this list is a major urban area that provides ideal conditions for rats and mice to thrive," entomologist Ron Harrison says.
A 2013 survey by Orkin revealed that one-third of Americans saw a rodent in their home in the past year. Rats can crawl into holes as small as a quarter, especially in the colder months. "It is not uncommon for homeowners and businesses to begin spotting rodents beginning in October," Harrison says.
Rats and mice seek food, water and shelter in the fall to prepare for winter weather. Approximately 21 million American homes are invaded by the vermin.
"Commensal rodents depend on humans and their resources to survive, so unless residents and city officials take proactive steps to prevent rodents, infestations can easily get out of hand," says Harrison.
Rats could potentially spread diseases such as deadly neurological and respiratory diseases.
