Rats in DC - will we have typhus soon like LA?

[Anonymous]

I killed a rat on Saturday. It got caught in a glue trap in my yard and I immediately heard the commotion. It started screaming when I got near it and I freaked out and drowned it in a bucket. I felt awful but it had to be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cat kills at least 1 rat every night. I know because he leaves the bodies in a specific spot in my yard. I always give him a pat on the head and tell him he's a good boy.

Aren’t you worried about your cat getting rabies? Also I think most of these outdoor activities or feral cats are scared of the rats.

Very rare for a rat to carry rabies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cat kills at least 1 rat every night. I know because he leaves the bodies in a specific spot in my yard. I always give him a pat on the head and tell him he's a good boy.

Indeed. Give him a treat for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a foreigner and I feel like Americans don't care about rats or mice. They try to control the number of cats (try to adopt one and you will see!), but not rats. Jerry is a hero, Tom is the villain. Mickey, Stuart Little, and Ratatouille are all American creations, great childhood heroes.

In my country, it is not okay to have rats running on your backyard overnight. Here, it's common and it doesn't even matter if it's in a wealthy or poor neighborhood.

That being said, maybe a typhus outbreak would solve this problem.

We might need to go there. Or bounties for skins? Does dcs animal humane laws of catch and release apply.to rats? I'm shocked that in 2019 no one has developed a way to sterilize them??? So gross. They totally play where kids play in DC - watch out for those sandboxes.

Historically, offering bounties leads to intentional breeding of rats.

I remember living in DC around 1990 and the rats were bad then too. Nothing new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a foreigner and I feel like Americans don't care about rats or mice. They try to control the number of cats (try to adopt one and you will see!), but not rats. Jerry is a hero, Tom is the villain. Mickey, Stuart Little, and Ratatouille are all American creations, great childhood heroes.

In my country, it is not okay to have rats running on your backyard overnight. Here, it's common and it doesn't even matter if it's in a wealthy or poor neighborhood.

That being said, maybe a typhus outbreak would solve this problem.

We might need to go there. Or bounties for skins? Does dcs animal humane laws of catch and release apply.to rats? I'm shocked that in 2019 no one has developed a way to sterilize them??? So gross. They totally play where kids play in DC - watch out for those sandboxes.

YES, there IS a way to sterilize them!

Rat birth control is now legal in DC! Buy some for your alley and "help control the pet, er rat, population"

https://contrapeststore.com/?fbclid=IwAR32FLrSKDvj9b4urSPdIldxQEMDEy_t13iNHN2ih5BZOfWdRDiws1qOerw

[Anonymous]

What feeds them is garbage. Our garbage. Whether a restaurant dumpster or your dog's poop. Our refuse is their feast.

[Anonymous]

As someone living on a block full of restaurants, DC obviously doesn't want to fix this or they would require rat proof dumpsters and garbage cans. We are extremely careful not to overfill the dumpster but it is no deterrent to the rats. They easily find their way inside. I also have never thought of having nightly garbage pick up but that is brilliant. I have a dog that I found out is an incredible ratter within weeks of moving to the city from the 'burbs. He's a hound with no prey drive noted, so it was quite unexpected. I stopped counting after he killed the 100th within months. You're welcome Georgetown! Of course, he didn't put a noticeable dent in the numbers but I like to think of a the rats he helped not be born.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I killed a rat on Saturday. It got caught in a glue trap in my yard and I immediately heard the commotion. It started screaming when I got near it and I freaked out and drowned it in a bucket. I felt awful but it had to be done.

That is cruel. Just smash it with a shovel or call animal control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a foreigner and I feel like Americans don't care about rats or mice. They try to control the number of cats (try to adopt one and you will see!), but not rats. Jerry is a hero, Tom is the villain. Mickey, Stuart Little, and Ratatouille are all American creations, great childhood heroes.

In my country, it is not okay to have rats running on your backyard overnight. Here, it's common and it doesn't even matter if it's in a wealthy or poor neighborhood.

That being said, maybe a typhus outbreak would solve this problem.

A friend of mine was biking home after work when a huge rat jumped on his leg. He fell off and broke his leg.

GROSS. Where did that happen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I killed a rat on Saturday. It got caught in a glue trap in my yard and I immediately heard the commotion. It started screaming when I got near it and I freaked out and drowned it in a bucket. I felt awful but it had to be done.

That is cruel. Just smash it with a shovel or call animal control.

Not sure why smashing it with a shovel is less cruel than drowning but ok.

[Anonymous]

This is just so disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What feeds them is garbage. Our garbage. Whether a restaurant dumpster or your dog's poop. Our refuse is their feast.

Why is garbage sitting out for them?

[Anonymous]

Sanitation, good schools, acces to health care, and crime control are important to high quality of living.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who feeds these rats?

anyone you see throwing bread to pigeons is feeding rats unintentionally, though they're not the main reason we have a rat problem.

Anyone not picking up their dog poop. http://animalatticpest.com/ratsdogpoop.html

[Anonymous]

I see rat holes all around and I don’t know why people don’t call them in to 311. And why the city doesn’t encourage it.