America’s largest cities may have a rat problem, but Chicago thinks it could have the answer: an army of feral cats.
The Chicago-based Tree House Humane Society has placed more than a 1,000 feral cats on the Windy City’s streets to hunt down and deter unwelcome rodents from commercial areas and residential neighborhoods, Chicago’s WGN-TV channel 9 reported.
According to Tree House Humane Society, the feral felines are part of a “Cats at Work” program that places neutered cats, that “wouldn’t thrive in a home or shelter environment,” in two and three cat teams which “provide environmentally friendly rodent control.”
- The working cats are then cared for by property and business owners who feed and look after the cats’ well-being in exchange for the feline rodent patrols, says the Tree House Humane Society website.
- “Cats generally do not eat a lot of rats, although the cats will kill some rats in the beginning when they arrive in a new location,” WGN 9 reported, but the cats — who began prowling Chicago’s streets in 2012 — put in less work once they’re adjusted to their new territory.
- The Tree House Human Society’s Sarah Liss told WGN 9 that rats are deterred by the cat’s pheromones. “That’s enough to keep the rats away,” said Liss.
“Our clients report an immediate impact on the rodent population and a near end to their rodent problem within a few weeks of welcoming their cats,” the humane society said of the “Cats at Work” program. “In addition to the rodent control benefits, what we love to hear most are the stories of the wonderful relationship that people form with these amazing, resilient cats.”
In 2020, the pest extermination company Orkin declared Chicago the “rattiest” city in America for the sixth year in a row. The major metropolises of Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco rounded out the top five, according to Orkin.