Rats : Observations On The History And Habitat Of The City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants Part 8

It didn't look as if he was going to be there, but he was-he cracked open his door and greeted me warmly. He seemed to be in good spirits; that big construction project downtown that had been canceled because of the World Trade Center disaster was back on, and he would be doing the rodent control. Also, he was beginning to get involved in pest control politics. He was talking about working with a pest control lobbying group in Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.

Just for fun, I asked him if I could see the tape of him on j.a.panese TV again. It showed him with relics of his great-grandfather's work in j.a.pan; it showed the office cat that had since died; it showed George in his driveway with his wife, as they packed up to go off on a camping trip in the Adirondacks. "He can get upset with things pretty easily," his wife said, "but once you get to know him, he's great." In a part of the program I did not recall, George talked a little bit about why Bonzai de Bug had never become a large pest control firm, why he'd stayed small. "Working for someone's a big thing for me," he said. "I have a problem when it comes to that point when you gotta call manure manure." This seemed to sum up something about being a small-business owner in the city, or even in America, about being a noncorporate cog in a big economic and political and social wheel-about being an exterminator. But as we continued to watch him speak on tape, George said something that cheered me up. "I always say that the money will come if you love what you're doing," he said.

I learned this, at the very least, by sitting in a rat alley: that there is hope in the life of many exterminators. Life is mean and vile in many ways, but exterminators advance toward society's depths and meet life there and see it for what it is, in some cases.

I felt much better after I left George's shop-stopping in on somebody you enjoy talking to will do that. I walked home with rat stories running in my head, and I suppose it will not surprise the reader to hear that, at this point, as I was walking back to my apartment, I began to think more than ever that we are all a little like rats. We come and go. We are beaten down but we come back again. We live in colonies and we strike out on our own, or get forced out or starved out or are eaten up by our compet.i.tion, by the biggest rats. We thrive in unlikely places, and devour. Our city was not always inhabited, and when we stand in a rat alley, we can see the ancient hills on which our ancestors stood before we infested and devoured the land. We are different and the same; we are touched by the hand of Midas and we are plague-ridden, sons and daughters of Job. We are rats in Congress, rats in a housing complex, rich rats cas.h.i.+ng in, poor rats being kicked out. "Rat populations throughout the world are relatively similar, although local conditions and specific differences produce some variation in degree," wrote Dave Davis, and the same can be said for us. We are the rats whose population may boom, whose population may decline, who can survive where no other species could or would want to, in Edens Alley despoiled. With caution, we will flourish; without it we will not; we will starve and die and maybe kill each other, maybe not.

Everyone has heard a rat story, and surely everyone has heard that story that runs through New York and cities everywhere-for I have recounted versions of it in these pages and it is in many ways an emblematic rat story-of the large and scraggly rat that swims through the sewage flow, having gained access through some crack in the underground, through some cobblestone gap, and then rises up in a toilet bowl and infests an apartment building. Who is not disgusted by this? Who is not a little frightened when thinking about its implications toward personal safety and mental hygiene, among other things? And yet who is not impressed that the rat survives-if only to be poisoned or killed with a trap or perhaps a broom or whatever is handy for the person or the pest control operator confronted with this act of sublime magnificence? Does this not give us some hope and concern for our own future as well?

I'm not saying that everyone will agree with me on this point-I'm not even certain it's true, and I don't necessarily think of myself as a rat all all of the time. But I know that if you look deep down into the darkness, even in a rat hole, there is some life down there, some fecund spark, like it or not. of the time. But I know that if you look deep down into the darkness, even in a rat hole, there is some life down there, some fecund spark, like it or not.

AFTERWORD.

I HAVE WRITTEN a couple of books prior to Rats, Rats, but this is my first afterword. I had hoped to write a foreword, but now, since we're here at the end of the book-well, it seems a little late for that. Besides, with a foreword I might scare you off, if I haven't already, just with the tide of the book. An afterword seems a little less intrusive, a little more laissez-faire. To me, an afterword says, "If you want to know even but this is my first afterword. I had hoped to write a foreword, but now, since we're here at the end of the book-well, it seems a little late for that. Besides, with a foreword I might scare you off, if I haven't already, just with the tide of the book. An afterword seems a little less intrusive, a little more laissez-faire. To me, an afterword says, "If you want to know even more more about rats, then that's not my problem." Part of me hopes that you have not made it this far, that you finished the book right where I originally planned for you to finish, or even a few chapters before that, and that now you are off leading a less rat-oriented life. The reason being I don't have a lot more to say about rats. I don't mean I couldn't go on and on for pages about them. I just mean that when you write a rat book, when you sit in an alley for a year with night-vision gear, when you type up your notes into a book and then hit the road on a about rats, then that's not my problem." Part of me hopes that you have not made it this far, that you finished the book right where I originally planned for you to finish, or even a few chapters before that, and that now you are off leading a less rat-oriented life. The reason being I don't have a lot more to say about rats. I don't mean I couldn't go on and on for pages about them. I just mean that when you write a rat book, when you sit in an alley for a year with night-vision gear, when you type up your notes into a book and then hit the road on a Rats Rats book tour that involves you visiting cities all across the country and standing up before perfectly nice people and, night after night, bringing up rats-when you do that you start to worry about what people think of you. As a result, I have a fierce urge to make this afterword and all my subsequent writing about really pretty flowers. book tour that involves you visiting cities all across the country and standing up before perfectly nice people and, night after night, bringing up rats-when you do that you start to worry about what people think of you. As a result, I have a fierce urge to make this afterword and all my subsequent writing about really pretty flowers.

So let me start by throwing out the answers to a few of the questions most frequently asked of rat authors, in no particular order. No, I do not have rats at home. No, my wife does not like rats. Yes, my wife thinks I'm crazy but not that crazy. that crazy. My children think I'm crazy. My parents did not have rats or any affinity for rats that I have ever been made aware of. I have never been attacked by a pack of rats-you give them s.p.a.ce, they'll give you s.p.a.ce, I have found. I am not with rats right now, typing in fetid squalor, though my desk does need to be cleaned. I don't think wild rats are cute, and, although I have nothing against them, I'm not a huge fan of pet rats either. Yes, rats in alleys fighting over garbage or each other do screech, and they screech really loudly-you can't believe how loudly, the first time you hear them. No, I don't feed wild rats. No, I don't like to lay down and let rats run all over my body. (There are very few things that I like to let run all over my body, as it happens.) And let me make this next answer perfectly clear: I think rats are really, really gross, though through no fault of their own. I think it is our fault, actually. We humans are always looking for a species to despise, especially since we can and do act so despicably ourselves. We shake our heads as rats overpopulate, fight over limited food supplies, and then go to war until the population is killed down, but then we proceed to follow the same battle plan. My children think I'm crazy. My parents did not have rats or any affinity for rats that I have ever been made aware of. I have never been attacked by a pack of rats-you give them s.p.a.ce, they'll give you s.p.a.ce, I have found. I am not with rats right now, typing in fetid squalor, though my desk does need to be cleaned. I don't think wild rats are cute, and, although I have nothing against them, I'm not a huge fan of pet rats either. Yes, rats in alleys fighting over garbage or each other do screech, and they screech really loudly-you can't believe how loudly, the first time you hear them. No, I don't feed wild rats. No, I don't like to lay down and let rats run all over my body. (There are very few things that I like to let run all over my body, as it happens.) And let me make this next answer perfectly clear: I think rats are really, really gross, though through no fault of their own. I think it is our fault, actually. We humans are always looking for a species to despise, especially since we can and do act so despicably ourselves. We shake our heads as rats overpopulate, fight over limited food supplies, and then go to war until the population is killed down, but then we proceed to follow the same battle plan.

