NYC Employs Safer Rat Extermination Process

New York, NY, is joining Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; and other U.S. cities in using dry ice to eliminate rats, The Straits Times reports.

Extermination crews drop dry ice pellets into rat burrows. The dry ice, which is carbon dioxide in solid form, reverts to a gaseous form and asphyxiates the rats while they sleep. This extermination method is very effective in green spaces such as parks and public gardens and, unlike poison, is not a hazard to wildlife.