Rats in Cambridge: City To Hold Meeting On What To Do

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Rats: Just the thought of them in someone's home or neighborhood can send chills through any renter, home or business owner. And Cambridge has plenty of them.

"Rats rats and more rats," one person reported recently on the city's website Tuesday night. Someone else reported "at least a dozen rats scurrying" behind the bleachers at Gore Park. Someone else recently reported a "bunny sized rat" running across their path - near their feet.

To help folks understand what's happening the Cambridge City Manager’s office, Inspectional Services, Public Works, and Cambridge Public Health Department is set to hold a public meeting "to discuss rodent issues" in East Cambridge. The meeting will be 6-7 p.m., Wednesday at the O’Connell Branch Library located at 48 6th Street. A similar meeting will be held in Cambridgeport on Thursday, December 19, from 6-7 p.m., at the Central Square Branch Library, 45 Pearl Street.

City staff will answer questions and share information about rodents in Cambridge, and what residents and the city can both do to help tackle these issues.

To get rid of rats, experts recommend removing everything the rodents need to survive: food, water, shelter and ways to get around. That's tricky because rats only need one ounce of food per day to survive. This means controlling access to food on your property by making sure you don't set out your trash or compost barrels out too early. Composting as much as possible, which keeps food items out of the trash, and then keeping all food scraps and organics waste in tight-locking compost bin. And as tempting as it may be to feed feral cats, birds or other wildlife, feeding them attracts rats.

Following a short informational session, residents will be invited to walk around the neighborhood with city staff to look at trash and compost set-outs as well as common signs of rodent activity.

"Rodents are an unavoidable part of life in any city, but the City of Cambridge is committed to confronting this problem in a variety of ways - by addressing rodent problems on public property, working to control rodents during construction projects, enforcing sanitary codes and ordinances, and educating the public," the city's spokesperson said in a release. "By working together with local businesses and property owners, we can make Cambridge as free from rodents as possible."

How to Report Rodent Issues to the city:

The quickest way to report rat or mouse issues is to download the Commonwealth Connect app, and report it there, or online according to the city.

You can also email rodents@cambridgema.gov or call 617-349-4899 to leave a message on the city's Rodent Hotline. Officials ask that you leave your name, number, address where issues are being seen, and as much information about the issue and possible causes as you can (overgrown plants, improperly stored trash.).