Even though I find them disgusting, I can can relate to rats. In general, rat-book authors usually can. (This has been my experience, though I should point out that I know only one other rat-book author.) The rat-book author is not going to be high on the marquee, and usually the people in charge of the marquee think it's kind of a joke that they have you on it at all. That this book was a bestseller is, I continue to maintain, a kind of ratty mistake. I tell my friends-and I still sort of believe it-that pretty soon there are going to be lots of people showing up at bookstores wanting to return their copy of relate to rats. In general, rat-book authors usually can. (This has been my experience, though I should point out that I know only one other rat-book author.) The rat-book author is not going to be high on the marquee, and usually the people in charge of the marquee think it's kind of a joke that they have you on it at all. That this book was a bestseller is, I continue to maintain, a kind of ratty mistake. I tell my friends-and I still sort of believe it-that pretty soon there are going to be lots of people showing up at bookstores wanting to return their copy of Rats Rats claiming to have mistakenly a.s.sumed they were buying claiming to have mistakenly a.s.sumed they were buying Cats. Cats. Bookstores, by the way, tend to have practical experience with rats. In a California bookstore, I was taken to the very spot where a rat had been, shall we say, discount-tabled by the still-adrenaline-rushed staff; as the booksellers stood there beaming, I felt as if I should have had a citation to give them or something. In Brooklyn, while I was writing this book, my own local bookstore did valiant battle with a Bookstores, by the way, tend to have practical experience with rats. In a California bookstore, I was taken to the very spot where a rat had been, shall we say, discount-tabled by the still-adrenaline-rushed staff; as the booksellers stood there beaming, I felt as if I should have had a citation to give them or something. In Brooklyn, while I was writing this book, my own local bookstore did valiant battle with a Rattus norvegicus. Rattus norvegicus. I can't remember who actually ended up with the win, but the bookstore, an independent, is still there, an amazing feat of survival these days. I can't remember who actually ended up with the win, but the bookstore, an independent, is still there, an amazing feat of survival these days.

JUST AS ROCK-AND-ROLL BANDS of a certain age like to name their concert tours, so we referred to the rat-book tour at my home as the Rats Over America Tour, and even though I was ostensibly going out on the road to talk to people about what I had learned on the subject of rats, an excellent thing for me was that I got to learn even more about rats in general and about rats in the places where I went. One night, for instance, I was invited to go out into the back alleys of downtown Beverly Hills to look for rats. Rats in California can be, generally speaking, very different from rats in New York. First of all, Los Angeles has two different species of rats: the black rat, or Rattus rattus, Rattus rattus, and the Norway rat, or and the Norway rat, or Rattus norvegicus. Rattus norvegicus. The Norway rat, as you probably know by now, is the predominant rat in New York City and America. The black rat, which once was the predominant American rat, tends to live in trees and attics, as opposed to Norway rats, which tend to live in bas.e.m.e.nts and sewers; black rats climb along electrical wires and down into Dumpsters. One of the reasons black rats do so well in Los Angeles is that exterminators are better at exterminating Nprway rats, which are less sleek and a little easier to trap than black rats; with fewer Norway rats around, black rats prosper. So there I was, after a rat reading late one night, in a suit and tie-I try to dress nice for rat readings to break any rat-author stereotypes that anyone might harbor-and traipsing through, Beverly Hills with some very nice people who wanted to see some rats, though didn't The Norway rat, as you probably know by now, is the predominant rat in New York City and America. The black rat, which once was the predominant American rat, tends to live in trees and attics, as opposed to Norway rats, which tend to live in bas.e.m.e.nts and sewers; black rats climb along electrical wires and down into Dumpsters. One of the reasons black rats do so well in Los Angeles is that exterminators are better at exterminating Nprway rats, which are less sleek and a little easier to trap than black rats; with fewer Norway rats around, black rats prosper. So there I was, after a rat reading late one night, in a suit and tie-I try to dress nice for rat readings to break any rat-author stereotypes that anyone might harbor-and traipsing through, Beverly Hills with some very nice people who wanted to see some rats, though didn't really really want to see rats, if you know what I mean. On that particular evening we did not see any rats, as it happened, but we talked to some workers behind a sw.a.n.k restaurant and we looked through the boxes of a fas.h.i.+on boutique and founds some spots where rats had recently been. It was the same thing in Chicago, except that I got to see rats; in addition, I got to see the back alleys of the blues clubs and lots of art students and beautiful (to me) old buildings that looked like they were about to be torn down. I also noticed that in addition to a rat problem, the Chicago public parks appear to have a bit of a rabbit problem. Rabbits were hopping all over the place, believe it or not. It was a little scary, believe it or not. want to see rats, if you know what I mean. On that particular evening we did not see any rats, as it happened, but we talked to some workers behind a sw.a.n.k restaurant and we looked through the boxes of a fas.h.i.+on boutique and founds some spots where rats had recently been. It was the same thing in Chicago, except that I got to see rats; in addition, I got to see the back alleys of the blues clubs and lots of art students and beautiful (to me) old buildings that looked like they were about to be torn down. I also noticed that in addition to a rat problem, the Chicago public parks appear to have a bit of a rabbit problem. Rabbits were hopping all over the place, believe it or not. It was a little scary, believe it or not.

