Dead rats aren't source of stench at New Orleans City Hall, official says
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New Orleans officials are working to sniff out the cause of a mystery odor inside City Hall that prompted an evacuation and partial closure of the building and was at one point attributed to decaying rats.
Why it matters: It's the latest rat drama for a city that has had several high-profile problems with rodents over the years.
The big picture: City Hall ruled out a rodent problem Friday, according to a WDSU interview with Terry Davis, the mayor's communications director.
- The fire department also ruled out a gas leak, the mayor's office said. The cause of the odor was still under investigation Friday.
- City Council members and workers in the building told reporters Thursday they were informed the smell was coming from decomposing rats that died in the building after pest control efforts.
- The mayor's communications team declined to further comment about the investigation and the rat rumors.
Behind the scenes: I took my sniffer to City Hall on Friday to see what I could find (and ran into a Fox 8 camera crew doing the same thing).
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- Thursday's closures were on the west wing of the first floor. The offices were open Friday and employees told me it smelled much better than the previous day.
- Walking the halls, I smelled musty building odors, air freshener and fresh popcorn from Tony's Snack Bar. Every now and then I got a whiff of cigarette smoke, cleaning supplies and maybe a fart.
- Reina Chupina, who was running her husband's snack bar Friday in City Hall, said she smelled something stinky in the building Thursday morning, but it dissipated over the day. On Friday afternoon, the main smell was coming from her commercial popcorn machine.
"The rats (are) eating our marijuana"
Flashback: New Orleans' rat problem made national news in March after NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick talked about the widespread rodent infestation at police headquarters.
- "The rats (are) eating our marijuana" in the evidence room, Kirkpatrick told a City Council committee. "They're all high."
- She poked fun at the problem during the city's Pride parade, where she wore a shirt with her comment.
- NOPD did not respond to a request Friday about their current rodent control efforts.
What to know about rats in New Orleans
The rats have lived here for centuries, and videos of them running around the French Quarter have gone viral over the years.
- "With humans gone, rats take over New Orleans' French Quarter," CBS This Morning proclaimed during the coronavirus lockdown. Watch the clip.
- In 2018, there was that gross video of rats scurrying on tables of a French Quarter restaurant.
- And of course, comedian Hannibal Buress had to poke fun at his favorite place to visit after he encountered a "huge rat" in the bathroom at Coop's Place. Watch the full bit.
Zoom out: New Orleans has three common types of rodents that cause problems, according to the Mosquito, Termite & Rodent Control Board.
- The house mouse, roof rat and Norway rat are prolific breeders, the agency says on its website, and frequent pests in residential and urban areas.
- Roof rats are normally smaller and live in trees, according to NOLA.com, while Norway rats are larger and often live in burrows along the Mississippi River.
- The population is controlled through trapping, baiting and removing food, water and breeding spaces, the city's literature says.
Threat level: Exposure to rat feces and urine can lead to various gastrointestinal diseases and respiratory illnesses in humans, the rodent control board says.
- Rat fleas also have played a role in transmitting the plague and other deadly diseases throughout history.
The bottom line: Rats aren't going anywhere and it's only a matter of time before we get another weird rat headline.