Be alert for rats near construction/excavation sites

[Julia Anne Malakie]

Hello everyone, 

This is a long email below, but very useful information and important to know, especially if you live near what is going to be a large construction/excavation site such as Dunstan East, or even a medium size excavation.

The photos did not stay in place where they were inserted in the text, so I've added back as attachments. The single round hole is the chipmunk example; the irregular holes are the rats.

I got a walking tour of this neighborhood when the rats were active this past winter (there was still a huge pile of excavated Earth at the Sunruse development that rats were seen emerging from), and I observed one of the carbon monoxide treatment sessions. It is good to know that method worked because secondary poisonings of animals we don't want to kill from certain types of bait are a concern.

We also need, and I support, more effective measures, more widely applicable than the current rodent control clauses for special permits, to ensure that the financial burden as well as the psychological burden of rat dislocations does not fall on abutters.

Regards

Julia Malakie

Ward 3 councilor 

From: jh...@googlegroups.com [mailto:jh...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of wendy plesniak
Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2021 3:23 PM
To: Jackson Homes Historic Neighborhood Association <JH...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Rat sighting uptick -- please read.

Dear Neighbors,

This is an early heads-up that rats are being sighted on Waban Park, Pearl St. and Jackson road, most likely from disturbance of the soil at the Haywood House sight. People who have never seen a rat in their yard are now sighting them. I want to encourage you to keep an eye out for these creepy things, and to share with you some info based on our experience with rats on Waban, Hovey and Jewett Streets part of the hood, over the past couple of years.

So grab a drink and settle in to read the following rat info (or at least skim and file for future use)! No actual pictures of rats are included :)

1. Report your sighting to the city so you get into the database. If you don’t, the city will not understand the scope of the problem. They don’t ordinarily act or advocate — or even respond -- but if the problem is documented and becomes significant, they may be convinced to put pressure on the developer to mitigate rats on the property or on neighboring properties too. Our ward 1 councilors have a growing awareness of rodent problems associated with developments. So you can reach out to them too. Below is the web interface for reporting a rat sighting:

http://apps.newtonma.gov/rodent-report

There are also phone apps for iPhone and for Android here, but they are pretty lousy:

http://apps.newtonma.gov/newton-311-app

2. Report your sightings to the neighborhood too — that helps us all track the problem, which really is a community issue. Email to jh...@googlegroups.com and please put RAT REPORT in the subject line. If you feel embarrassed to report it publicly, please just email me (wen...@gmail.com) and I will send out a note that doesn’t mention your name, and just gives a rough idea of where the sighting happened.

3. Remove things that attract rats! Below are some things the city recommends to shrink the chance rats are attracted to your home (note, some of these things are very disappointing to have to implement): 

1. Maintain your property in a sanitary manner.
   • Keep grills clean
   • Store woodpiles neatly with a 12-inch ground clearance
   • Remove dog and cat feces promptly
2. Rodent proof all accessory structures (ex. sheds) and garages using durable materials such as ¼ inch hardware cloth, metal hardware, or sheet metal. Eliminate all gaps greater than ¼ inch.
3. Reduce or eliminate rodent accessible food, water, and harborage (potential shelter).
   • Do not leave pet food out at night
   • Remove bird feeders that rodents can access.
   • Remove water sources
   • Keep compost securely covered
4. Thin vegetation and keep grass and shrubbery cut short.
5. Routinely inspect the property for evidence of rodents, including burrows, tracks, droppings, and chew marks.
6. If you live in rental housing and you see signs of rodents, tell your landlord.
7. Please make sure your trash cans CLOSE and STAY CLOSED, and check the bottoms for chew-holes. If you have cracks or holes already, call the city’s Public Works customer service at (617) 796-1000 and request a new can ASAP. If you live in rental housing, reach out to your landlord if required. 
8. If you have vegetable gardens, berry patches, etc., rats will find this food. Sadly, this summer, we are growing nothing edible except herbs...

4. Pest control companies: The city does not come to inspect or help treat. They suggest you call a pest service.  We have a monthly inspection with a company called GreenHow, and we like them. They totally wiped out our rats, and they do a careful inspection of our exterior in hopes to keep it rat-free. If anyone else has a service they like, please feel free to recommend them.

5. Prevention: If you have raised skirted porches or decks and want to ensure rats don’t get under them, a rat-wall is helpful. We are in the process of installing these at our home and have helped a neighbor with theirs too. It’s too hard to squeeze under the deck or porch to treat the burrow, so this discourages them from getting under there in the first place. https://www.creaturecontrol.net/blog/what-is-a-rat-wall/ 

6. If you find a burrow on your property:  I learned about a NEW treatment option that uses carbon monoxide gas, and it’s very effective. The device is the burrowRX, and Greenhow has this device if you ask for it.  It took two treatments for us after we became host to some of another development's displaced rat population, but it eliminated the rats fast and we caved in the burrows. Afterward, we sprayed ammonia all along the pathways where rats ran to disrupt scent of pheromones, in hopes that other rats passing through would not be attracted.

7. If you see rats around but have no known burrows: Pest control companies will deploy bait stations on your property that rats will use if they they find nothing better to eat when they visit. Hopefully then they’ll be too dead to come back! Ask your service about bait containing rodent birth control, and bait that does not cause SECONDARY POISONINGS. Remember that if someone’s dog, a coyote, an owl or a hawk munches a dead rat poisoned by anti-coagulant rodenticides (like dCon, Hot-shot…), these animals will get sick or die too.

