Brookline Needs to Step Up and Deal with the Rodent Crisis
Rats here, rats there, rats everywhere!
Opinion
Rats here, rats there, rats everywhere! In one way or another, many of us in Brookline are dealing with a huge increase in the number of rats in our streets, parks, cars, and homes.
According to the Town’s statistics, rat sightings are up by 400%. Rats terrify and disgust residents as they infest houses and apartments, contaminate outdoor spaces with their feces and urine, spread disease, and cause thousands of dollars of damage by eating through foundations, wood structures, and wiring in buildings and cars.
Many of my neighbors have had rats come up through sewer pipes into their toilets, rats under their porches, and rats in their yards. Brookline rats come out during the day. One neighbor said that a rat always visited when they had their morning coffee outside.
A Harvard Street business was embarrassed recently when a rat ran into the shop as someone was holding the door open - this was a food purveyor. Yikes! I won’t go into the more horrible rat stories I’ve heard, but you should realize that large rat populations affect our quality of life. One of my neighbors moved away because he couldn’t keep the rats out of his house. Sad.
In response, two Brookline residents, Marilyn Rosenbaum and I, have started a petition urging Town Hall to deal with the problem by fully funding the Town’s Rodent Control Action Plan (RCAP), as prepared by the Health and Public Works Departments.
Don’t you think controlling rodent infestations, enforcing solid waste regulations, and managing the Town’s own trash in parks and public spaces are all part of a government’s basic responsibilities? We do and we hope you do too!
The RCAP begins to address the rat problem by hiring more staff for inspections and enforcement; purchasing more and better rat-proof trash bins; providing more public information on how to control rats; more frequent trash collection; devising and enforcing tougher regulations; and levying higher fines.
The petition begins with this statement:
“We the undersigned residents and merchants of Brookline urge the Select Board and Town Administrator to continue to address the rodent crisis by fully funding the town’s Rodent Control Action Pan (RCAP) and all other steps needed to solve the rodent crisis today, in FY2024 and beyond. No resident or business should suffer the health and quality of life consequences that large rodent populations bring. “
You can read and sign the petition by clicking on the following link:
https://fs4.formsite.com/E4qRKX/2tgf5z2tta/index.html
There is no one cause of the increased rat population, but rather a myriad of reasons that we are experiencing this problem - trash that isn’t in rat-proof bins; overflowing trash bins, which negates any of their rat-proofing properties; construction; increased outdoor recreating and dining at parks and restaurants; etc. We need funding and enforcement to address these causes.
The key to fighting the rat infestation is preventing the rats from finding food. Every expert tells us that rodents live and thrive near food. You can’t eliminate rats until you eliminate their food sources. Once that’s done, you have to reduce the rodent populations by treating their burrows. Surrounding towns are using rat birth control systems to limit rat populations. Brookline should consider that option.
COVID has affected the rodent crisis because so many of us were home instead of at school or work, and many of us dined outdoors or visited parks and open spaces to connect with people. As a result, we generated more trash, which overflowed from trash bins and dumpsters at home, on the street and in parks. Many individuals and businesses spent thousands of dollars a year on pest control. However, given the choice of donuts, bread or other yummy food scraps, rats often ignored bait traps. In my neighborhood, we call those black bait boxes ‘lawn ornaments’.
It’s hard to believe, but apartment buildings and businesses not using town sanitation services only have to store solid waste in rat-proof containers, but they don’t have to use rat-proof containers when they put their trash on the curb for pickup. More yummy rat buffets.
People often blame construction sites for rat activity, but they are only one part of the problem. All that noise and vibration can cause endemic rodent populations to move and those unoccupied spaces are perfect places to build rodent homes.
Because rats are home bodies who stay close to food, overpopulation areas are tiny. One end of a block can have rats everywhere, while the other end of the block has very few.
As a result, some neighborhoods are overrun with rats while others barely have any. Nobody should be complacent. You may not have rats now, but wait a while and see who moves onto your block. Even if rats don’t infest your neighborhood, you will probably encounter them or see evidence of their presence when you visit the town’s commercial areas, parks, and public places.
Brookline needs to step up and fight the rodent crisis. It’s more than just a single individual or business can fix. In November, Town Meeting almost unanimously approved a resolution that called for further efforts to fight the rat infestation, but that resolution did not appropriate funds.
I believe that the Select Board must prioritize our health and safety, and include funding for the RCAP in the FY2024 budget and not in a proposed Real Estate tax override.
Voice your support of this idea by signing the Rodent Mitigation Petition and contacting your Town Meeting Members, the Select Board members and Chas Carey, the Town Administrator.
You can read and sign the petition by clicking on the following link:
https://fs4.formsite.com/E4qRKX/2tgf5z2tta/index.html
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