Joined: 10 Nov 2005 Posts: 911 Location: South Slope
Fri Sep 08, 06 1:49 pm EST
Has anyone else noticed more rats than usual in Prospect Park? I know there have always been rats there, but this summer it seems like every time I go to the park, I see rats. I run on the dirt path next to the road, and rats keep dashing across the path in front of me -- I've been running in the park for years, and this never used to happen.
I went running today around noon and during two loops of the park, I saw three live rats and two dead rats. Aren't rats nocturnal?
Also, what happened to the hawks? I never see hawks anymore (maybe because I'm always looking down, watching out for rats). Did the hawks leave the park, causing the rat population to explode?
kensingtonmom Guest
Fri Sep 08, 06 2:53 pm EST
Before they prettified the tennis center, I used to play and sometimes there would be a hawk waiting on top of the light. It would swoop down during a point and snatch up a rat which would be lurking along the edges of the court in the drainage ditches. It was disgusting and satisfying to watch it get devoured . I don't see rats there anymore but I do when I walk home from the courts and cut through the park.
pitu Fake Buddhist
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 6489 Location: Utopian Park Slope
Fri Sep 08, 06 3:25 pm EST
I still see hawks almost everyday around the long meadow end of things. I'm pretty sure at least two live in the park.
steveo Regular
Joined: 12 Dec 2005 Posts: 151 Location: St. Johns & Underhill
Fri Sep 08, 06 4:57 pm EST
I saw a dead rat today in the running lane near Battle Pass. Which is one more rat than I've ever seen in the park, dead or alive.
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Fri Sep 08, 06 5:04 pm EST
are you sure these are rats and not actually dogs? My dog was mistaken for a rat last week. Although its unlikely many rats weight 9lbs and wear a collar and leash. _________________ www.preciouswilliams.com
Rose Ninja
Joined: 10 Nov 2005 Posts: 911 Location: South Slope
Fri Sep 08, 06 5:16 pm EST
steveo wrote:
I saw a dead rat today in the running lane near Battle Pass.
Yeah, I saw that one.
I'm glad there are still hawks. But it seems like the park ecosystem is out of balance. A small pack of rat terriers might be helpful. Or some foxes or bobcats or something. There are too many rats.
Jamzer Lifer
Joined: 06 Oct 2005 Posts: 911 Location: Park F'ing Slope
Fri Sep 08, 06 5:41 pm EST
I'm in the park at least once a weekend. I've never seen a rat, but I will certainly keep my eyes open. Any chance we can get one of those hawks to live in the subway, talk about shooting fish in a barrel !
Yavel Regular
Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 168 Location: The Boneyard
Fri Sep 08, 06 8:04 pm EST
I just saw a red-tailed hawk in Prospect Park yesterday. Seems like they're doing ok. I think the park is having a red tailed hawk event coming up.
I haven't noticed more rats than usual in the Park, but I did find a dead one in the yard recently. Maybe they're getting stirred up by all the construction that has been going on in Brooklyn.
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Fri Sep 08, 06 8:16 pm EST
Precious Williams wrote:
are you sure these are rats and not actually dogs? My dog was mistaken for a rat last week. Although its unlikely many rats weight 9lbs and wear a collar and leash.
This reminded me of a story that I'd seen a couple years back...
kensingtonmom Guest
Sun Sep 10, 06 11:16 pm EST
My friend was walking her terrier mutt in the park this morning when it dashed into some bushes and came out with a RAT. Apparently the dog kept shaking it and shaking it as she screamed. Finally it let the rat go with a broken neck. Ugghh
Yavel Regular
Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 168 Location: The Boneyard
Sun Sep 10, 06 11:20 pm EST
Horrific, but I guess that's sort of how they're wired.
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Mon Sep 11, 06 10:04 am EST
It's exactly how they're wired.
Guest
Tue Sep 12, 06 10:20 pm EST
steveo wrote:
I saw a dead rat today in the running lane near Battle Pass. Which is one more rat than I've ever seen in the park, dead or alive.
I myself did not see a rat today, but while I walked along Prospect Park on Prospect Park West around 6 p.m., a woman in front of me pointed to the park and yelled to her companion "look! A rat!" I was too afraid to look.
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Tue Sep 12, 06 10:25 pm EST
I wandered through the park yesterday, and I saw several rats scurrying around. Near the boathouse, rats were sifting through the leaves and fallen branches, as you would normally expect of squirrels.
