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Citizen complaint of the day: Rats force North End resident to move car out of city
By adamg on Mon, 12/18/2017 - 11:45pm
A disgusted North End resident files a complaint about the wire-munching rats that have been ceaselessly chomping on his or her engine on Commercial Street:
Four times in just the last month my car has had rat droppings and rat nesting materal on the engine and damage from gnawing wires. I must open the hood and check each time I want to drive it. Today there was a large and agressive rat on the engine. I have temporarily moved my car out of town until the city gets the rat problem under control. This is a hardship as I am elderly and need a car to get around. When will the city do something about the rats in the North End!!
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Comments
The problem here is the way
The problem here is the way people deal with rats is like whack a mole instead of whack em all! If you call the exterminator they just move over a few blocks until the heat cools down.
If you're whacking moles
that doesn't do anything about the rats.
Some New Cars Have Soy-Based Wiring — Rats Think It's Delicious!
There are class action lawsuits against Honda and Toyota because of their use of soy-based wiring. Various repellents are available to deal specifically with the problem, including a spicy tape made by Honda that adds additional flavor to your car's soy wiring, which keeps some rats from eating it.
In China, they solve the problem by dressing their cars in fashionable skirts.
( let's make cars with edible wiring — what can possibly go wrong? )
Soy
I would hazard that they chose or were told to use something less environmentally problematic than they typical plastic to wrap the wiring. Maybe?
Told by whom?
It might also be that they didn't like their employees being exposed to the plastic because of health care costs to society.
Likely also cheaper.
Likely also better material properties.
Etc.
Nice ecoconspiracy horror story ...
Not a new problem
We used to have to wrap the car at some trailheads when I was a kid.
Talking a Ford Falcon here. Critters like any natural rubber, which they can chew to digestible bits.
Problem has been around for a while.
As noted in the article, the problem has been around for a looong time.
Over a decade ago, I worked at a company that had our office on Newbury street and had a parking spot in the alley.
One day I dropped my company car off for someone else in the office to use, only to have them be unable to start it that night.
Tow truck, mechanic, and oh look, eaten wires.
Happened a couple more times before we simply stopped leaving cars parked overnight behind the office.
You know what goes great with soy?
Wasabi. Bet the rats love the burn of that.
Marmots
Out west marmots are a big problem, especially for people who park their car and go backpacking for a few days. One solution is to wrap their car up in a tarp, similar to elmer's pic.
https://www.adventure-journal.com/2017/11/beware-car-eating-rodents/
Nice Marmot
">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Ni4gfKw_M[/youtube]
Revenge
Could it be that the rodent community is seeking retribution for all their loved ones run over on city streets?
Send the new Orange Line cars back
We want soy trains and soy bicycles
Too many drivers
Too many drivers say YO SOY AUTO!
I want a small soy ford
You Soy Fiesta!
The solution to the problem
The solution to the problem is more cats
And...
..more hawks! Rats are perfect hawk food.
Oh no the city will lose the
Oh no the city will lose the $0 the entitled driver pays for their parking permit!
My first reaction when I read this
Was "wow, I wonder if Kinopio unleashed an unholy horde of minions upon the parked cars"
Say what you want
When I first read this, I thought his comment was going to be much, much worse, so I was pleasantly surprised with his trolling on this issue. Sometimes it pays to lower one’s expectations.
Yawn... you're a broken
Yawn... you're a broken record on thos topic.
Residents in the North End pay plenty of taxes. Get a job, buy property and you'll figure out what I'm talking about.
Yeah, no
People have the right to live in a city that's reasonably free of public health hazards. The rats eating his wiring are also leaving piles of poop lying around, and are covered in fleas and ticks.
The public health hazards ....
.... created by rats are nothing compared to those created by motor vehicles.
My European forbears would disagree
You know, that whole bubonic plague thing.
Supposedly NOT rats...
... but cute litle gerbils: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/24/after-8-ce...
Either way
They carry disease.
Wow
Almost 12 hours passed before the first "entitled driver" comment. If I were a gambling man, I'd have lost that bet.
If you need me, I'll be over here clutching my free pass while thinking about how entitled I am to have just paid $350, and the $500+ bill coming next year, just for the privilege of leasing my car in the Commonwealth.
Yeah what an entitled asshole
Yeah what an entitled asshole she is thinking the government she pays taxes to has some sort of responsibility to protect its citizens' property.
Shaming an elderly Boston
Shaming an elderly Boston resident for needing a car and filing a legitimate complaint with the city about rats eating his/her car wiring? Wow, you're a real mensch.
Wait until this person finds out ...
that we have rats out here in the suburbs too ...
went through this a few years
went through this a few years ago with squirrels. they love the wires on the idle intake motor or some such thing. used a Critter Fuck Off-type spray from Lowe's that didn't help, rather seemed to attract them.
Where
does it say the person complaining parks on the street? I parked in a private lot and also had rats set up shop in my engine. Had to get rid of the car, as no matter where I'd park it, rats would come back.
I had no idea ....
.... rat were helping to discourage people from bringing their noisy, stinky, road hogging cars into Boston.
Yay rats!
From the complaint...
...which you probably didn't read:
Stay classy, ya donkey.