By Josie Grove

Reports of rodent sightings are significantly down compared to last year at this time, but it was also cited that this could be partly due to “311 fatigue” by those who have been reporting in the past. (click to enlarge)

Rats are a part of urban life, but that doesn’t mean Somerville is happy about its rodent residents. The Board of Aldermen convened a Rodent Issues Special Committee in the fall of 2013 and the committee, made up of Aldermen Maryann Heuston, John Connolly, and Matthew McLaughlin, had its most recent meeting on September 9 of this year. “We met last week because I had dozens of orders for rodent control, so we met to go over all those orders formally,” said Alderman McLaughlin. The special committee named eight specific sites as well as several streets where residents have reported seeing rats. “And we submitted formally a request for information regarding efforts to control rodents,” said Alderman McLaughlin.

East Somerville, which encompasses McLaughlin’s Ward One, is particularly afflicted. “I think there’s a number of factors,” said the alderman. “There’s a lot of construction going on in East Somerville, so that’s definitely a factor. It’s the densest part of the city, so more people per square foot, so that’s a factor. Improper disposal of trash, on Broadway in particular, where you’ve got a lot of restaurants. That tends to be where a lot of the rats and the rodent sightings have been.” The special committee named eight specific sites as well as several streets where residents have reported seeing rats. Many are restaurants and construction sites.

There are restaurants all over Somerville, so why do the rodents seem to be concentrated in East Somerville? “If I were to guess, it would be because of population density, and construction. I think construction’s a big part of it,” said McLaughlin. “When you dig up the ground, rodents will move. Most of the time, rodents will stay within a few hundred feet of their nest, but if you move them, they spread out.

The spate of development and construction planned for Union Square and Winter Hill could exacerbate the rodent problem in East Somerville. Construction sites are supposed to take steps to control rodents, says McLaughlin, but the city needs to enforce those regulations with regular inspections. “We require all construction sites to bait for rodents, and I’m trying to push for the Inspectional Services Department to make sure that happens.”

The city piloted a rodent sterilization program at six sites in the city this year. “Basically, it’s like rodent birth control, it stops rats from reproducing,” explained the alderman. “Other places, like New York City, they’ve seen as much as a fifty percent drop-off in rodents,” said McLaughlin.

For now, Somerville relies on “just regular baiting,” says McLaughlin. “I’ve been meeting with neighbors on streets that have particularly bad rodent problems to make sure they have bait so that they can deal with the problem.”

Individual property owners can get help from the city through the Residential Rodent Control Assistance Program, which the committee discussed last week. “People can call if they want to get assistance with rodents in their houses,” said the Alderman. To be eligible for the program, “You have to be a property owner and fall within a certain income range. The city gives you bait, and helps you with rodent control measures.”

There are still a lot of questions, says Alderman McLaughlin, and the Rodent Issues Special Committee is trying to get answers by working across departments. The committee asked that the directors of the Inspectional Services Department and SomerStat attend future meetings of the Rodent Issues Special Committee, or send representatives from their departments to report on the effectiveness of rodent control work.

According to a May 18 statement from the City of Somerville, 311 Constituent Services received only 24 reports of rat sightings between January and May 2015, down from 103 in the same period of 2014. McLaughlin does not think the decreased number of calls means that rat sightings have decreased. “People get tired of calling 311 after a while,” said McLaughlin. “I don’t think everyone is reporting all the rat sightings. I’ve placed more orders for rats on individual streets than 24 orders. I’ve placed dozens of orders regarding rat control in East Somerville.

“This summer is really bad in East Somerville especially,” said the alderman. “It seems like other neighborhoods don’t have it as bad.”