Chicago was recently named the “rattiest city in the US,” by Orkin, a pest control company who tallied up the number of rat-related jobs they had throughout 2014 in individual cities. With bright yellow signs littering street corners, warning residents of rats, there’s no denying the truth in this finding.[pullquote]Have a rodent issue in the City of Chicago? You can take care of it with a click[/pullquote]
“The rats are really gross,” said Nicholas Sudduth, a 24-year-old music venue security guard who has had issues with rats both at his home in Rogers Park and at his work in River North. “They’re big and smelly and they run really fast.”
According to the City of Chicago, the city is home for the Norway rat, which is brown and large in size, tends to travel in packs and has a life span of 6 to 10 months. These rats are attracted to fresh food, garbage, animal feces and more, and pose serious threats to Chicago residents as they carry a number of diseases.
Through the use of rat poison, traps and even feral cats, Sudduth and other Chicago residents have attempted to solve this problem and make Chicago a little less “ratty.”