I was recently driving home in my truck and listening to the radio — yes, that archaic form of broadcasting. The radio program playing was covering the war on rats in New York and the ongoing attempts to handle the epidemic. The interviewee was explaining how they have discovered over time the unexpected downstream consequences of rat poison. Namely, this has been noticed in the deaths of celebrity owls. As an alternative, researchers are looking at the use of rat contraceptives to handle the growing population. Really? Yes.
It was only near the end of the interview that the interviewed rodentologist mentioned initiatives aimed at addressing the real issues contributing to the booming rat population such as garbage containerization programs which aim to remove the abundant buffets available to the rat population.
As I drove I had to think: “how like us”. As a culture we have this tendency to compensate for our behaviours by treating symptoms. We want to change little to nothing about what we do, to have no inconvenience or constraints (and no consequences as a result). “Too much work to containerize the garbage”. “If they won’t then why should I?” A tragedy of the commons.
Take a second today and look for your rats. What do they reveal about your practice? How are you trying to poison them away and at what cost?