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CTA To Begin Testing New Rodent Control Plan At Bus Garages, Rail Terminals

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Transit Authority says it will be testing a new rodent reduction plan that aims to get rid of rats before they're born, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.

CTA spokesman Brian Steele is quick to say the transit agency doesn't a big rat problem. He says sightings of the big rodents around bus and trains stops are rare, but he says you can see them at other facilities like bus garages and rail terminals.

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"Like any large urban area, occasionally you will see rodents and other pests and we have a pretty aggressive system to make sure that they don't turn into a large number," Steele says.

Steele says it is at that those facilities where the CTA will be testing a new product from an Arizona-based company.

"It is a product that creates infertility in rats, the theory being that if rats are unable to breed, then obviously their populations will decrease," Steele says.

The CTA spends about a half million dollars a year for all of its pest control.

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