PEABODY — Don’t take it personally, South Peabody residents. You aren’t the only ones with a rat problem.
Over the past week, Councilor-at-Large Anne Manning-Martin said she and Ward 1 Councilor Jon Turco have gotten a number of calls and complaints about an abundance of rat sightings in Turco’s South Peabody Ward. The councilors noted that Sharon Cameron, the city’s health director has been working on the issue and requested she appear before the council to update it on the rat issue.
But Cameron said the increased rat sightings are not just a Ward 1, or even a city problem.
“There have been a lot of rodent complaints this year,” she said. “I met recently with the the North Shore Shared Public Health Services Program, and every community is experiencing an increase in rodent issues over the last couple of years. I’m not sure if it’s because of what’s been going on with the weather and the climate, but we are certainly seeing more complaints.”
When dealing with rat, mouse, and other rodent complaints, Cameron said education is the first step.
“People are not always aware of the many food sources that attract rodents,” the health director said. “They are looking for food, water, and places to habitate. Anything from gardens to bird feeders to dog poop can attract rodents. People might not like to hear that their vegetable gardens attract rodents, but it is an issue.”
Cameron said the health department typically takes several steps before calling in the city-contracted exterminator when it gets a complaint. The first step is education, with information pamphlets put in mailboxes in the neighborhood where there’s been a complaint.
Next, city inspectors will walk the neighborhood and look for sources that could support a rodent infestation, such as overgrown vegetation or birdfeeders.
“If those steps don’t result in a change, then we will send in our pest control contractor to lay bait in the sewers,” said Cameron, adding that the city will not bait private property.
If the bait is effective, it dehydrates the rodents and can often create an increase in sightings since the rats will try to find water.
“It’s not a simple problem to get our hands around,” Cameron said.
She said prevention is the key to keeping homes free from rodents, and includes cleaning up to eliminate rodent food and nesting sources, sealing up common entrances into the home, and choosing appropriate traps and bait to attract rodents.
The North Shore Shared Public Health Services Program, which also includes health departments from Lynn, Beverly, Swampscott, and Salem, recently secured funding to work on an integrated pest management program for the region, Cameron said.
