Moment of Silence

Many times this is the position a rat takes when a snap trap gets it.

The head is hidden under the trap, almost with a sense of dignity, like covering a body with a sheet or flag.

Notice how the water bug shows up to check out the carcass near the rat's tail.

Ew York City will be back next week.

Today's picture is from Charles.

The World Within You is Waiting Without You

Mosquitoes breed anywhere there is standing water.

This seemingly insignificant indentation in the sidewalk on 5th Avenue in Manhattan has been filled with dirty stagnant water for several days.

Mosquitoes will find this and begin to lay eggs, which will hatch into larvae and grow into adult mosquitoes.  The adults will then start to feed on the blood of human beings and start the process of procreation all over again.

The largest organ of the human body is the skin, which unfortunately is irritated when a mosquito feeds on it.  This irritation leads to the human scratching the area where the feeding took place.  Unfortunately, the mosquito who fed on the human also defecated on the human, and when the human scratches that area the mosquito's fecal matter enters the incision where the feeding took place.  This leads to various diseases, such as those associated with the Zika virus, infecting the human.

The stagnant water above covers an areas that is 5 inches by 5 inches.  That is enough of a breeding site to produce hundreds if not thousands of mosquitoes.

It's going to be a long summer.

Ew York City will be back sometime soon.

Come My Precious

In the courtyard behind this Park Avenue apartment building is a wall that houses some of NYC's most powerful residents.

You can see their front door, and you can see the evidence they leave behind on their travels in and out.

As they tunneled out the wall, the dust gathered below in a heap, and as they run in and out they leave behind their "rub marks."

It is taking us a while to evict these rats.  There are at least twenty of them living in here, with numerous entrances, back doors, escape hatches, etc.  And the bait we are using doesn't seem to interest them so much yet.  I'm sure they have numerous reliable food sources elsewhere.

But like nature itself, I am a patient man.  I will wait them out.  I will sit and watch, and wait, and wait, until one by one they fall into my hands.  I don't care how long it takes.  I'll be waiting.

My clients are not so patient, so I keep having to show them pictures of dead teddy bears and stuffed animals that I doctor up to make it look like a snuff film.  Fortunately, like the rats, the clients have poor eyesight.  But how does their sense of smell compare?

Also, the newsstand on my block raised the price of candy to $1.25.  But the newsstand across the street still sells candy at $1.00.  So what would you do if you were me?

Ew york city will try to get back here tomorrow, but it's kind of tough, you know?