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Wed Sep 13, 06 1:09 am EST
WhyFi wrote:
I wandered through the park yesterday, and I saw several rats scurrying around. Near the boathouse, rats were sifting through the leaves and fallen branches, as you would normally expect of squirrels.
Reminder to self: stay away from the park. I can't stand rats - either in their animal or human form. _________________ www.preciouswilliams.com
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Wed Sep 13, 06 7:44 pm EST
Precious Williams wrote:
WhyFi wrote:
I wandered through the park yesterday, and I saw several rats scurrying around. Near the boathouse, rats were sifting through the leaves and fallen branches, as you would normally expect of squirrels.
Reminder to self: stay away from the park. I can't stand rats - either in their animal or human form.
Even if the rats really freaked me out (they didn't), the duckling at the boathouse made the trip worth it - it was a big duckling, but it didn't have flight feathers yet. It was very outgoing - I watched as a father and his (I'm guessing) 3-year-old daughter fed and played with it. It eventually settled down and just sat in front of them on the grass. I'm actually worried about it, though - it did approach several people (who knows if someone would actually hurt it), it didn't look like mom/dad was around, and I'm thinking that it's a little late in the season for it to not be able to fly...
culprit Guest
Thu Sep 14, 06 11:26 am EST
There certainly ARE rats in PPark. Saw one run into the bushes at the dog beach yesterday. See dead ones often. why do you think there's a warning poster for rat poison at the 15th St entrance?
Parkslopedope Newbie
Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 38
Thu Sep 14, 06 12:12 pm EST
Sounds like we're walking through the first chapter of Albert Camus' "The Plague" in which "Dr. Rieux, preoccupied with his ill wife's imminent departure to a sanatorium, discovers a dead rat."
pitu Fake Buddhist
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 6489 Location: Utopian Park Slope
Thu Sep 14, 06 12:43 pm EST
Parkslopedope wrote:
Sounds like we're walking through the first chapter of Albert Camus' "The Plague" in which "Dr. Rieux, preoccupied with his ill wife's imminent departure to a sanatorium, discovers a dead rat."
Eugene Patron Guest
Fri Sep 15, 06 2:11 pm EST
Hi - I'm the Press Director for Prospect Park, so I thought I'm jump in with some info:
Every year as the summer ends and there is less garbage around from picnics the rats become more active in searching for food – esp. as they start to store food for winter. We do place traps around the Park but to be truly effective, they should be placed near where the rats are hiding out. That requires trimming back shrubbery, which we do but again, with limited staff caring for 585 acres of parkland….
The best solution to reducing the rat population would of course be to leave less trash and especially food scraps around the Park. We know the trash cans in the Park are often full --- within the Park, garbage is collected by the Parks Department not the Sanitation Dept. Right now our maintenance and operations office is working with about 2/3 of normal staff (that’s not just a $ issue, but also finding people with the training to operate the mini garbage packer and hiring people who have experience tackling Park maintenance issues). So packing up garbage as best as possible – even taking it back out of the Park with you – would help. Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help clean up the Park should contact our volunteer office at (718) 965-8960 or visit http://www.prospectpark.org/help/main.cfm?target=volunteer
As to Hawks, Here's some observations from one of the educators at the Prospect Park Audubon Center:
At least 4 or 5 adult and young Red-tailed Hawks are still active in Prospect Park. Plus the occasional Red-shouldered Hawk (although they prefer frogs to rats) and Cooper's & Sharp-shinned Hawks (which eat almost exclusively songbirds). The only other major predator on rats would be owls such as the Great-horned Owl which spent a month or so last winter hanging around Lookout Hill.
To learn more about Hawks, come to Hawk Weekend at the Prospect Park Audubon Center at the Boathouse - Saturday and Sunday, September 23 & 24, from 12 – 5 p.m. each day
There will be live hawk encounters from 12 – 4 each day, as well as hawk inspired crafts and the screenings of a film about New York’s most famous hawk, Pale Male, at the Center’s Con Edison Discover Nature Theater. For more information on Prospect Park events, programs, membership and volunteering at the Park, call the Park Hotline at (718) 965-8999 or visit www.prospectpark.org
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Sat Sep 16, 06 8:08 am EST
My darling little dog is very small, only a little bigger than a rat. I'm worried about taking her to the park after hearing about the hawks. Is it likely that one of them might swoop down and try to eat her? I know this is a silly sounding question, but it's a genuine concern for me. _________________ www.preciouswilliams.com
doctorj Abstruse Goose
Joined: 09 Apr 2006 Posts: 2509 Location: Underbilt btwn Carwash and Parking Pl.
