In the United States it is a job like no other that put up for tender on Thursday in New York. The mayor of the city, Eric Adams, is looking for the one who will be able to free the Big Apple from a real plague: the rats. And the job offer isn’t in the lace.
A job as a bloodthirsty leader in the service dedicated to the “slaughter” of the millions of rats in the megalopolis: here’s how New York City try to attract the rare pearl. The municipality speaks of a “dream job” and says it is ready to offer a salary ranging from 120,000 to 170,000 dollars a year.
If the Municipality plays the card of lightness, the problem is very serious. There would be as many rodents as there are people in New York, more than 8 million. To get rid of them, the city authorities double their wits. They have already tried to exterminate New York with dry ice or alcohol baths, without success.
Same scourge in Paris and London
The abundance of rats is also a known problem on the other side of the Atlantic, especially in Paris. Even the French capital made headlines earlier this week on this issue.
In the middle of an interview filmed for the CNEWS television channel, as she exited the Paris metro, a woman suddenly felt discomfort slip through the tops of her sweater. An unwanted mouse had crawled up the sleeve of her sweater.
The anecdote might make you smile, but it was quickly escalated. The sequence was repeated in France. Two years before the Olympic Games, the debate on cleanliness has reignited in Paris. In the viewfinder the town hall. A French government minister on Wednesday deplored the unsanitary conditions in the capital.
Across the Channel, in London: same problem. In 2016, the British media became enthralled with the discovery of a deceased rat. He was no less than four feet long.
What are the risks for humans?
If these anecdotes are chilling, a question arises: is living with mice dangerous? If they do not attack humans directly, rats are vectors of certain diseases, especially leptospirosis. There is therefore a health risk.
The rat thrives where there is food. The garbage cans on the ground in the streets are the sacred bread for rodents. The solution to the problem therefore lies in the management of municipal waste.
Another track studied in Marseille where there is a parasite of 1.5 per inhabitant: recruiting ferrets to hunt mice. This device will be tested in mid-December.
Radio subject: Thibaut Clémence
Web adaptation: hkr