8. Clues to look for: When you look around your property to check for signs of rat activity...

CHIPMUNK HOLE:

These tend to be nicely round and about the size of a half-dollar. If freshly dug, they may be surrounded by a ring of dirt, but after that, they tend to be clean and round.

RAT HOLE:

These tend to be 2-3” wide, kind of oval shaped, and will usually include a fan of fresh dirt at the bottom. If you’re not sure whether it’s a rat or chipmunk hole, look also for a path — rats run along a preferred path to their holes, so you may be able to see worn grass leading to/from the hole. If you are not sure, put some sticks or trash that won’t blow away in front of the entrance, and rats will clean it away. Or, deploy a motion sensing wildlife camera. Creepy pix, but then you know for sure. 

And remember, if you find signs of rat activity but no burrows on your property, they may be just passing through. Try to work with your immediate neighbors too. Someone nearby may have a burrow that we should find and deal with. 

Cheers guys, and happy 4th!

wen

 

 

[Howard Rosenof]

Thanks for sending this out, Julia.

With respect to Dunstan East,  in June of last year I included this among other comments to the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA):

Construction activities, including building demolition, are known to cause rats to leave their nets. This construction site may prove especially problematic, since there is a ready supply of water along its north side. It is customary to require builders to provide rodent control on their construction sites, and at Dunstan East this protection should be extended to abutters. Unless pre-construction rodent infestations can be shown, the developer should be required to accept liability for any rodent problems experienced by abutters.

As far as I know, the ZBA never discussed the matter. Its decision to grant a Comprehensive Permit to the project included one sentence concerning rodent control:

[the applicant must submit, before a building permit is issued] A plan for rodent control prior to demolition, during demolition, and during construction. The rodent control plan will be part of an overall construction management plan to be submitted to certain City officials for review and approval. The ZBA decision does not specify the criteria to be used by these officials in deciding whether to approve the plan.

Reference: https://www.newtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/68190/637539113940130000
Condition 33g

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[didi_614]

Do the abutters have any recourse if they start getting an invasion of rats in their homes?  Or the way it is written then the Developer ie Korff is not responsible?

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[Jim Cote]

Great points in these emails and the last point on pre-consruction evaluations is a prudent move by homeowners to ensure they are made whole.  The rat problem from West Newton Sq down to Dunstan is pretty well known.  As I live in this area its something we've been addressing for awhile.  Possibly the heavy underground utility construction in West Newton Sq started it 4-5 years ago, and then the multiple variety of rodents discovered the dumpsters behind the Washington St businesses located on the Watertown St side of their property?  One area resident sent me a video taken in the early evening of the many rats on the cut throught dirt path from Watertown to Washington feasting on the dumpsters.  Then the Covid shutdown emptied the dumpsters moving the rodents down to the homeowner trash cans.  Also,  the Cheescake Brook goes above ground at Watertown St by the Shell Gas Station and passes through my backyard.  Living in the brook are the water rats who have always been a common site along this part of the brook.  You can check the blue and green barrels along Watertown and Dunstan and see the holes eaten through the barrels.  These various rodents have also brought out the coyotes who are a common site on Watertwon walking down Dunstan.

That's the history and the "What to do is the question?"

I understand that Councilor Kelley is docketing an item to address this, since as it currently stands, when we bring in the city for assistance they only serve notice on the property owners and I can assure you that strategy has not been effective.

There is a lot of wildlife in that area, and its been there for quite awhile.  Construction doesn't bring in the rodents it moves them and that's where the battle has to be won.

Jim

On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 4:10 PM matuchman <matu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Before construction starts, it would be very useful for abutters to get both a foundations survey and a pest inspection to serve as a preconstruction baseline. 

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

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[Howard Rosenof]

That's a good question for a lawyer, which I am not.

The ZBA may have had an opportunity to hold the developer responsible for offsite rodent problems resulting from demolition and construction at Dunstan East, but if they did, they relinquished it.  The developer's construction management plan, including provisions for rodent control, is subject to approval by the Commissioner of Inspectional Services, the Director of Planning and Development, the Commissioner of Public Works, the Commission of Parks, Recreation and Culture, the City Engineer and the Chief of the Fire Department. (It's not clear whether all have to approve it, or a majority can approve it.) All are, I believe, part of the City administration so are accountable to the Mayor. Newton also has a department of Health and Human Services which is in charge of rodent control, at least to the extent of taking reports. However, for some reason Health and Human Services was not among the City agencies given approval authority over the developer's plan to manage rodents.

I don't know whether the City will post the construction management plan on its website but if not the plan should be attainable through a public records request. Once there's a building permit based on the approved plan it will be up to the City to monitor for compliance.

[Nancy Mazzapica]

Thank you Howard. It would be interesting to see how other towns and City of Boston handle the rodent issue. At the very least the developer should be held responsible for all off site rodent issues and have a pre-demolition  plan in place before the onslaught Also don’t understand why the Dept of Health and Human Services has not been given approval authority for such an important public health and quality of life issue. Nancy Mazzapica

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[Victoria Danberg]

Good comments, Jim.

I would also point out that when rodents are poisoned, it also makes their predators (owls, red tailed hawks, coyotes) die a slow and painful death when they ingest them, so we must be mindful of that.

Vicki

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Vicki Danberg
Mob.  508.641.4500

Tel.     617.969.1756
Email: vdan...@gmail.com