Urban Rats: how to Manage them and Let Wildlife Thrive

About our topic

Rats have lived with humans for many generations. They know us very well, and have diverse strategies that have allowed them to survive and even thrive. Human efforts to eliminate urban rats have severely impacted wildlife, and the rats are still here. What are we to do? Larry Heaney, Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum, has studied rats around the world. He will share his expertise on mammals, and particularly rats. He has potential solutions to offer, and will answer your questions.

About the speaker

Larry Heaney is the Negaunee Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He teaches and advises students at the University of Chicago and University of the Philippines, and is a Research Fellow at the Philippine National Museum of Natural History. His research has focused on the natural history, taxonomy, and conservation of small mammals in the midwestern US and in the Philippines, where he and his collaborators have discovered and formally described over 50 previously unknown species of mammals. He has lived in Evanston for 29 years.

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Natural Habitat Evanston, a program of Climate Action Evanston, is an all-volunteer community group of about 900 members, spreading the word on creating habitat for insects, birds, and other wildlife. We aim to change the culture of lawns: leaving your leaves is the simplest first step; the second step is adding a native shrub or tree to shrink your lawn. We show how to transition from turf with low-cost cardboard methods, which keystone native plants to choose for year-round forage, that insects chewing on leaves is a ‘win’ (rather than cause to reach for pesticide), how turning off unnecessary lights saves insect and birds (and human health), and how to make your windows bird-friendly (because if you are going to invite birds to your yard, let them visit safely). We plant a lot of native trees and shrubs, especially at schools and in the 5th Ward.

We encourage people to think outside the lawn with No Mow May. Our Pollinator Pledge is a central focus of all our outreach and education, and a great way to spread the word to your neighbors.

We encourage people to think outside the lawn with No Mow May. Our Pollinator Pledge is a central focus of all our outreach and education, and a great way to spread the word to your neighbors.