I saw rats in San Francisco, but I also got to know a kind of ratty neighborhood in the process of searching. I got to find out about a tenants' demonstration that was happening there. I talked to cops in the neighborhood about what's good (and bad) about the place from a crime-prevention perspective-cops know a lot about rats, as you might imagine. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very gross alley, close to where an artist had set up shop to sell beautiful handmade stationery that my wife loved: rats and tenant organizers and artists are often found together, coexisting semi-peacefully. One night, I retired to a pub that, in addition to serving good locally brewed beers and ales, was at that late hour hosting a small annual convention of letter writers who, I learned, meet regularly to correspond with their legislators-a letter-writers group. I never would have found the place if I hadn't gone ratting. Ratting, for me, then, is not just about rats; it is also about seeing another side of a given city. In other words, I can check into a nice hotel in San Francisco and hit the organic bakery and a few fancy shops, or I can go look at what's going on in the alleys-always with an eye to safety, of course. Checking out rats, I would argue, leads naturally to writing your legislators, or at least to thinking a little more closely about a neighborhood, about where it's going, about where it's been. If you take a map of rat infestation in a city (which is usually a map of where rat bites are reported) and you place it over a map showing the places where somebody ought to be spending more money on social services, more money on repairing the housing stock, or more time just generally caring about the people there, then you will most likely find that they match up pretty closely.

Sometimes, while wandering in big old cities and even in new suburbs, I was called on for advice, and my advice was always the same: get rid of the garbage and the rats will take care of themselves. (I am proud to report that city health officials who attended one rat reading in New York City responded the very next day to a woman who asked me for help with a rat problem in her bas.e.m.e.nt, which sounded to me less like a rat problem than like a full-fledged rat invasion.) In Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C, people called in to a radio show, sounding sort of defensive to me, to ask if Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C. rats weren't just as big as New York rats, and I had to tell them, sadly, that while all rats live completely different lives in completely different places, all rats are size- and ferociousness-wise almost exactly the same. But what mostly happened on the Rats Over America Tour was that I got to hear all kinds of excellent rat stories. People sometimes apologize before they tell me a rat story, guessing that I've heard them all. It's true that I have heard an awful lot of them. But I have not heard them all. There may not be one rat per person in America, but there's nearly a rat story for everyone, which is a lot of rat stories. On a talk show a guy called up and talked about a rat in his side alley that he had watched and hunted for months and months, never achieving a final rat bagging, as I recall. There was a woman who, while in bed with a broken leg, befriended the rat that visited her room each evening, even fed him, which sounds to me like something out of a Stephen King story. There were the three men in the financial district of San Francisco who, on their way to work one morning, came upon a rat trapped in a sewer grate. The finely dressed businessmen huddled, knelt down to the struggling rat, and, with their Wall Street white handkerchiefs, successfully freed the stuck creature as onlookers cheered.

MY NEW FAVORITE RAT STORY is not so much a great rat story as a rat story that proves a rat point, and maybe a point about nature. It has to do with the difference between wild rats and pet rats, which is a distinction I thought I made in the book (see chapter 2) but a distinction I had to constantly reiterate while on the road, even to people who were kind enough to have read my book, or to have acted as if they had read my book-as a rat author, I am under no delusions. People often brought pictures of their pet rats to share with me; some people brought their children with their children's pictures of their pet rats, sometimes called fancy rats. And at one reading in Berkeley, California, I thought I was going to have a rat riot on my hands when a small group of people showed up thinking I was against pet rats or something-and, again, I'm not, I swear. It's just that wild rats aren't at all like pet rats-they are not, not, I repeat I repeat not, not, cute and cuddly, believe me. cute and cuddly, believe me.

Anyway, I heard my favorite new rat story from a young couple who live in Brooklyn. They showed up at a reading at a cool little bar in lower Manhattan. They didn't say anything during the rats question-and- answer section of my presentation, but afterward the man came over alone, and, pulling me aside, asked if he could speak with me for a moment. I was a little worried about what he was going to ask me-I'm no good, for instance, at relations.h.i.+p advice. But he eventually explained that his girlfriend worked for an animal-welfare organization. She had adopted a rat that had been rescued from the World Trade Center and handed over to her animal-welfare group; the caged rat had survived the towers' destruction. The man recounted to me how, after a while, his girlfriend took the rat home. It developed cancer and died a short while later, but they had both grown accustomed to the rat and were saddened by the empty cage. One evening, while walking home through the streets of the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn-a neighborhood that has seen its ups and downs and is lately beginning to see some ups again-the man spotted a small rat on the sidewalk, a juvenile. He decided to bring it home to the empty cage, as a gift to his girlfriend. He caught it with his hands, noting immediately that it was more aggressive than their previous rat. At home, the rat grew quickly, but while the couple had a.s.sumed it might mellow, it did not. Indeed, the opposite happened. The man said that when he placed food in the cage, he made certain to quickly jerk out his hand; he likened feeding the rat in the cage to feeding a piranha. As the man recounted this rat story to me, his girlfriend finally approached, and soon they were both describing their fear of their new "pet" rat. I say fear fear because their eyes beseeched me, hoping I would understand, and, frankly, I did, because I've been there, sort of-I mean, I've been with wild rats. They told me that they wanted to release the rat in a park-coincidentally, a park in the borough of Queens that I knew from my childhood. But they were afraid the rat might jump out of the cage and immediately turn and attack them. I told them to be careful; I told them to play it safe. I suggested that one release option might be to open the cage and run like h.e.l.l. I also told them that I was glad to hear a story that proved once and for all the difference between the wild and pet versions of because their eyes beseeched me, hoping I would understand, and, frankly, I did, because I've been there, sort of-I mean, I've been with wild rats. They told me that they wanted to release the rat in a park-coincidentally, a park in the borough of Queens that I knew from my childhood. But they were afraid the rat might jump out of the cage and immediately turn and attack them. I told them to be careful; I told them to play it safe. I suggested that one release option might be to open the cage and run like h.e.l.l. I also told them that I was glad to hear a story that proved once and for all the difference between the wild and pet versions of Rattus norvegicus Rattus norvegicus-proved it for me, at least. In my own mind, I equate the difference between wild Rattus norvegicus Rattus norvegicus and fancy and fancy Rattus norvegicus Rattus norvegicus to the difference between American to the difference between American h.o.m.o sapiens h.o.m.o sapiens and European and European h.o.m.o sapiens h.o.m.o sapiens-same species, completely different upbringing.

