Bay Area under siege by rats? Readers report they’re here

Rats.

On Aug. 17, I wrote a column about how a predicted apocalypse of rats in neighborhoods, brought on by the pandemic and the closure of restaurants and businesses, had apparently not hit the Bay Area. The good news was based on accounts from vector control officials who said that their agencies were not seeing many complaints from residents about rodents, and that their field observations showed no increase.

Then came the emails. Many of you wrote to tell me I was wrong. You said you were seeing way more rats than normal, so I reached out and asked you to let me know what was going on in your neighborhoods and backyards.

I received more than 50 responses, and the majority said there is a rat problem. Most of the comments were from the South Bay, but they came from all over.

Ginny D’Angelo of San Jose said the rat temperature in her backyard is “out of control high.” Even though they’ve had rats before, she said, they were always able to contain the problem, but not this year.

Pat in Los Altos said there are rats in the yard and, for the first time, under the house and in the attic. Pat has set traps and worked on exclusion, with limited success. Many of the critters seem to be living in the neighbor’s ivy.

Debbie Wade of San Leandro first noticed a problem a couple of months ago when her tomatoes started disappearing. When she saw evidence of rats in the compost bin, she set out traps and then had a rather horrific experience when the trap caught and seriously injured — but failed to kill — the rodent, requiring her to dispatch it herself, which is not an easy thing to do.

Beverly of Saratoga said her family is plagued by aggressive and very smart rats that found a way under the house and gnawed two huge entrances into the garage. They not only are stealing the bait off the traps, she said, but in some cases they’re stealing the traps. Her entire neighborhood has a rat problem, she said.

Tom Neale of Danville said he always knew there were rats around, but recently he’s seen them running along the top of the fence just after sunset.

Bob Kass of San Jose was one of the few who said he didn’t see a problem.

“We have lived in our home for over 30 years and have dealt with rats continuously over that time period,” Kass wrote. “At times they have been in our attic, in our walls, in our garage, under our house and most often, outside at night in the bushes or along the fences. They are in the neighborhood, just like squirrels, crows, occasional raccoons and opossum.”

Kass said that because people are staying home and enjoying their yards more, they are more likely to see rats that have always been there but not noticed before.

Whatever the case, some people are seeing more rats and reporting more issues because of them.

This doesn’t mean there are more rats, just that the critters have moved into new areas.

Friday, I’ll dedicate a column on how to protect your home and yard against rat encroachment.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my rat survey.