DisasterNewsNet reports that a volunteer organization, Operation Blessing International, has conducted a successful rodent reduction program in 1,158 blocks in New Orleans. The principal tool is a cube shaped toxic rat bait with a flavor/smell agent which, it’s reported, are unattractive to other animals.

From Nancy Hogland’s August 30th piece:

“When residents were forced out of their homes by Hurricane Katrina, most of them grabbed their valuables and pictures. However, what they left behind quickly became what I call a ‘super-sized buffet’ for rats,” said Jody Harrington, director of U.S. disaster relief for OBI.

“The cabinets were stocked with crackers and such and the refrigerators were full of gross, rotten food – everything rats love to munch on. All those abandoned homes became the perfect atmosphere for them to live, eat and reproduce.”

She said because OBI volunteers had already been working with the New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board on a mosquito eradication project, city officials turned to them first for help.

“The city hadn’t been taken over by rats, as some have said, but there were areas where there were very large populations,” Harrington said. “In fact, when we were baiting sewers on Desire Street, a woman standing on the second story of her home saw us and asked what we were doing.

We suppose that in doing shelter-in-place planning, this is a strong argument for making sure that sanitation is planned for any situation which lasts for longer than one day.

I’ll add that our building – 36 units – started composting several years ago. Use has increased so much that we needed to add a second barrel. So the inference I draw is – that in a properly staffed system – either shelter-in-place or in large-scale shelters, if garbage pickup is not happening – it might well be possible to turn most of the rat food into compost.