THAT'S ABOUT ALL I have to say afterward. I suppose I should add that I still drop by my rat alley once in a while, for old times' sake. Sometimes there are rats there, sometimes there aren't. (These days, they are easier to see in in the garbage: since I began ratting, see-through garbage bags have become more prevalent, and a boon to the rat observer.) Mostly, as far as it goes afterward for me and the garbage: since I began ratting, see-through garbage bags have become more prevalent, and a boon to the rat observer.) Mostly, as far as it goes afterward for me and Rats, Rats, I'm still kind of amazed. I'm still kind of amazed. After After you write a book and it is published and months later you pick it up one more time and thumb through it and close it and just look at its excellent rat cover, you think again about all the nice people that you got to meet and talk to and work with, merely by asking some questions about rats. There are the exterminators and pest-control people working with city governments who don't get a lot of face time on TV but are ready to give you all the time you want when it comes to spreading the rat word. They invite you to rat conferences, where they recall exciting rat situations and talk openly about unsolvable rat issues. Afterward, even my neighbors invite me over to look and see if they have rats, which they more often than not do, and I'm not just saying that because since I wrote you write a book and it is published and months later you pick it up one more time and thumb through it and close it and just look at its excellent rat cover, you think again about all the nice people that you got to meet and talk to and work with, merely by asking some questions about rats. There are the exterminators and pest-control people working with city governments who don't get a lot of face time on TV but are ready to give you all the time you want when it comes to spreading the rat word. They invite you to rat conferences, where they recall exciting rat situations and talk openly about unsolvable rat issues. Afterward, even my neighbors invite me over to look and see if they have rats, which they more often than not do, and I'm not just saying that because since I wrote Rats Rats these same neighbors, when they see me across the street or on a train or across a crowded room, yell, "Hey, Rat Guy!" I'm saying it because they really do have rats. Remember: Rats are everywhere. Don't think they're not near you. these same neighbors, when they see me across the street or on a train or across a crowded room, yell, "Hey, Rat Guy!" I'm saying it because they really do have rats. Remember: Rats are everywhere. Don't think they're not near you.

So I want to say thank you to all those people here and say thank you as well to a guy named Dan Milner, who adapted-which in this case means cleaned up the language of cleaned up the language of-a great rat song, "McNally's Row of Flats." I heard him sing it once with Bob Conroy at the South Street Seaport, just down from my rat alley, and since then I have grown to enjoy singing it whenever I am out talking about rats. It was written by Edward "Ned" Harrigan, a comedic actor and minstrel singer, in 1882, the music composed by his father-in-law. It's about living in a tenement where more languages are spoken than in the ancient city of Babylon, where rent might be collected by the taking of the bedding and the slats, where things are flea-infested and laugh-infected and crummy but still to some extent good. And it's about what I see Rats Rats as being about, which is a bunch of different kinds of people all swarming together in the places where they have historically swarmed together and having either a good time or a bad time but definitely having a time of it. Here is the chorus. If you happen to know the tune then you can sing it after this afterword. Otherwise, just shout it out: as being about, which is a bunch of different kinds of people all swarming together in the places where they have historically swarmed together and having either a good time or a bad time but definitely having a time of it. Here is the chorus. If you happen to know the tune then you can sing it after this afterword. Otherwise, just shout it out:

Ireland and Italy, ferusalem and Germany,Chinese, Africans, a paradise for rats,fumbled up together, in the snow and rainy weatherThey const.i.tute the tenants of McNally's row of flats.

Now, go and have a drink or relax or something, because the book you just read that was all about rats is thankfully over.

NOTES.

CHAPTER 1: NATURE.

I learned about John James Audubon and his days in New York from two biographies, John James Audubon John James Audubon by Alexander Adams and by Alexander Adams and Audubon Audubon by Alice Ford. According to Ford, when Audubon finished his second book, by Alice Ford. According to Ford, when Audubon finished his second book, Viviparous Quadrapeds of North America, Viviparous Quadrapeds of North America, he took it to Congress, hoping the government would purchase it, but, as Ford writes, " [t]he more innocent members mistook the squirrels for rats . . ." I also read a collection of essays about Audubon, he took it to Congress, hoping the government would purchase it, but, as Ford writes, " [t]he more innocent members mistook the squirrels for rats . . ." I also read a collection of essays about Audubon, The Bicentennial of John James Audubon, The Bicentennial of John James Audubon, published in 1985, and according to the essay ent.i.tled "The Dream" by Alton A. Lindsey, two hundred of Audubon's paintings were damaged by a family of Norway rats while they were being stored. When Audubon died, his wife sold his paintings, which were again being eaten by rats, just so that she would have money to live on. At first, she couldn't sell any of them. Then she sat down with officials of the New-York Historical Society and pointed out the importance each painting, one at a time; the society finally bought them. Audubon's grave is in Trinity Cemetery in the Was.h.i.+ngton Heights section of Manhattan, which is on land that was once his. The cemetery is near the former site of Audubon's house, at about 155th Street and the Hudson River, and the site is one of those many places in the world where you can see the past without trying hard, even though there is no trace of the house, which, like Audubon, fell down and then was covered over by apartment buildings and then the edge of a viaduct. In 1923, according to newspaper reports, twelve families were living in squalor in the three-story house that had been Audubon's home-there was trash on the verandas, and where Audubon once had caged deer and other wild animals were pigs. The studio-according to a published in 1985, and according to the essay ent.i.tled "The Dream" by Alton A. Lindsey, two hundred of Audubon's paintings were damaged by a family of Norway rats while they were being stored. When Audubon died, his wife sold his paintings, which were again being eaten by rats, just so that she would have money to live on. At first, she couldn't sell any of them. Then she sat down with officials of the New-York Historical Society and pointed out the importance each painting, one at a time; the society finally bought them. Audubon's grave is in Trinity Cemetery in the Was.h.i.+ngton Heights section of Manhattan, which is on land that was once his. The cemetery is near the former site of Audubon's house, at about 155th Street and the Hudson River, and the site is one of those many places in the world where you can see the past without trying hard, even though there is no trace of the house, which, like Audubon, fell down and then was covered over by apartment buildings and then the edge of a viaduct. In 1923, according to newspaper reports, twelve families were living in squalor in the three-story house that had been Audubon's home-there was trash on the verandas, and where Audubon once had caged deer and other wild animals were pigs. The studio-according to a New York Times New York Times report on April 23, 1923, ent.i.tled HOUSE AUDUBON LIVED IN FAST FALLING INTO RUINS-was a home in itself: "Today, the room is the kitchen, bedroom and parlor of an aged old woman, who looks blankly at you, when you ask if you may see Audubon's studio." To get to the onetime site of Audubon's house, I took the Number 1 subway train to Was.h.i.+ngton Heights. (Malcolm X was killed near Audubon's old house at the Audubon Ballroom.) To see the rat holes, I used Nikon binoculars. To see in the dark, on my early wannabe-Audubon trips, I used night-vision gear manufactured by Night Owl Optics, a company based in Manhattan. report on April 23, 1923, ent.i.tled HOUSE AUDUBON LIVED IN FAST FALLING INTO RUINS-was a home in itself: "Today, the room is the kitchen, bedroom and parlor of an aged old woman, who looks blankly at you, when you ask if you may see Audubon's studio." To get to the onetime site of Audubon's house, I took the Number 1 subway train to Was.h.i.+ngton Heights. (Malcolm X was killed near Audubon's old house at the Audubon Ballroom.) To see the rat holes, I used Nikon binoculars. To see in the dark, on my early wannabe-Audubon trips, I used night-vision gear manufactured by Night Owl Optics, a company based in Manhattan.

