Spike in Rat Sightings Blamed on Mild Winter
Somerville, New York, Chicago and Baltimore all experienced increased rodent sightings in 2012, according to Somerville's ResiStat blog.
In case you missed it (as I did), a September post on the city's ResiStat blog confirms what many already observed on their own: There seems to be more rats than usual in Somerville this year.
The ResiStat blog says the city's 311 system received about 52 percent more calls about rodent sightings in 2012 than in 2011.
It compared Somerville's data to data from other cities, namely Chicago, New York and Baltimore, and found those areas also saw a spike in rodent sightings.
The ResiStat blog suggests the mild winter we all had in 2012 is to blame.
The blog post also includes some information about what Somerville is doing about the rodent problem, a map of rodent sightings and a link to the city's new rodent webpage.
robert
8:15 am on Thursday, October 11, 2012
They have to do something with Cabot Farms on Broadway , there are so many rats that come out of there and go in other people's yards. It is uncontrollable!! My kids were playing in the yard and a rat jumped at my nephew.
Ann Ostrowski
11:37 am on Thursday, October 11, 2012
As a resident of East Somerville who has recently, along with my neighbors, lived through a rodent infestation I can personally attest to the city's lack of expertise in dealing with rodent issues and their lack of impartiality when dealing with city landlords. Despite the city's "new rodent webpage" in which the city explains procedures for dealing with rodents, the actual response from the city is still lacking, almost three months later. What happened? The property next to ours had an absentee landlord -- trash cans with holes, boarded up windows and doors, rodents scurrying throughout the two-family through holes in the porch roof and up from the basement, frightening tenants in their own home as well as endangering their health and safety (they have two toddlers as well as grown children). Who is the landlord? The Somervill Housing Authority. They have since rebuilt the porch, leaving gaps at the stairs and have kept the construction debris within the hollow foundation of the porch -- perfect nesting for future rodent colonies -- and they purchased new trash barrels for their property. It has taken constant pressure in the form of phone calls and too many to count emails to even get yard cleanup for this deplorable site. In the two weeks or so of my neighbors and I attending to the needs of our own families the Somerville Housing Authority has done little else to make their property safe and habitable. It is an outrage.
bfngbvn
2:48 am on Tuesday, January 8, 2013
http://www.coachoutletgn.org Coach Factory Store
http://www.coachbagsoutleton.org Coach Factory Online
http://www.louisvuittonbeltscad.net Louis Vuitton Belt
http://www.coachoutletonlinebtc.net Coach Factory Online
http://www.coachstoreoutletsy.com Coach Outlet