NIMBYs, but for Rats

The Ferndale Rat Patrol is a Facebook group of 600 members, "working to rid their metro Detroit communities of rats without the use of poisons," according to Dargay. But it's far from the only group in the Detroit metropolitan area dedicated to the cause. There's also the Royal Oak Rats and the Rat Problem in Garden City.

The Royal Oak Rats will be hosting a free workshop in February on the subjects of "trapping, using raptors to control rats, owl houses, tools to help fight rat infestation, feeding birds without attracting rats, rat facts and the downside of using poisons." The Ferndale Rat Patrol hands out trophies—golden rat traps—to the most successful rat hunters in their group.

Dargay provides more reporting on the methods employed by each of these groups, and some of the bureaucratic context from which these collective actions have emerged. It's worth noting that Detroit is far from the "rattiest" city in the country. A 2017 list of the rattiest cities in the country placed Detroit at number seven.