CHAPTER 2: THE CITY RAT.

Naturally, I read every rat book I could get my hands on-and for a while I couldn't get out of a library without checking all their various wildlife encyclopedias for one more entry on rats-and they mostly say the same things. But chief among the books I referred to over and over while watching and reporting on rats was The Brown Rat The Brown Rat by Graham Twigg, an exacting work written by a scientist for the benefit of the lay reader that is gloriously serene in its nonhysterical description of rats. The other book that I referred to most frequently was by Graham Twigg, an exacting work written by a scientist for the benefit of the lay reader that is gloriously serene in its nonhysterical description of rats. The other book that I referred to most frequently was Rodent Control: A Practical Guide for Pest Management Professionals, Rodent Control: A Practical Guide for Pest Management Professionals, Robert Corrigan's rodent control manual. This book is written specifically for people working in the field of pest control; it speaks of rat problems pro forma-and as such it is full of clear-cut rat habitat nuance. A good book about rats for the lay reader is Robert Corrigan's rodent control manual. This book is written specifically for people working in the field of pest control; it speaks of rat problems pro forma-and as such it is full of clear-cut rat habitat nuance. A good book about rats for the lay reader is More Cunning Than Man: A Social History of Rats and Men More Cunning Than Man: A Social History of Rats and Men by Robert Hendrickson; I referred to it especially for insight into the role of rats in literature and music and rat lore in general. For instance, it describes rat tortures referred to by Freud in his famous a.n.a.lysis of the so-called Rat Man-for my own research, I didn't want to go there. by Robert Hendrickson; I referred to it especially for insight into the role of rats in literature and music and rat lore in general. For instance, it describes rat tortures referred to by Freud in his famous a.n.a.lysis of the so-called Rat Man-for my own research, I didn't want to go there. The Rat: A Perverse Miscellany The Rat: A Perverse Miscellany is a collection of rat-image and rat-related prose and poetry; it includes a picture of a Rat King, which is disgusting. The best book ever written about catching rats is is a collection of rat-image and rat-related prose and poetry; it includes a picture of a Rat King, which is disgusting. The best book ever written about catching rats is Tales of a Rat-Hunting Man Tales of a Rat-Hunting Man by D. Brian Plummer, who has been called "the most famous rat catcher in Britain," but I also found it helpful in understanding rat habits, in addition to the habits of rat catchers. Plummer writes, "Rat hunters are usually regarded as some kind of lunatic by the public at large, and, on reflection, the public at large is right." by D. Brian Plummer, who has been called "the most famous rat catcher in Britain," but I also found it helpful in understanding rat habits, in addition to the habits of rat catchers. Plummer writes, "Rat hunters are usually regarded as some kind of lunatic by the public at large, and, on reflection, the public at large is right."

As far as scientific articles written about rats go, I am indebted to William B. Jackson, a longtime professor at Bowling Green State University, who sent me numerous scientific articles, written by him and by others. Of articles written by Jackson himself, especially helpful were "Rodent Behavior," which was published in Cereal Food World, Cereal Food World, in 1980; "Food Habits of Baltimore, Maryland, Cats in Relation to Rat Populations," published in in 1980; "Food Habits of Baltimore, Maryland, Cats in Relation to Rat Populations," published in Journal of Mammology, Journal of Mammology, in 1951; and "Norway Rat and Allies," published in in 1951; and "Norway Rat and Allies," published in Exotic Species, Exotic Species, in 1982. Jackson's article "Rats-Friends or Foes?" published in in 1982. Jackson's article "Rats-Friends or Foes?" published in Pest Control, Pest Control, in 1980, while less academic, is a good place to read about the American public's disdain for rats; Jackson cites, for example, an episode of in 1980, while less academic, is a good place to read about the American public's disdain for rats; Jackson cites, for example, an episode of The Tonight Show The Tonight Show in which Johnny Carson displayed a clear plastic mousetrap with its own gas chamber. "When he attempted to demonstrate its utilitarian function," Jackson wrote, "the studio audience booed. Then he asked: 'How about rats?' The enthusiastic audience response was, 'Yeah! Yeah!'" in which Johnny Carson displayed a clear plastic mousetrap with its own gas chamber. "When he attempted to demonstrate its utilitarian function," Jackson wrote, "the studio audience booed. Then he asked: 'How about rats?' The enthusiastic audience response was, 'Yeah! Yeah!'"

I spoke with James Childs early on in my alley studies and he pointed me to dozens of helpful articles, including "Seasonal and Habitat Differences in Growth Rates of Wild Rattus Norvegicus," Rattus Norvegicus," which he cowrote with Gregory Gla.s.s and George Korch-the article refers to rats as a "cosmopolitan species," a great phrase. Childs, who studies reservoirs of animal diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, also once experimented with a method of calculating rat populations via rat bite data; he worked in New York City. In talking to Gregory Gla.s.s, I learned that another way to think about the diseases that rats carry is to think about the diseases that they carry that we don't even know to check for-rats as vectors of the unknown. Both Childs and Gla.s.s have spent time in the modern alleys of Baltimore trapping rats, using Tomahawk traps and peanut b.u.t.ter. Just in speaking briefly with Childs, I know he has great rat-trapping stories. which he cowrote with Gregory Gla.s.s and George Korch-the article refers to rats as a "cosmopolitan species," a great phrase. Childs, who studies reservoirs of animal diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, also once experimented with a method of calculating rat populations via rat bite data; he worked in New York City. In talking to Gregory Gla.s.s, I learned that another way to think about the diseases that rats carry is to think about the diseases that they carry that we don't even know to check for-rats as vectors of the unknown. Both Childs and Gla.s.s have spent time in the modern alleys of Baltimore trapping rats, using Tomahawk traps and peanut b.u.t.ter. Just in speaking briefly with Childs, I know he has great rat-trapping stories.

