Rat Week: ‘I want to kill them all.’ Meet Brooklyn’s senior NYC Parks exterminator
Diana Olaizola is NYC Parks and Recreation's only female exterminator.
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Diana Olaizola, the only female exterminator in the NYC Parks Department, has always thrived in a male-dominated world.
"Being the only girl in a family of six boys...I don’t know, I love it," she said.
Her enthusiasm drives her work.
"I want to kill them. That’s all I’ve got to say," Olaizola stated bluntly.
There are a few ways to rid parks of rats – one of which is using carbon monoxide and dioxide to suffocate the rats in their burrows.
"We stuff the extra burrows with paper towels because we don’t want rats running around while we pump gas into the burrows. That’s just the most squeamish thing in the world," she explained.
The borough has five exterminators handling an average of 50 rat-related calls each day. Despite their best efforts, she says it’s impossible to completely rid the parks of rats.
"We’re fighting a losing battle. Rats breed about six times a year. We kill 20 – and 60 or 600 are born, we need the community's help," she said.
