New York City has spent years trying to control its rodent problem, from tougher sanitation rules to more inspections and targeted extermination efforts. But a new report suggests the city may be facing a more difficult challenge than simply finding better traps or putting out more poison.
In a report for Eyewitness News ABC7NY, anchor Michelle Charlesworth said researchers at Rutgers University have found that many mice in the Northeast are carrying genetic mutations that help them survive common rodenticides.
The findings include samples taken from New York City, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and the Philadelphia region. According to the Rutgers researchers quoted in Charlesworth’s report, about 70% of the mouse populations sampled contained mutations connected to resistance against widely used poisons…