Various rat facts also came from columns in Pest Control Technology Pest Control Technology and its special sections on rats; I read Robert Corrigan's theory of why rats gnaw in "Rodents' Annoying Gnawing Habit," an article in and its special sections on rats; I read Robert Corrigan's theory of why rats gnaw in "Rodents' Annoying Gnawing Habit," an article in Pest Control Technology Pest Control Technology in 1997.1 found the figure of fifteen thousand rats resulting from the one mating rat pair in a in 1997.1 found the figure of fifteen thousand rats resulting from the one mating rat pair in a National Geographic National Geographic article ent.i.tled "The Rat: Lapdog of the Devil" by Thomas Y. Canby, published in July 1977. (A rodent expert who was present for a photo shoot for article ent.i.tled "The Rat: Lapdog of the Devil" by Thomas Y. Canby, published in July 1977. (A rodent expert who was present for a photo shoot for National Geographic National Geographic described how a photographer photographing rats under the bed of an Italian woman in Italy had a problem when the husband of the woman returned to the apartment and didn't believe that they were just photographing rats.) In Hans Zinsser's book described how a photographer photographing rats under the bed of an Italian woman in Italy had a problem when the husband of the woman returned to the apartment and didn't believe that they were just photographing rats.) In Hans Zinsser's book Rats, Lice, and History, Rats, Lice, and History, a cla.s.sic 1935 investigation of the effects of disease in history, Zinsser gives as an example of the human's tremendous fertility rate the case of Samuel Wesley, a seventeenth-century Englishman. Wesley had fourteen children by Sukey, his first wife. He left her, reconciled with her, and sired five more children, the oldest of the five being John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. For information on the rat eradication project on New Zealand's Campbell Island, I referred to news reports from the BBC. Information about so-called fancy rats came from pet rat a.s.sociations in the U.S. and Britain, including the American Fancy Rat and Mouse a.s.sociation. A good Web site to find out about pet rats, if you are interested in that kind of thing, is rodent fancy.com. The first U.S. fancy rat club appeared in 1978. The recent appearance of monkeypox in the U.S. may have been initiated by a three-pound pet giant Gambian rat, which infected a prairie dog, a species also known to carry bubonic plague, while they were together in a pet shop. a cla.s.sic 1935 investigation of the effects of disease in history, Zinsser gives as an example of the human's tremendous fertility rate the case of Samuel Wesley, a seventeenth-century Englishman. Wesley had fourteen children by Sukey, his first wife. He left her, reconciled with her, and sired five more children, the oldest of the five being John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. For information on the rat eradication project on New Zealand's Campbell Island, I referred to news reports from the BBC. Information about so-called fancy rats came from pet rat a.s.sociations in the U.S. and Britain, including the American Fancy Rat and Mouse a.s.sociation. A good Web site to find out about pet rats, if you are interested in that kind of thing, is rodent fancy.com. The first U.S. fancy rat club appeared in 1978. The recent appearance of monkeypox in the U.S. may have been initiated by a three-pound pet giant Gambian rat, which infected a prairie dog, a species also known to carry bubonic plague, while they were together in a pet shop.

In researching the story of the settlement of Rattus norvegicus Rattus norvegicus in America, I read "The Introduction and Spread of House Rats in the United States," an article written by James Silver of the U.S. Biological Survey that appeared in February 1927 issue of the in America, I read "The Introduction and Spread of House Rats in the United States," an article written by James Silver of the U.S. Biological Survey that appeared in February 1927 issue of the Journal of Mammalogy, a Journal of Mammalogy, a scientific journal from that period that is enjoyable to read because it combines personal observations ("One day I was in Mosquito Gulch, and at a miner's cabin, at 11,500 feet, was a bison skull," a report ent.i.tled "Alt.i.tude Limit of Bison" says) with mammalogist-oriented news reporting; article t.i.tles include "A Possible Albino Armadillo," "How Do Squirrels Find Buried Nuts," and "An Interesting Deer From Szechwan." I also read "Entrance and Migration of the Norway Rat into Montana," which was published in the scientific journal from that period that is enjoyable to read because it combines personal observations ("One day I was in Mosquito Gulch, and at a miner's cabin, at 11,500 feet, was a bison skull," a report ent.i.tled "Alt.i.tude Limit of Bison" says) with mammalogist-oriented news reporting; article t.i.tles include "A Possible Albino Armadillo," "How Do Squirrels Find Buried Nuts," and "An Interesting Deer From Szechwan." I also read "Entrance and Migration of the Norway Rat into Montana," which was published in the Journal of Mammology, Journal of Mammology, in 1947, by which time the spelling of in 1947, by which time the spelling of mammalogy mammalogy had changed to had changed to mammology; mammology; the article was written by Clarence Archer Tyrone Jr., who was at the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station in Bozeman. (A 1956 article in the same journal discusses Norway rats in Nome, Alaska; it indicates that Nome-based rats' legs are often frostbitten and that they seem to have more than the usual amount of rat hair, but that they also have fewer parasites than rats in the lower forty-eight states.) I learned that the Canadian province of Alberta considers itself rat-free via e-mail from officials in the Alberta agricultural ministry and, initially, from a publication of the Alberta department of agriculture, food, and rural development, ent.i.tled "The History of Rat Control in Alberta," which includes this statement: "Thus, the people of Alberta are extremely fortunate not to have rats." Alberta did have rats in its border areas for a brief period, and at that time, one Alberta mayor refused to believe it. He stated that he would eat any rats found in his town and only changed his mind when he was presented with a bushel full of the article was written by Clarence Archer Tyrone Jr., who was at the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station in Bozeman. (A 1956 article in the same journal discusses Norway rats in Nome, Alaska; it indicates that Nome-based rats' legs are often frostbitten and that they seem to have more than the usual amount of rat hair, but that they also have fewer parasites than rats in the lower forty-eight states.) I learned that the Canadian province of Alberta considers itself rat-free via e-mail from officials in the Alberta agricultural ministry and, initially, from a publication of the Alberta department of agriculture, food, and rural development, ent.i.tled "The History of Rat Control in Alberta," which includes this statement: "Thus, the people of Alberta are extremely fortunate not to have rats." Alberta did have rats in its border areas for a brief period, and at that time, one Alberta mayor refused to believe it. He stated that he would eat any rats found in his town and only changed his mind when he was presented with a bushel full of Rattus norvegicus. Rattus norvegicus.

CHAPTER 3: WHERE I WENT TO SEE RATS AND WHO SENT ME THERE.

