The rats are hungry in Hyde Square, according to Alaina Gonzalez-White, WISDOM Good Works’ consultant on the East Coast.

That’s good news, because it means the rodents that have disrupted life in this tight-knit neighborhood are eager to consume the organic pellets containing our fertility-control technology.

Hyde Square is a small enclave within the Jamaica Plain neighborhood in Boston. Our pilot program there, which began earlier this summer, is unique in the portfolio of WISDOM Good Works projects because it’s focused on an open residential area. That’s substantially different from our studies in animal enclosures at shelters or zoos, or in the isolated farms of Isabela Island on the Galapagos archipelago.

“The main question we are trying to answer in Boston is can this technology be used in a residential setting,” said Alaina. “We think yes, and we are out to prove it.”

More than 30 households within a two-block area have agreed to be part of the study and each week, Alaina documents the consumption of the pellets placed in feeders designed to allow access by rats, but not other local wildlife.

That local wildlife is surprisingly diverse, according to Alaina.

“In my short time here, I’ve crossed paths with rats, squirrels, birds, bunnies, snakes, raccoons, and wild turkeys,” she said. “The squirrel is my new sworn enemy; they’re the ones most likely to get into the feeders. Although if I had known that a 30-pound turkey was going to follow me around while I worked, I might have had second thoughts about taking this job.”

Alaina, a longtime believer in WISDOM’s mission, has an extensive background in community organizing, which made her the perfect candidate to build community support for this project.

A large part of her job involves providing information on how the fertility-control technology works by interrupting reproduction in both male and female rodents, and why it is a humane, safe, and effective method of combating rodent overpopulation compared to poisons that would typically be used.

Numerous entities, from the City of Boston to financial supporters like Open Philanthropy, have expressed interest in the results from Hyde Square and the potential of this technology to revolutionize how we as a society deal with animal overpopulation.

Alaina is also embarking on a new project in Boston – using our fertility-control technology in community gardens. One community garden has already started using the specialty feeders on its plot of land, and two more have expressed interest in our product.

Meanwhile, as results are gathered from Hyde Park, Alaina plans to hold a community forum to discuss the results and how to sustain the program after the one-year pilot is complete.