What’s up with that?

Photo: Andrew Nawrocki

Q I noticed some ugly-ass fake rocks at the Pay One parking lot near Wabash Avenue and Van Buren Street. Why not just use real rocks or no rocks at all?

A They may look harmless, but these faux rocks are rat killers. “The city of Chicago mandates that we provide pest control, if needed. The rocks are an aesthetically pleasing way to disguise the poison,” says a Pay One employee who requested his name be withheld. He says not all Pay One lots use these “landscape bait stations,” which sport slits that allow rodents easy access to the rodenticide inside. They’re only placed in areas where disguise is appropriate—open-air lots that have plants or mulch. When we inquired if Pay One does indeed have a pest problem, the employee snapped back: “The whole damn city has a problem!”

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