Sat Sep 16, 06 9:03 am EST
WhyFi wrote:
Precious Williams wrote:
are you sure these are rats and not actually dogs? My dog was mistaken for a rat last week. Although its unlikely many rats weight 9lbs and wear a collar and leash.
This reminded me of a story that I'd seen a couple years back...
I worry that one day I'm going to mistake a Chihuahua for a football. Actually, maybe it's not worry, it's anticipation. _________________ The world will little note nor long remember what we say here. -- Abraham Lincoln
My darling little dog is very small, only a little bigger than a rat. I'm worried about taking her to the park after hearing about the hawks. Is it likely that one of them might swoop down and try to eat her? I know this is a silly sounding question, but it's a genuine concern for me.
hey Precious...
Studies have shown that red-tailed hawks, like most raptors, like to go after specific types of prey. they tend to concentrate on food sources that are common to the area in which they live (i.e., rats, mice, etc.). so unless all the rats and mice suddenly disappear from Prospect Park, our hawks won't suddenly turn and attack a tasty looking teacup poodle or siamese kitty. raptors like consistency, not experimentation. if the hawks were starving to death, i'd worry for your little Yip Yap, but believe me -- there are plenty of rodents to go around! _________________ Get your paws off my canned chicken
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Sat Sep 16, 06 11:23 am EST
shishkab wrote:
Precious Williams wrote:
My darling little dog is very small, only a little bigger than a rat. I'm worried about taking her to the park after hearing about the hawks. Is it likely that one of them might swoop down and try to eat her? I know this is a silly sounding question, but it's a genuine concern for me.
hey Precious...
Studies have shown that red-tailed hawks, like most raptors, like to go after specific types of prey. they tend to concentrate on food sources that are common to the area in which they live (i.e., rats, mice, etc.). so unless all the rats and mice suddenly disappear from Prospect Park, our hawks won't suddenly turn and attack a tasty looking teacup poodle or siamese kitty. raptors like consistency, not experimentation. if the hawks were starving to death, i'd worry for your little Yip Yap, but believe me -- there are plenty of rodents to go around!
and hey! is that Carnivore i see sitting next to your little one?
_________________ Get your paws off my canned chicken
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Sat Sep 16, 06 11:47 am EST
shishkab wrote:
ohmigoodness, that puppy is very cute!
and hey! is that Carnivore i see sitting next to your little one?
Its a pic of her at less than 2 months old, before I even got her. That pic actually is what prompted me to get her She's not much bigger now, even though fully grown. But she is very feisty and I've started taking her jogging. She can totally keep up with me even though my legs have to be, what?, about a hundred times longer. _________________ www.preciouswilliams.com
Carnivore Brooklyn Snark
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 13566 Location: St Johns Pl and Underhill
Sat Sep 16, 06 12:48 pm EST
shishkab wrote:
ohmigoodness, that puppy is very cute!
and hey! is that Carnivore i see sitting next to your little one?
My avatar is actually a picture of a llama doll, not a lamb. Mrs. C and I got it in Peru a few years ago.
My avatar is actually a picture of a llama doll, not a lamb. Mrs. C and I got it in Peru a few years ago.
llamas, llammykins... s'all good, pal!
HaHa -- thanks for the clarification _________________ Get your paws off my canned chicken
quijibo Crooklyn Ninja
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 2028 Location: taintalicious!
Sun Sep 17, 06 12:55 am EST
i've been noticing a shitload of rats lately
especially on the way out of the park towards GAP on the PPW side
brazen little bastids. i'll be like five feet away and the little vermin
won't even flinch. just keeps mawing on whatever garbage it's found
as it flips me the bird
i think we need more trash cans in the park
and like about 1000 hawks.
that'd be soooooo cool!
brooklynpotter ceramme ceramma danna
Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 3996 Location: near the square that's a circle
Sun Sep 17, 06 10:46 am EST
quijibo wrote:
i've been noticing a shitload of rats lately
especially on the way out of the park towards GAP on the PPW side
brazen little bastids. i'll be like five feet away and the little vermin
won't even flinch. just keeps mawing on whatever garbage it's found
as it flips me the bird
i think we need more trash cans in the park
and like about 1000 hawks.
that'd be soooooo cool!
didn't they employ a hawk and a handler to deal with the pigeon problem in bryant park? and didn't aforementioned hawk swoop down and attack someone? _________________ what would you tell me, if i could hear you speaking?--t.r.