Dave Davis's team at Johns Hopkins University was known as the Rodent Ecology Project, and they worked out of the Department of Parasitology. "Studies on the Home Range in the Brown Rat"-probably my favorite Davis paper, due to all the drawings of rat trails in back alleys-was published in August 1948 in the Journal of Mammalogy the Journal of Mammalogy and coauth.o.r.ed by John T. Emlen and Allen W. Stokes, two apparendy key members of the rodent ecology team. This paper contains a statement that caused me to seek out an alley to study rats, as opposed to just anywhere: "Although rats cross alleys, they seldom cross streets." Dave Davis wrote many other rat papers with John Emlen and Allen Stokes, including "Methods for Estimating Populations of Brown Rats in Urban Habitats," which was published in and coauth.o.r.ed by John T. Emlen and Allen W. Stokes, two apparendy key members of the rodent ecology team. This paper contains a statement that caused me to seek out an alley to study rats, as opposed to just anywhere: "Although rats cross alleys, they seldom cross streets." Dave Davis wrote many other rat papers with John Emlen and Allen Stokes, including "Methods for Estimating Populations of Brown Rats in Urban Habitats," which was published in Ecology Ecology in 1949. A work that Davis wrote alone was "The Characteristics of Global Rat Populations," which appeared in the in 1949. A work that Davis wrote alone was "The Characteristics of Global Rat Populations," which appeared in the American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Public Health, in February 1951. Davis himself debunked the "one rat per person" myth in "The Rat Population of Baltimore, 1949" and "The Rat Population of New York, 1949," both published in 1950 in the in February 1951. Davis himself debunked the "one rat per person" myth in "The Rat Population of Baltimore, 1949" and "The Rat Population of New York, 1949," both published in 1950 in the American Journal of Hygiene. American Journal of Hygiene. (Jackson revisited Davis's revisiting of the one-for-one statistic in a 1992 article published in (Jackson revisited Davis's revisiting of the one-for-one statistic in a 1992 article published in Pest Management, Pest Management, "How Many Rats Are There?") In these articles, Davis also showed that rats tended to be in areas where apartments rented for less. That is still the case today. In fact, if you look at a map of mouse and rat infestation in New York City, the highest areas of infestation roughly match up with the areas of greatest prevalence of poverty, not to mention disease and illegal drug use and all kinds of problems-rats are sometimes an indicator species for people who are having a tough time. "How Many Rats Are There?") In these articles, Davis also showed that rats tended to be in areas where apartments rented for less. That is still the case today. In fact, if you look at a map of mouse and rat infestation in New York City, the highest areas of infestation roughly match up with the areas of greatest prevalence of poverty, not to mention disease and illegal drug use and all kinds of problems-rats are sometimes an indicator species for people who are having a tough time.

In reading about Davis's work at Johns Hopkins, I also read about the history of Johns Hopkins, the first independent, degree-granting inst.i.tution for research and training in public health-and probably the first place to use rats extensively in public health experiments; Johns Hopkins School of Public Health-now renamed the Bloomberg School of Public Health, for the current mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, who is a major donor to the school-turns out to have been a natural habitat for rat research. Some of the first experiments on rats made at Johns Hopkins were done as a part of nutritional studies in the early 1900s, by Elmer V. McCollum. McCollum was the first celebrity nutritionist; he was referred to as Dr. Vitamin by Time. Time. He made his first experiments with rats prior to arriving at Johns Hopkins, when he was at the University of Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, he kept his rat work secret because the Wisconsin state legislature would not support public expenditures on the room and board of rats, a pest to the Wisconsin farmer. Meanwhile, working with rats in a laboratory was considered crazy; McCollum had initially attempted to experiment on wild rats, but, in his words, "they proved too savage to maintain in the laboratory." According to He made his first experiments with rats prior to arriving at Johns Hopkins, when he was at the University of Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, he kept his rat work secret because the Wisconsin state legislature would not support public expenditures on the room and board of rats, a pest to the Wisconsin farmer. Meanwhile, working with rats in a laboratory was considered crazy; McCollum had initially attempted to experiment on wild rats, but, in his words, "they proved too savage to maintain in the laboratory." According to Disease and Discovery: A History of the Johns Hopkins School for Hygiene and Public Health, 1916-193 9 Disease and Discovery: A History of the Johns Hopkins School for Hygiene and Public Health, 1916-193 9by Elizabeth Fee, McCollum proposed putting vitamins back in bleached flour, extolled the virtues of fruits and vegetables, and was an adviser to Clarence Birdseye, the frozen-food magnate. In a way, McCollum's work with rats helped sp.a.w.n the modern women's magazine, or at least the modern women's magazine cover, which subsequently created the modern men's magazine cover; his research into early dietary supplements sp.a.w.ned such self help like articles as is YOUR BABY RUNNING THE RISK OF SCURVY? and ARE THERE SUCH THINGS AS NERVE FOODS? and MY HUSBAND SAYS I'M HARD TO LIVE WITH.

In studying the work of Dave Davis, I also spoke to several of Davis's former colleagues and students, including William Jackson, who lives in Bowling Green, after having retired from Bowling Green State; P. Quentin Tomich, a biologist in Hawaii; and Jan O. Murie, who is at the University of Alberta. Jackson mailed me a copy of Davis's unpublished paper "Agricultural Expansion and Intellectual Ferment," which included a forward by Davis's daughters describing him up early watching starlings. Bruce Colvin, a rat expert who is probably best known by the lay public as the man in charge of rodent control during the construction of Boston's underground highway, the so-called Big Dig, explained to me that toward the end of his career Davis became frustrated with civic rodent control efforts; Davis felt that true rat control required a political will that politicians were not always able to summon, or command. As a private rodent consultant, Colvin has, in a sense, taken up the baton from Davis in the area of governmental rodent control-Colvin speaks about rats to government officials, in the U.S. and abroad. (In advising the city of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C, for example, he suggested that the rodent control program be moved from the department of sanitation to the department of health.) I attended a "Rat Summit" at Columbia University sponsored by New York City councilman Bill Perkins, who has worked hard on rat issues in New York-many people believe that many rat problems could be solved with the reintroduction of metal garbage cans, for instance, as opposed to easily rat-breached plastic bags, though landlords oppose this due to the weight of the garbage cans. Colvin used a slide to show where rats five in urban areas; in one slide a woman was eating lunch next to a series of rat burrows. "When you walk around the city, you will see it differently after you see this presentation," Colvin said. He also said, "New York is a great place. It's a big city. You have a lot of work to do but you can win. Thank you very much."

CHAPTER 4: EDENS ALLEY.

Around the time of my first trips to Edens Alley, I read about George Trumbull Ladd, the ancestor of George Ladd; I read of his career in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica and in papers given to me by George Ladd. (In an essay I read, George Trumball Ladd described the human being as "an organism with a mind purposefully solving problems and adapting the self to its environment.") The descriptions of the old Theatre Alley and information about Melville and Whitman and Th.o.r.eau walking through Theatre Alley and its environs comes from an amazing pamphlet called "Four Literary-Historical Walks" by Elizabeth Kray and published by the Academy of American Poets in 1982. It includes maps and descriptions of particular addresses as they would have appeared in each author's time. Kray notes that Melville and Whitman probably stood at the same spot on the Battery to admire the view and that Poe and Whitman both had their skulls examined at Fowler's Phrenological Cabinet, "[b]ut otherwise the three writers had little or nothing to do with each other." and in papers given to me by George Ladd. (In an essay I read, George Trumball Ladd described the human being as "an organism with a mind purposefully solving problems and adapting the self to its environment.") The descriptions of the old Theatre Alley and information about Melville and Whitman and Th.o.r.eau walking through Theatre Alley and its environs comes from an amazing pamphlet called "Four Literary-Historical Walks" by Elizabeth Kray and published by the Academy of American Poets in 1982. It includes maps and descriptions of particular addresses as they would have appeared in each author's time. Kray notes that Melville and Whitman probably stood at the same spot on the Battery to admire the view and that Poe and Whitman both had their skulls examined at Fowler's Phrenological Cabinet, "[b]ut otherwise the three writers had little or nothing to do with each other."

