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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Tim Baker

New York to use alcohol death traps to cull rats

The rodent was found trying to free itself from the change slot. (Picture: Getty Images)

New York City has armed itself with alcohol death traps to try and contain a plague of rats.

The Big Apple has tried many schemes and spent millions of dollars trying to control the rodent population.

Its latest move has seen specially made devices imported from Italy.

The Ekomille traps bait the critters with food up a ladder and then drop them into a pool of alcoholic liquid.

This knocks the rat out and then drowns them.

The Ekomille trap (AFP/Getty Images)

Eric Adams, the Brooklyn Borough President said the method was “humane and environmentally friendly”, according to The Guardian.

Eric Adams shows off how quickly rat populations can grown (AFP/Getty Images)

Each trap can hold 80 carcasses before it needs to be emptied.

A month-long trial of the new rat catching method saw 107 of the animals killed in a month at the Brooklyn Borough Hall.

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