WASHINGTON, D.C. — They creep through dark alleyways, peer behind trash cans and look inside old takeout containers.
They're not rats, they're Rat Rangers.
asserted
they → creep → containers
These rangers work to educate D.C. residents about ways to prevent rat infestations without using poison.
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rangers → work → poison
They organized after a 2024 City Wildlife study showed large numbers of D.C. wildlife with blood-clotting issues tested positive for rodenticides.
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numbers → organize → rodenticides
On a weeknight in late September, head Rat Rangers Holly Gerberich and Gerard Brown, wearing matching t-shirts with a rat on the front, lead two dozen D.C. residents down a dimly lit alley.
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Gerberich → wear → alley
The group is equipped with head lamps, closed toe-shoes and not nearly enough mosquito spray.
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group → equip → lamps
Gerberich, an anthrozoologist, tells the crowd that a healthy pair of healthy brown rats living in a city can produce 15,000 descendants in a single year.
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pair → tell → year
But rats aren't really the problem, she says, humans are.
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humans → say → ?
"The reason that they're here is because we provide an ideal environment for them," Gerberich says.
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Gerberich → provide → them
"How do we make our environment less welcoming to rats?"
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environment → make → rats
The answer, she says, is to get humans to understand why they can't leave garbage and waste out for rodents to feast on.
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rodents → say → garbage
And the best way to do that is to show people the problem up close.
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way → do → problem
The group doesn't have to look very hard for signs of rodents.
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group → have → rodents
The alleyway they've ventured down is crowded with overflowing garbage cans.
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they → venture → cans
They stop next to a squished bag of dog waste, dinner leftovers and the remnants of a stick of butter.
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They → stop → butter
"Sanitation is rodent control, truly," Gerberich explains.
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Gerberich → explain → ?
"What we're seeing out there is that individuals have a much bigger role in rat population prevention than they realize."
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they → see → prevention
Making the point for her, two long rat tails stick out from the top of a trash can.
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tails → make → can
Sensing trouble, one plump rodent makes a run for it: It leaps on top of a sideways bin, then flings itself from can to can, dropping behind a fence and scurrying off in the dark.
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It → sense → dark
"I kinda like seeing them," says 13-year-old Auggie Merritt.
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Merritt → see → them
"I think it's pretty cool."
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it → think → ?
In a quick flash, the second rat scampers away.
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rat → scamper → flash
"Oh there's one back there," Auggie whispers.
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Auggie → be → ?
"As long as I'm standing over here, I'm OK," says Auggie's dad, Dennis Merritt, laughing while taking a considerable step back.
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dad → stand → step
The group peppers the Rat Rangers with dozens of questions.
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group → pepper → questions
What do rodenticides do to rats?
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rodenticides → do → rats
What if we add snakes to the environment?
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we → add → environment
What happened to the rats during COVID-19?
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What → happen → COVID-19
Many have empathy for the rats.
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Many → have → rats
Zac Wood and his partner Lydia Barker came on the walk because they wanted to learn about alternatives to using pesticides.
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they → come → pesticides
(Most rodenticides contain anticoagulants, causing whatever consumes it to painfully bleed to death.)
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consumes → contain → death
The couple says they saw rat poison kill a litter of foxes.
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poison → say → foxes
"We're animal lovers," says Wood.
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Wood → say → ?
"It's not just seeing like the foxes, and the hawks, and the owls, and the animals that everyone loves suffer.
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everyone → see → that
I don't want the rats to suffer either."
Catrina Valente on the other hand is fed up.
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Valente → want → hand
Her backyard has been invaded by rats, making it unlivable.
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it → invade → rats
(She has the phone numbers of the city's rat inspectors in her phone.)
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She → have → phone
"Rats are on this world like every other animal," Valente said.
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Valente → say → animal
"But it's the disease, the uncleanliness, everything – I don't have the sympathy for them."
Rats are a public health risk, and the rangers say they want the rats gone too.
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rats → have → them
Their focus is on behavioral solutions that do not use rodenticides.
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that → use → rodenticides
Their advice is simple — compost or use the kitchen garbage disposal to limit the food waste that is thrown out, put trash in outdoor bins right before pickup and make sure garbage cans are secure.
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cans → compost → pickup
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