The history of Edens and Ryders Alleys are not, as I note, well doc.u.mented, and while realizing that, I read the street-history work of Charles Hemstreet, who wrote Nooks and Corners of Old New York Nooks and Corners of Old New York in 1899 and in 1899 and When Old New York Was Young When Old New York Was Young in 1902. Both works have lots of things to say about streets besides Edens Alley, such as Saint John's Lane, a six-hundred-foot-long old street in the TriBeCa neighborhood that still exists and was named for the adjacent St. John's Church; of Saint John's Lane, Hemstreet says, "St. John's Lane is so completely forgotten that in years its name has not even crept into the police records." I found some small bits of information about Edens Alley in in 1902. Both works have lots of things to say about streets besides Edens Alley, such as Saint John's Lane, a six-hundred-foot-long old street in the TriBeCa neighborhood that still exists and was named for the adjacent St. John's Church; of Saint John's Lane, Hemstreet says, "St. John's Lane is so completely forgotten that in years its name has not even crept into the police records." I found some small bits of information about Edens Alley in Stokes' Iconography, Stokes' Iconography, an incredible six-volume collection of news reports, maps, and minutes from city government meetings, not to mention photos and all other kinds of historical notes, that were combined into several volumes by I. N. Phelps Stokes, who is described by an incredible six-volume collection of news reports, maps, and minutes from city government meetings, not to mention photos and all other kinds of historical notes, that were combined into several volumes by I. N. Phelps Stokes, who is described by The Encyclopedia of New York The Encyclopedia of New York as an architect, historian, philanthropist, and housing reformer. The will of Medcef Eden is in the abstracts of wills found in as an architect, historian, philanthropist, and housing reformer. The will of Medcef Eden is in the abstracts of wills found in Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1906 Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1906 (vol. 15, 1796-1800), page 128. I found information on Eden himself in "Romance of the Historic Eden Farm; Owned by Astor Family Since 1803: In his Will Medcef Eden Gives Picturesque Account of its Rural Charms in 1798-How Henry Astor Obtained His Portion When t.i.tle Was Finally Cleared After Long Litigation," an article in the (vol. 15, 1796-1800), page 128. I found information on Eden himself in "Romance of the Historic Eden Farm; Owned by Astor Family Since 1803: In his Will Medcef Eden Gives Picturesque Account of its Rural Charms in 1798-How Henry Astor Obtained His Portion When t.i.tle Was Finally Cleared After Long Litigation," an article in the Times, Times, published on February 29,1920, and in "New York's New Up-town Centre," from the published on February 29,1920, and in "New York's New Up-town Centre," from the Times Times of September 21,1902. John Rider is mentioned in of September 21,1902. John Rider is mentioned in History of New York State: 1523-1927, History of New York State: 1523-1927, volume 5, volume 5, The English Period, The English Period, by Dr. James Sullivan, a publication of the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York. by Dr. James Sullivan, a publication of the Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York.

I also consulted Old Streets, Roads, Lanes, Piers and Wharves of New York, Showing the Former and Present Names Together with a List of Alterations of Streets, Either by Extending, Widening, Narrowing, or Closing Old Streets, Roads, Lanes, Piers and Wharves of New York, Showing the Former and Present Names Together with a List of Alterations of Streets, Either by Extending, Widening, Narrowing, or Closing by John J. Post, which was compiled in 1882. I also read by John J. Post, which was compiled in 1882. I also read The Historical Atlas of New York City, The Historical Atlas of New York City, by Eric Homberger, and I looked at scores of maps of the Edens Alley neighborhood in the Map Division of the New York Public Library, where the librarians were helpful in leading me through New York map history. Meanwhile, a fun Web site for investigating old alleys is by Eric Homberger, and I looked at scores of maps of the Edens Alley neighborhood in the Map Division of the New York Public Library, where the librarians were helpful in leading me through New York map history. Meanwhile, a fun Web site for investigating old alleys is www.forgotten-ny.com; the site has a nice photograph of Ryders Alley while the apartment building at the very end was undergoing construction. (Also, see that Web site's pages on streets you can visit with their original paving stones.) In researching my rat alley's environs, I am indebted to the work of Charles Lawesson; Lawesson looked at every street in Manhattan and compared its place on every one of the city's old maps. He then collected the history of each street in several small but thick, unpublished, loose-leaf binders that he subsequendy donated to the New York Public Library's map division-an encyclopedic task. Although I have never met Lawesson, I have a hunch that he knows the streets of Manhattan better than anyone else in the city.

Information on the history of the tree of heaven came from The Urban Naturalist The Urban Naturalist by Stephen Garber. I learned about Jens Jensen, the early proponent of native plants, in an article ent.i.tled "The Mania for Native Plants in n.a.z.i Germany" by Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn in by Stephen Garber. I learned about Jens Jensen, the early proponent of native plants, in an article ent.i.tled "The Mania for Native Plants in n.a.z.i Germany" by Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn in Concrete Jungle: A Pop Media Investigation of Death and Survival in Urban Ecosystems, Concrete Jungle: A Pop Media Investigation of Death and Survival in Urban Ecosystems, edited by Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman, and also in an article ent.i.tled "Natives Revival-Is Native-Plant Gardening Linked to Fascism?" by Janet Marinelli in edited by Mark Dion and Alexis Rockman, and also in an article ent.i.tled "Natives Revival-Is Native-Plant Gardening Linked to Fascism?" by Janet Marinelli in Plants & Gardens News, Plants & Gardens News, summer 2000. summer 2000.

CHAPTER 5: BRUTE NEIGHBORS.

The rat infestation in the Flatlands was reported in the Times Times on August 21, 1969, and the Brooklyn trolley infestation was reported in the on August 21, 1969, and the Brooklyn trolley infestation was reported in the Times Times on July 2, 1893, in a report ent.i.tled "Brooklyn's Plague of Rats: The Introduction of Trolley Cars Drives Them Into Dwelling Houses." In 1949, Mayor O'Dwyer said, "Something should be done," according to the on July 2, 1893, in a report ent.i.tled "Brooklyn's Plague of Rats: The Introduction of Trolley Cars Drives Them Into Dwelling Houses." In 1949, Mayor O'Dwyer said, "Something should be done," according to the Times Times of April 12, and according to the of April 12, and according to the Times Times of June 28, 1950, O'Dwyer appointed