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By Alice Gomstyn, Globe Correspondent, 10/3/2002
While the city launches an all-out assault against rats in Allston-Brighton, neighbors living around one alley in the Back Bay are taking matters into their own hands.
City workers set baited traps last week along streets in Allston and Brighton, where officials said recurring trash problems - caused by the neighborhoods' thousands of students - are to blame for the hordes of rats overrunning the area.
Several miles east, dozens of Back Bay residents have turned to rat-resistant barrels known as ''toters'' to combat a problem they say is threatening their quality of life.
Rats have long been a nuisance citywide, but last winter's mild weather made the problem worse in Boston and throughout the Northeast, said ecologist Bruce Colvin of Lynnfield, a leading specialist on rat behavior.
''The past mild winter has allowed for greater survival of rats and more breeding than would occur during a normal or harsh winter,'' he said.
Residents from Roxbury to Beacon Hill have lodged complaints with the city about rodents invading their neighborhoods. The Inspectional Services Department has received more than 1,300 calls from rat-weary residents over the last nine months - an increase from the typical count of 1,000 to 1,200 per year.
Back Bay resident Bill Jones says he's seen rats the size of kittens, and he wouldn't let his 2-year-old son play on the patio this summer because it was covered with rat droppings.
''You could walk by at night and hear them inside trash barrels,'' Jones said.
''You'd even see them on the sidewalks and in gardens,'' added Maura Connelly, whose nearby home borders Back Bay's Public Alley 417.
The city says the only way to keep rats at bay is to keep streets clean.
''The thing that will always trump any rodent abatement program is proper trash management,'' said John Dorsey, Inspectional Services Department spokesman. ''The rodents will go wherever there's a food source.''
Part of the city's response to the rat increase has been bait and trap sweeps such as the one last week in Allston and Brighton and previous ones in communities such as the Back Bay.
City officials also said that tougher enforcement of a cleanliness ordinance that took effect last year for restaurants and other businesses will make a big difference. The city cited 69 businesses this year for violating the ordinance, up from only four citations last year, Dorsey said.
Rats have long made their homes in the Back Bay because of the area's many restaurants, dense population, and the swampland that lies beneath its streets - but the recent increase in rats spurred Connelly and fellow residents Debbie Osgood and Myriam Curran to action.
The group's rat-fighting strategy focuses on garbage cans: In cities such as Chicago and Columbus, Ohio, rats are on the way out thanks to special trash barrels that hold garbage in and generally keep rodents out.
''It's worked wonderfully well,'' said John Johnson, an official at the refuse collection division in Columbus, where toters have been used since 1994. ''We've significantly controlled the problems of rats and rat infestations in our alleys.''
The barrels cost between $50 and $65, and garbage trucks must be equipped with mechanical arms to lift and empty the barrels.
Late last winter, the Back Bay team met with city officials, including Back Bay City Councilor Michael Ross and Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Casazza, and made a deal: Residents living near Alley 417 would buy their own toters, and the city would equip several of its garbage trucks with mechanical arms.
Months later, residents say they are pleased with the results.
''I've seen very few rats with the new barrels,'' said Michi Warren, who has lived next to Alley 417 for six years. ''Since we've changed to the new system, it's a lot cleaner than before.''
But a minority of residents around Alley 417 declined to purchase toters - and on a recent garbage collection day, several old-fashioned, overflowing garbage bags were lined up next to the sleek black barrels.
Most cities that use toters provide them free to residents, but Casazza said he isn't sure Boston can afford to do the same. The company responsible for picking up the city's garbage agreed to equip several trucks with the mechanized arms that pick up toters, but outfitting an entire fleet of trucks would be complicated and costly.
Still, Casazza holds out hope that the pilot program will be expanded to at least some other parts of the city, if only, perhaps, on a volunteer basis.
The Back Bay's Jones said he didn't mind shelling out extra cash for the barrels and hopes other city residents feel the same way.
''Our alley's a lot cleaner,'' he said. ''It's a no-brainer.''
This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 10/3/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.
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I would reather have the snakes and gators
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Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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