A New York City professor is at his wits’ end after his car has been ravaged by flocks of rats on four separate occasions – despite trying everything to prevent the attacks.
Tom Marion, 62, is a theater professor at the City University of New York who has fallen victim to four invasions of his car, by rats.
‘They will find you,’ Marion warned. ‘And they all know each other and they talk to each other.’
Marion has tried everything to stop the rats from targeting his car, including wrapping his wires in minty tape and pouring garlic-scented liquid on his engine.
The 62-year-old even parks in a different spot every single night to try and throw the rats off his trail, but nothing had worked.
A New York City professor is at his wits’ end after his car has been ravaged by flocks of rats on four separate occasions – despite trying everything to prevent the attacks
Tom Marion, 62, is a theater professor at the City University of New York who has fallen victim to four invasions of his car, by rats
Marion has tried everything to stop the rats from targeting his car, including wrapping his wires in minty tape and pouring garlic-scented liquid on his engine
His first experience with a rat-attack came in late 2022.
At the time, Marion was parking his 2015 Toyota Prius C in an open-air car park in the East Harlem neighborhood where he lived.
The rats chewed through his car wires and the vehicle had to be towed – the entire ordeal wracked up a $1,000 bill.
After the first incident, the theater professor assumed it was an isolated incident – but just a short time later the rats struck again.
He then began to douse his car nightly with garlic-scented rodent repellent and ‘really smelly’ peppermint oil, Marion told the Wall Street Journal.
Marion also covered his engine with stainless steel wool after every drive because that was rumored to with the problem.
The next time his car died, Marion discovered a live-rat that was angrily squeaking beneath the hood of his car.
His next attempt at ditching the rats involved opting for open parking spots on the street instead of enclosed parking lots.
Despite the change in parking tactic – two weeks later his car died again as he was crossing the bridge into Queens.
This time it cost his insurance company another $1,200.
The 62-year-old even parks in a different spot every single night to try and throw the rats off his trail, but nothing had worked
The rats chewed through his car wires and the vehicle had to be towed – the entire ordeal wracked up a $1,000 bill
New York City is home to over two million rats – so it’s no surprise that they’ve infiltrated people’s vehicles. The rats took over the city during the COVID-19 pandemic and they have been raging nuisances ever since
Rats got braver during the pandemic, according to Jason Munshi-South, a biology professor at Fordham
Marion’s final bid to get rid of the rats at long last was to straight up buy a new car. He swapped his Prius for a hybrid Ford Escape and luckily he hasn’t seen the rats since.
New York City is home to over two million rats – so it’s no surprise that they’ve infiltrated people’s vehicles.
The rats took over the city during the COVID-19 pandemic and they have been raging nuisances ever since.
Rats making themselves at home under car hoods isn’t a new concept for New Yorkers – but it has gotten far worse in the last two years, according to the city’s auto body shops.
Body shops have seen a huge spike in the amount of drivers coming in with rodent-related issues.
Part of the reason for the climbing numbers could be because of the rise in New Yorkers who own cars since the pandemic when more city-dwellers invested in vehicles.
Rats got braver during the pandemic, according to Jason Munshi-South, a biology professor at Fordham.
While the rodents typically would stick close to their food sources – during the pandemic, as humans were out and about less, the rats took more risks with dashing for food from exposed trash areas.
While humans largely went back to their old habits after the pandemic, rats did not – and they have been causing chaos ever since.
In November rats were spotted roaming completely freely around a New York Chinese restaurant at night in grim footage.
Rats making themselves at home under car hoods isn’t a new concept for New Yorkers – but it has gotten far worse in the last two years, according to the city’s auto body shops
Body shops have seen a huge spike in the amount of drivers coming in with rodent-related issues. Part of the reason for the climbing numbers could be because of the rise in New Yorkers who own cars since the pandemic when more city-dwellers invested in vehicles
The video shot by a passerby shows at least three rodents at the Royal Queen eatery in Flushing, Queens.
Rats are seen sniffing around boxes as well as inside and on top of a hot food display counter of the Dim Sum restaurant.
Earlier this month a flock of rats were seen running out from under the blanket of a homeless person in a New York City subway station.
The disturbing footage was uploaded to TikTok by spooked spectators.