Answer from powers-that-be about rats

At the suggestion of a number of Trump Parc hawkwatchers, I sent a note to Neil Calvanese, V.P in charge of Operations for the Central Park Conservancy, and to Regina Alvarez, the park's Woodlands Manager, informing them about the redtail family now ensconced in the park's southwest quadrant.

I received a friendly reply from Regina. She wrote that in spite of a chronic problem with rats in that area, exacerbated by the demolition of the Mayflower Hotel at CPW and 62nd St., "we will immediately curtail baiting." She ended by asking: "Do you have more specific locations where the fledglings are spending their time? If we know that, we can more effectively pick the best areas to stop baiting."

I wrote back with some more details.

Through my affiliation with the Woodlands Advisory Board I have been working with Neil and Regina for more than a decade. There has always been a warm and cooperative relationship between the park administration and the "nature community" -- those involved with the park's wildlife. We have solved many problems together, over the years. I was glad to receive their quick and cooperative response.

Meanwhile, for those continuing to be anxious about the rat-baiting problem, be sure to read John Blakeman's latest response, below, to a correspondent's fears about a fledgling eating a poisoned rat.