For many years, people in New York have been spotting a very large rat in various parts of the city. Yes, there are real rats that can grow to very large sizes, but this specific rat is extremely big – around 10 feet tall, with red eyes and teeth like a T-Rex. Fortunately, he is not a real person but rather a large balloon made of PVC vinyl. He is known as Scabby the Rat and his goal is to bring attention to strikes organized by unions against developers and other business owners.
Scabby has become a well-known symbol for New Yorkers. However, actual rats, which the city has a lot of, are not viewed favorably – and for good reason.
Rats can spread disease. In fact, more than 35 different diseases have been linked to rats in different parts of the world. They can spread diseases not only directly, but also through the fleas, ticks, and mites that can live on them. Rodents can contaminate food by eating it, and they can also cause physical damage to houses and other buildings. Although their teeth are smaller than Scabby’s, they have the ability to chew through a wide range of materials such as wood, plastic, metal, concrete, and brick. They are a real problem.
Certain cities in America are more prone to having problems with rats than others. Population density, which refers to the number of people living in an area, the availability of restaurants and other places to get food, the number of exterminators, and other factors all have an impact.
24/7 Tempo used a report from Pest Gnome, a website that helps people find pest-control experts, to make a list of the worst American cities. The site collected information from various sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau to gather data on population density, cleanliness, Google searches for words related to rats in the past year, the number of places that attract rats (restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores), and the number of exterminators in the 500 largest cities in the United States.
Yonkers, New York
City Dirtiness Rank:10/152
Rat Infestation Rank:101/152
Rat Control Rank:48/152
Overall Score:45.04
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