It might be easier to just put in a waste basket
I received the following email from a reader:
"I take the train a lot for work, and can't help noticing the rats that live in the bushes along the Southeast intersection of 27th avenue and US1 on the property of the Shell Gas Station. There's a bus stop nearby and some commuters like to throw their trash on the sidewalk and lawn since there isn't a waste basket around. I guess the rats can't resist because you can literally see several of them darting in and out of the bushes. This afternoon, while walking past the gas station toward Berrie's one good size rat missed my foot by about an inch! Maybe he was on his way for a snack!
"Since you like taking pictures around the Grove, maybe you could swing by in the morning or afternoon (when they are most easily seen) and take a couple shots of them, then you can post them on your blog and maybe the owner will put some rat traps in the bushes before they get REALLY brave and start biting young children."
I declined to take the pictures. It's not worth getting bitten by a rat; his email makes the point so well.
"I take the train a lot for work, and can't help noticing the rats that live in the bushes along the Southeast intersection of 27th avenue and US1 on the property of the Shell Gas Station. There's a bus stop nearby and some commuters like to throw their trash on the sidewalk and lawn since there isn't a waste basket around. I guess the rats can't resist because you can literally see several of them darting in and out of the bushes. This afternoon, while walking past the gas station toward Berrie's one good size rat missed my foot by about an inch! Maybe he was on his way for a snack!
"Since you like taking pictures around the Grove, maybe you could swing by in the morning or afternoon (when they are most easily seen) and take a couple shots of them, then you can post them on your blog and maybe the owner will put some rat traps in the bushes before they get REALLY brave and start biting young children."
I declined to take the pictures. It's not worth getting bitten by a rat; his email makes the point so well.
posted by Tom Falco at 7:00 AM
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7 Comments:
Just last week I was riding my bike past that area and saw a family of rats run into the bushes. Ick!
The truth is the whole grove in infeseted with rats. I live in the South Grove and I see them walking on the electic cables and on the fences all the time. I think its because of all the trees we have. I guess we just have to deal with them like the peacocks...but the peacocks are a lot prettier.
I see the rats all the time too!! The problem is that our neighbors out HUGE piles of cat food all over the neighborhood for the stray cats, which are now starting to look obese. Not only does the food attract all sorts of other animals -rats included - but the fat cats just don't care to chase the rats anymore. I have a hard time walking my dog these days because he lunges for the cat food at every turn. Another complaint to add, STOP the crazy cat feeders! Let them find their own food or at least just leave food in one area, like in front of your own house!
Hi y'all...I'm wondering if maybe we humans need to take some responsibility for the rat population here. How many of us toss around trash like it's nothing?
And, as evidenced by a later post, we have tons of roach coaches, so named for a reason. Walk by a construction site and see how much trash is about. The construction workers, and the operators of the Fine-Dining-On-Wheels, generally don't live here in the Grove and have no interest in keeping the neighborhood clean.
Instead of jumping to cruel things such as rat traps, we should begin with ourselves and our neighbors to create cleaner streets, yards and sidewalks. The rats won't stay if there is no food.
I ride the train as well, and walk by these rats every day. While I don't try to pick them up, I know that they're not going to attack me and they're way to fast for a small child to catch. The problem is the people who simply think it's too inconvenient to dispose of trash properly, not the rats. There are plenty of trashcans in that area- and plenty of trash outside of the trashcans. IMO the homeless living under the train station are more threatening when you don't give them the $0.35 they're asking for than those little brown rats.
You can report those people hanging out under the train station to the Net Office and they will send someone out there. Also I have seen more rats in the neighborhoods surrounding the downtown business district as well.
It is disgusting. Who do we call?
As long as the rats aren't residing in our homes, why is it such a personal issue? It's a gas station, it's the metro rail, there's garbage, scavengers eat (homeless included). It's not a crime to eat, be a scavenger or be homeless.
Neighbors, we do not have to feel the need to kill things simply because __________________!(fill in the blank, figuratively, not literally - unless you wish.)
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