Will Halloween Pumpkins Make Rat Issues Worse? NJ Cities Like Hoboken Ask

NORTH JERSEY, NJ — With several neighborhoods around North Jersey battling rat problems — including in Morristown, Hoboken, Bloomfield and Wyckoff — will decorating with Halloween pumpkins make the problem worse?

(Just how bad is Hoboken's rat problem? See video below.)

In past years, after the pandemic and other factors caused a rat explosion, one town in the Northeast clamped down on outdoor pumpkin decorating.

In Watertown, Mass. in 2021, the town asked residents to use plastic pumpkins in 2021 to avoid baiting rats.

This year, mile-square Hoboken has battled a serious rat issue, with one woman saying at the last City Council meeting that she was "terrorized" by rats wandering by the window of her garden apartment. She said she had asked for help several times. SEE ALSO: Man Catches 15 Rats In Hoboken Yard

The city responded to the problem this summer with new laws demanding tight lids on trash cans, making sure restaurants are responsible for pest control, and forcing property owners to fill rat burrows on their property.

With a heated election for six City Council seats coming up in November, several candidates have introduced their own rat plans, some saying the city should have done more, and sooner.

One candidate, Rafi Cordova, has even suggested hiring at least two people just to deal with the problem — including a "rat czar" at City Hall, and a new garbage hauling contractor who'd work under the Hoboken Business Alliance (whose budget comes partly from the city).

Local residents have asked how to keep rats at bay this season, especially since people in the mile-square city tend to decorate to the hilt for Halloween.

"To pumpkin or not to pumpkin," posted Hoboken City Council candidate Paul Presinzano, who is running against Cordova and has proposed his own rat plan, on Saturday. He posted that hair spray, peppermint oil, garlic, and other substances can be a repellant.

Rat Video Shows Extent Of Problem

But days later, this past Tuesday, he posted something more concerning: a video of a "rat hot spot" that someone had told him about.

"Could not believe it," he wrote.

As far as pumpkins, exterminators have suggested throwing the gourds out when they start rotting and spraying them with various solutions.

Terminix has a list of ways to combat the problem here.

Meanwhile, New Jersey residents can be glad that at least they're not being warned about pumpkins and bears, like up north in British Columbia.