{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='A group of \u0026#39;rat hunters\u0026#39; hit the streets of Manhattan to help tackle the city\u0026#39;s rodent problem with the help of their sharp-nosed dogs.' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c44ed8eafeecae167c83' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c44ed8eafeecae167c83' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nA group of \u0026#39;rat hunters\u0026#39; hit the streets of Manhattan to help tackle the city\u0026#39;s rodent problem with the help of their sharp-nosed dogs.\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eHeadline:  Urban rat hunters tackle NYC pestsCaption: A group of 'rat hunters' hit the streets of Manhattan to help tackle the city's rodent problem with the help of their sharp-nosed dogs. (April 29)KKeyword-wacky-bizarreAP...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eHeadline:  Urban rat hunters tackle NYC pests\u003cbr/\u003eCaption: A group of 'rat hunters' hit the streets of Manhattan to help tackle the city's rodent problem with the help of their sharp-nosed dogs. (April 29)\u003cbr/\u003eKKeyword-wacky-bizarre\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television\u003cbr/\u003eAPRIL 26, 2013 - New York, NY\u003cbr/\u003e1. Wide tilt down: Manhattan street\u003cbr/\u003e2. Zoom in: Group 'rat hunting' on NY street\u003cbr/\u003e3. Mid shot: dogs rummaging through trash on NY street\u003cbr/\u003e4. Tracking shot: dogs chasing after rat after let out of trap and holding in mouth\u003cbr/\u003e5. Soundbite: (English) Trudy Kawami, rat hunter, dachshund owner: \"By nature the dachshunds and the terriers have been bred for centuries to hunt small game and small game that goes to Earth. fox, badger, woodchuck, rabbits, rats. So they have a natural tendency to do this. And rats move fast and quick so it's exciting for the dogs and the more they are experienced with it, the more keen they they become.\"\u003cbr/\u003e6. Mid shot: Group 'rat hunting' on NY street\u003cbr/\u003e7. Tight shot: dog with rat in its mouth\u003cbr/\u003e8. Soundbite: (English) Trudy Kawami, rat hunter, dachshund owner: \"Well it was a natural outgrowth of my interest in hunting in general, and hunting small game: woodchucks, possum. And of course New York city is not plagued by woodchucks but it is plagued by rats.\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Tight shot: dog barking\u003cbr/\u003e10. Tight pan: dead mice caught by dogs lined up on table\u003cbr/\u003e11. Soundbite: (English) Trudy Kawami, rat hunter, dachshund owner: \"There are twelve less rats in the city tonight and I hope our officials are happy.\"\u003cbr/\u003e12. Low shot: dogs running around on sidewalk\u003cbr/\u003eConsider it a scrappy, streetwise cousin of mannerly countryside foxhunts: A loosely knit band of terriers and their owners periodically goes rat-hunting in through gritty Manhattan alleys.\u003cbr/\u003eThe terrain is far from the English farms and fields where the dogs' ancestors were bred to scramble after vermin and foxes. But their masters say it's just as viable an exercise for the dogs' skills.\u003cbr/\u003eOn a recent outing, four dogs caught about as many rats after bounding over trash piles and poking into crevices. Their \u003cbr/\u003eowners called it a slow night.\u003cbr/\u003eCity officials have tried various tactics to rout rats, but the terrier forays are an unofficial undertaking. The Health Department declined to comment on them.\u003cbr/\u003eNoses twitching, eyes darting and tails wagging, the pack of yipping dogs assessed the fertile hunting ground before them: a grimy lower Manhattan alley strewn with piles of trash and maybe, just maybe, a few scared rats.\u003cbr/\u003eWith a single command from their master _ \"Now!\" _ the chase was on.\u003cbr/\u003eCircling, bounding over and pawing at the garbage bags, dogs quickly had rodents on the run.\u003cbr/\u003eWithin five minutes, the city had two fewer rats. Dogs lucky enough to have bagged their quarry came bounding out of the trash, a fat, hairy rat firmly in their teeth, and they happily plopped them down at their owners' feet.