Seeking solutions to the rat problem
City Council thwarted by the persistent pests
The Boston City Council pondered deep questions last week, such as: Is rat contraception effective?
That was one solution, albeit the most unconventional, of many councilors considered during a committee meeting focused on Boston’s perpetual rat problem, and whether it’s serious enough to warrant its own dedicated office of pest control.
“Pest control is critical to our residents’ quality of life,” declared District Two Councilor Ed Flynn of South Boston, who is sponsoring the pest office measure for the second year in a row. “Rats and rodents are a nuisance, but they also impact public health, sanitization of our neighborhoods, maintenance of our properties.”
Flynn argued that a city department dedicated solely to pest control would be more streamlined and coordinated to tackle the problem, and would oversee innovative solutions, short- and long-term mitigation plans for individual neighborhoods, and public education campaigns.
Currently, the city is taking a multiagency “all hands on deck” approach to the issue, Dion Irish, the city’s chief of operations, told councilors Tuesday. He said although he is entirely aligned with the councilors’ goals to reduce and eliminate the rat issue, he said the city already has a team acting as a dedicated pest control office.
The effort is led by John Ulrich, assistant commissioner of the environment division of Boston’s inspectional services department, and involves a range of city departments, including inspectional services, public works, the water and sewer commission, and code enforcement, Irish said.
Ulrich said that the city has 14 licensed inspectors who respond to 311 complaints, enforce the sanitary code in relation to rodents and trash, and do a range of public engagement and education work through social media videos, community meetings, and litera
ture drops.
The city also hired Bobby Corrigan, “urban rodentologist” with RMC Pest Management Consulting, to evaluate the city’s current program. Since January, Corrigan has done an analysis of rat complaints, met with all the relevant department heads, and done field assessments of various neighborhoods and areas in the city that are particularly afflicted with rat infestations. Corrigan gave an overview of his findings at Tuesday’s hearing and answered questions from councilors; he’s scheduled to provide a list of recommendations for the city later this month.
“Boston’s no different in many ways from other cities with rats,” Corrigan said on Tuesday. “Rats in general, as a species, on a global scale are increasing, and in some cases very dramatically.”
At its simplest, Corrigan said the solution comes down to a simple premise: no food, no rats. But that’s an immensely complex task to achieve, which requires a broad, collaborative effort, he said, and solutions look different in every neighborhood and establishment, depending on its location and whether it’s commercial or residential.
Eliminating the availability of food means improving city sanitation and trash pickup, and using tamper-proof garbage bins and dumpsters that rats can’t chew through. It’s also notoriously difficult to root out rats, who love to nest and travel in sewers, and burrow in any available soil, whether in public parks or private gardens or between the walls of old buildings.
He also emphasized that education is especially critical, so residents and businesses are informed on how to get rid of their trash in a sanitary way that does not attract rats.
Dion said that the city is working to collect more data on which areas are particularly afflicted by infestations, and is collaborating with students at MIT on a project to use predictive analysis to determine which areas officials should expect to see growth in the rat population.
The city has also used dry ice and carbon monoxide to get rid of rats, pumping it into burrows.
Councilors discussed what sort of garbage bins or trash receptacles might be more resistant to rats; what kind of education campaigns could help inform dog owners on the importance of picking up dog feces so it doesn’t attract rats; and about whether rat contraceptive products are effective in decreasing rat fertility.
“The evidence is, the product works from what I’ve seen in close populations, but in an urban population of rodents, it’s challenging,” Ulrich said. “We haven’t had much success.”
District Nine Councilor Liz Breadon of Brighton brought up a home rule petition she said the council sent to the State House that would allow the city to increase fines on landlords for code violations, in the hope that would be an incentive for absentee landlords to improve the sanitation and trash disposal on their properties.
She also briefly brought up possibly bringing in owls or hawks, or other natural predators to help reduce the rat population.
“We have to look at any and all options to address this really troublesome and persistent issue in our neighborhoods,” Breadon said. “It’s incredibly distressing, and with milder winters and climate change, we’re not seeing a drop-off of their activity over the winter.”
While all officials were in agreement Tuesday on the need to take additional measures to stamp out rodents from Boston, and expressed support for incorporating Corrigan’s recommendations into the city’s strategy, Flynn remained emphatic that a new pest control office would be the most effective strategy.
“It’s important for us to have a stand-alone City of Boston department of pest control,” said Flynn. “I think we need to elevate this issue; it’s that important to the residents of Boston. It’s probably the number-one issue I’ve received calls on or emails on or texts, or visiting residents talking about this issue throughout the city.”
While the measure was on Wednesday’s Council meeting agenda, councilors declined to take any action on it. Instead, they said they intend to vote on it after Corrigan provides his recommendations for how to improve the city’s rat mitigation efforts, which he is scheduled to deliver by the end of the month.