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Citizen complaint of the day: Rat tracks in the snow
By adamg on Mon, 01/20/2020 - 11:04am
A concerned citizen files a 311 complaint about all the rats at Lewis and Commercial streets in the North End.
Rat tracks in the snow- cars damaged by many rodents in this area-health hazard- please exterminate
Earlier:
Citizen complaint of the day: Rats force North End resident to move car out of city
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
You better test your car.
You better test your car. Rats are known to eat wires while staying warm in car engines.
Seriously
I've had that issue badly for the past year. At it's peak, I would start the car and dozens of rats would run out, and I would have to constantly clean nesting materials out of the engine spaces. I recently got an ultrasonic noise maker for under the hood which has somewhat alleviated the issue, but at the cost of battery issues for the car.
There is no good solution because the rats are partially responsible for the resurgence in urban predators like owls and hawks and nobody wants to chain poison them. The only good answer might be to replace every trash can and dumpster in the city with incinerators, but it would need to be 100%, a single building abstaining would ruin it.
My solution is to soak a half
My solution is to soak a half dozen cotton balls in peppermint oil and put them into a freezer ziploc bag along with a couple of mothballs. Poke pencil size holes in the bag and put it right on the engine in between the spark plugs. It's stopped them from coming back. I swap in a new bag every month.
I also have learned that Toyota uses soy based wire casings where most other manufacturers use something else.
Did someone say ...
EXTERMINATE?!!!!
How does that maroon Dalek
How does that maroon Dalek get off that platform without crashing?
Oh. Old Doctor Who set. Never mind.
RATS!?!?! BY THE WATER!??!?!
I am shocked and appalled!
Check your back yards for
Check your back yards for these prints in snow folks.
Not rat tracks
I don't think those were left by a rat. Rat tracks have alternating pairs of hind and foreprints with a line left by the tail dragging in between.
Squirrels, then.
Squirrels, then.
I agree
What book is that @AdamB?
National Audobon
It's the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals.
I agree .. I dont think those
I agree .. I dont think those are rat teacks they might even be baby rabbits
This may be an oldie and a
This may be an oldie and a cliche, but, THAT'S LIFE IN THE BIG CITY!!!
Exterminate the cars.
They are a far worse menace.
not rats
but the tiniest deer after a night of ziti and chianti.
Am I
The only one who likes rats? We're so devoid of wildlife in the city, seeing one always puts a smile on my face.
I have one on my lap right
I have one on my lap right now. Highly intelligent and very loving lil’ critters.
MOTHBALLS IN A NYLON SOCK
MOTHBALLS IN A NYLON SOCK under the hood of the car. It works, they can't stand the smell and leave, they know not to consume them.
Remove before you start up the car, store in a covered coffee can. It's a PIA but will save you thousands in mechanic bills. Put the mothballs back under the hood before dark or end of the day.
Also, remove the insulation crap under the hood, you don't need it and it is perfect nesting material. Tear it out and discard.
My car has been mice free for over 18 months, using the methods I described.
I have now stopped using the mothballs and they have not returned.
The mice/rats have memory, they will return to their home (your car) once they have marked it (urinated all over the place and left their scent).
Sure, you can get the car professionally cleaned out $$$ if you can afford to do so.
Best of luck!
Welcome to city living!
The rats in my South End neighborhood leisurely mosey across the sidewalk right in front of me, usually look at me with a tiny nod as if to say, “Hey.”
I’ve been awakened in the middle of the night, in both the South End and City Point, by insanely loud gang fights between rival families of raccoons vying for the turf of a nice treetop.
I once spotted an enormous seagull flying straight down Washington Street by the Cathedral like a Dudley-bound Silver Line bus, holding in its beak a perfectly triangular wedge of pizza by the dead center of its crust. Thought to reach for my camera, too late! But I saw it! I witnessed it. Ah, the beauty of urban nature!
(We have pigeons and turkeys and freaky white squirrels, too.)