\u003cbr/\u003eConsider it a scrappy, streetwise cousin of mannerly countryside fox hunts, or a barnyard-dog habit transposed onto the perennial quest to rid cities of rats. The terrain may be far from the European farms and fields where many of the dogs' ancestors were bred to scramble after vermin and foxes, and their masters may sport trash-poking sticks instead of riding crops, but they say it's just as viable an exercise for the dogs' centuries' old skills.\u003cbr/\u003eKnown with a chuckle as the Ryder's Alley Trencher-fed Society _ parse the acronym _ the rodent-hunters have been scouring downtown byways for more than a decade, meeting weekly when weather allows.\u003cbr/\u003eOn a couple of recent nights, an eclectic roster of ratters converged on an alley near City Hall about an hour after sunset. The lineups included two border terriers; a wire-haired dachshund; a Jack Russell terrier/Australian cattle dog mix; a Patterdale terrier, an intense, no-nonsense breed that's uncommon in this country; and a feist, a type of dog developed in the American South to tree squirrels.\u003cbr/\u003eAlthough the dogs have hunting instincts, it takes training to capitalize on them. Just because your pet runs after backyard squirrels doesn't mean it could ever catch one, let alone team up with other dogs to scout out a rat in a city hideaway, signal the rodent's location, flush it out, corner and capture it.\u003cbr/\u003eThere's no official estimate of how many rats rove the city's streets, basements, parks and subways.\u003cbr/\u003eOfficials have tried a number of innovative tactics to rout them, including a 2007 city Health Department initiative that sent inspectors with handheld computers to map rat infestations in a Bronx neighborhood and then followed up with owners to address the problems. Recently, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to let an Arizona-based company test a form of rat birth control by setting out bait in some subway stations this summer.\u003cbr/\u003eBut the terrier forays are an unofficial undertaking, and participants say they're less about killing rats than giving dogs the experience of chasing them. The Health Department declined to comment on the hunts.\u003cbr/\u003eThe idea has a long history. A noted 1851 examination of working-class life in London describes rat-catchers working the city's streets with ferrets and terriers. More recently, a rat-catching dachshund got attention in Seattle when its owner happened by while City Councilman Tom Rasmussen was checking out a downtown cleanup program in 2010. Rasmussen snapped a picture of the dog, rat in mouth, and posted the photo on his website.\u003cbr/\u003eThere's even an American dog breed called a rat terrier, though its origins lie on farms.\u003cbr/\u003eRat-tracking recently became an official canine sport, called \"barn hunt.\" Dogs get two minutes to sniff around a hay-bale maze and indicate where they smell a rat concealed in a crush-proof, aerated tube; the dog never catches the quarry. Dozens of dogs competed in the first trials this past month in Columbia, Mo.\u003cbr/\u003eWhile dog owners may see it as time-honored pursuit, rat-hunting riles animal-rights advocates. People for the Ethical \u003cbr/\u003eTreatment of Animals, which opposes hunting in general, expressed outrage after video of a dog snatching rats in a New York City park surfaced online two years ago. PETA Spokesman Martin Mersereau calls the alley rat quests \"a twisted blood sport masquerading as rodent control.\"\u003cbr/\u003eReynolds counters that \"there are lots of worse things that people do to rats,\" noting that poisons can sicken the animals for hours.\u003cbr/\u003eAs for the dogs, they have sometimes gotten stuck in waste bins or tumbled into holes, and a recent night left two with scrapes. But Reynolds says none has ever been seriously hurt or fallen ill.\u003cbr/\u003eIn one recent foray, the dogs dispatched a dozen rats within about a half-hour.\u003cbr/\u003eThe dogs prowled and prodded for about 90 more minutes before the group gave up for the night. But not to worry, says dachshund owner Trudy Kawami.\u003cbr/\u003e \"There are twelve less rats in the city tonight.\"\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci 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