By Michael Coughlin Jr.
Last week, the city hosted a webinar in which representatives from the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) and Waste Reduction team discussed rodent control and how it starts with residents.
John Ulrich, the assistant commissioner of environmental services at ISD, initially spoke about what the division does regarding pest management.
First, Ulrich explained they use an integrated pest management program to keep populations low and have controls in place to reduce reliance on rodenticides.
Moreover, he spoke about the outreach that is conducted for environmental sanitation. “We allow neighbors to point to the issues that they’re dealing with,” said Ulrich, who indicated that an inspector responds to 311 complaints within 24-48 hours.
Ulrich expanded on what the response by an inspector looks like in that they are looking for the cause of a rodent issue. “It’s mainly driven by food, but food, water, and shelter is what we’re looking for,” he said.
Later, Ulrich described issues that lead to more rodent activity, such as feeding birds and neglecting to pick up dog waste, and noted that dumpsters and trash were the primary food source for rodents in the city.
To combat rodent activity, Ulrich emphasized that it is essential to store trash properly. “[Make] sure your barrels have covers, tight-fitting lids, that they don’t have holes in them or cracks,” he said.
Sanitation inside and outside a home was described as the most important step to prevent rodent infestations. For example, Ulrich spoke about the importance of not leaving food out and general maintenance like vacuuming.
Securing the correct amount of storage barrels for a particular household was also stressed. “If you have two barrels with covers and then you put out four trash bags, you’re missing the point, and you’re still contributing to rodent activity,” said Ulrich.
Other critical measures to prevent rodents discussed included not leaving pet food outside, discarding unwanted items like furniture that might be cluttered, and performing regular yard maintenance like mowing the lawn.
As the presentation continued, Ulrich provided tips on ensuring that rodents do not enter homes.
For example, he discussed repointing masonry, such as foundations, and sealing cracks and gaps above ground level.
As for what methods the environmental services division uses for rodent control, Ulrich described a couple.
One method is putting two pounds of dry ice in holes. While Ulrich said it was effective and helped reduce the reliance on rodenticides, he indicated they had used it less recently.
Another method is using a Burrow RX machine. “A Burrow RX machine is a machine that uses carbon monoxide to pump into the burrows and kills the rat inside the burrows,” said Ulrich.
“There’s no risk of secondary poisoning with rodenticide, and it’s very effective.”
After Ulrich provided an overview of rodent control requirements for construction sites and the city’s site cleanliness ordinance, Dennis Roache, the city’s superintendent of waste reduction, took the floor.
After providing an overview of the waste reduction team, Roache explained why Boston is a “perfect storm city” for rats.
First, Roache discussed the city’s age. It has 150-year-old sewer systems, alleys, and street corners that are rat-friendly, as well as densely populated neighborhoods.
He also pointed out that the city does not have containerization rules on trash day. “This basically leads to a free dinner buffet,” said Roache.
To combat rodent issues, Roache recommends that residents always store trash in rodent-proof bins. He also noted that the city is looking at what New York is doing regarding requiring containerization.
Roache also reemphasized other strategies that were presented by Ulrich, such as maintaining cleanliness and sealing cracks around homes.
Residents of buildings with six or fewer units were also urged to sign up for the city’s free food waste collection program.
“It’s a way to separate your food waste into a container,” said Roache. “You can separate your food waste out of your trash and keep rats off of your property.”
For more information and to sign up for the food waste collection program, visit https://www.bostoncomposts.com/.
Tips for bigger buildings were also provided, such as offering educational programs for residents, dropping food waste off at free Project Oscar Bins, using a commercial trash service, and more.
For more information about Project Oscar Bins and their locations, visit https://www.boston.gov/departments/public-works/project-oscar.
To close out the presentation, Ulrich provided more information about the Boston Rodent Action Plan (BRAP), which he described as a “new initiative to reduce rodent population across the City of Boston.”
The plan, which involves numerous city agencies, was accompanied by a report from Dr. Bobby Corrigan, an urban rodentologist who made recommendations that fall into six categories: coordination, trash management, data and technology, community engagement, integrated pest management, and sanitation.
For example, some of these recommendations call for improved communication between city departments, policy improvements for trash storage and collection, communication with residents about how their behavior impacts rodents, and much more.
Finally, Ulrich discussed enacting pilot programs in neighborhoods with the goal of scaling them citywide. These pilots include marketing and education campaigns, litter basket improvements, and more in neighborhoods such as Dorchester, the North End, Roxbury, and others.
To learn more about the city’s plan for rodents and how you can help combat the issue, view the webinar in its entirety at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3Q3JsTROCE.