Rodent Control in Great Kills

Rodent Pressure in Great Kills

Great Kills is in the southeastern section of Staten Island, centered on Great Kills Harbor at the shoreline of Lower New York Bay. The neighborhood is primarily postwar suburban residential — detached single-family houses from the 1950s through 1980s on the residential streets, with Great Kills Park (part of Gateway National Recreation Area) at the shoreline.

The Greenbelt's southern section borders Great Kills to the north and west, and the combination of the park's shoreline harborage and the Greenbelt's wooded margin creates a dual pressure zone for the neighborhood's residential blocks. Deer mice from the Greenbelt and Norway rats from the harborfront both affect the surrounding houses, particularly on the streets adjacent to the two green areas.

Great Kills Park's beach and recreational area along the shore creates waterfront harborage typical of bay shorelines. The residential streets between the Greenbelt and the harbor — Hylan Boulevard south, Hillside Terrace, and the cross-streets in the neighborhood core — see the intersection of these two pressure zones. The neighborhood's postwar house stock has the typical suburban entry-point vulnerabilities: garage door gaps, utility penetrations, and basement window wells.