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Sun Sep 17, 06 10:58 am EST
I posted a link to the story some posts back - the hawk swooped down on a dog running though the shrubs - it was a small dog that the hawk had mistaken for a rodent.
quijibo Crooklyn Ninja
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 2028 Location: taintalicious!
Sun Sep 17, 06 11:15 am EST
WhyFi wrote:
I posted a link to the story some posts back - the hawk swooped down on a dog running though the shrubs - it was a small dog that the hawk had mistaken for a rodent.
yea. but. isn't a rat just as a big a threat to a small dog. if not more so
judging by the number and ginormous size of rats we have?
if you're a small dog owner, you'd need to get it a costume whenever you're walking in the big green place
like maybe a hat with big gigantic plumage. like a rooster. or a peacock
so the dog would appear HUGE to the hawk.
i bet you small dogs would like wearing this even outside the park :)
or just allow all small dogs to carry guns in the park.
that would solve everything...
WhyFi Staid and Dull
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 4389 Location: In the Groove
Sun Sep 17, 06 12:40 pm EST
Oh no, Q, don't get me wrong - I'm all for hawks! I've loved 'em since I was a kid - shit, if I could be a falconer...
I was clarifying for BP, who had asked if a hawk had attacked a person in Bryant Park, as if there might be a similar danger in PP.
quijibo Crooklyn Ninja
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 Posts: 2028 Location: taintalicious!
Sun Sep 17, 06 12:47 pm EST
WhyFi wrote:
Oh no, Q, don't get me wrong - I'm all for hawks! I've loved 'em since I was a kid - shit, if I could be a falconer...
I was clarifying for BP, who had asked if a hawk had attacked a person in Bryant Park, as if there might be a similar danger in PP.
the Audubon people should release 50 mating pairs of hawks in the big green place
and issue gun permits to all dogs under 10 lbs
pitu Fake Buddhist
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 6489 Location: Utopian Park Slope
Sun Sep 17, 06 1:38 pm EST
quijibo wrote:
and issue gun permits to all dogs under 10 lbs
good lord, don't those little guys have enough anger management problems?
that said, I'm intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter
sarajean8 Regular
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Posts: 128 Location: 7th ave/15th st
Wed Sep 27, 06 2:05 pm EST
I haven't noticed the rats as much as I've noticed the freakish amount of BATS in the park at dusk. i guess they have a way of bringing my attention away from the ground.
Precious Williams Local
Joined: 24 Aug 2006 Posts: 206 Location: North Slope
Wed Sep 27, 06 9:23 pm EST
Does anyone know how big rats get, typically? Do they exceed 10 lbs [shudders]? _________________ www.preciouswilliams.com
raw "Way Too Incestial"
Joined: 14 Jun 2006 Posts: 2036
Wed Sep 27, 06 9:31 pm EST
On Saturday around 8 PM as I walked up Union Street to 8th Avenue, a large rat dashed in front of me. I was amused to see a big fat rat that close.
erikka Bruce Ratner's Love Child
Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Posts: 754
Thu Sep 28, 06 9:30 am EST
Precious Williams wrote:
Does anyone know how big rats get, typically? Do they exceed 10 lbs [shudders]?
I saw a lab rat in Propect Park this summer. The poor thing looked lost. He was kinda hanging out by the sewer but didn't really want to go in.[/img]
steve Cylon
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1263
Thu Sep 28, 06 9:35 am EST
On the plus side, I've also seen a lot more rabbits in the park and also those birds with yellow on their heads
Carnivore Brooklyn Snark
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 13566 Location: St Johns Pl and Underhill
Thu Sep 28, 06 3:25 pm EST
steve wrote:
On the plus side, I've also seen a lot more rabbits in the park and also those birds with yellow on their heads
That's because quijibo's unleashed dog pissed on them.
steve Cylon
Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1263
Thu Sep 28, 06 3:38 pm EST
Carnivore wrote:
steve wrote:
On the plus side, I've also seen a lot more rabbits in the park and also those birds with yellow on their heads
That's because quijibo's unleashed dog pissed on them.
well, that's better than the time I got busted for pissing on the swans!
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Aren't rats nocturnal?
