During Tuesday’s meeting of the Twentynine Palms City Council, Managing editor Tami Roleff says the council heard a report from the city’s animal control supervisor about ways to reduce the city’s rat population. Who knew there was birth control for rodents?…
“It’s a two-chemical liquid. It throws the female rat into menopause and it inhibits the production of the male sperm. It metabolizes really quick in their system, up to 20 minutes, so it’s okay if an owl picks it up.”
Twentynine Palms Animal Control Supervisor Rick Boyd said several big cities such as New York, Boston, and Chicago, are using birth control to control their rodent populations. He said that contraception provides better population control than traps or poison.
“If you don’t get every single rat out of the colony, they’re going to rebound. Because when you start lowering the numbers of these rats, they breed quicker and quicker to get their colony back up.”
Council members were intrigued by the idea, and asked for an update on the city’s rat infestation in six months, and for estimates about cost of using the birth control.
