Rising population and mild winters are worsening the rat infestation problem in Washington, D.C. The pest control department of the District has been receiving increased number of distress calls from affected individuals.
The growing number of restaurants in the District, especially in the past two years, has not helped either, as more food is made available for rodents. Experts also point out that food waste produced by increased population is a big problem.
“More people with more money means more restaurants, which means more garbage, which means more rat food,” Gerard Brown of the Department of Health’s rodent control division told the Associated Press.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Mark Eckenwiler, vice chair of a local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, called D.C.’s rodent problem “an eternal war.”
Although officials have been trying all means to counter the problem, including using dry ice and poison to minimize the rodent population, their efforts have not yielded the desired results.
Mayor Muriel Bowser had also announced an extra $900,000 in funding to strengthen measures to control the rodent population and increase staff. The restaurants were also provided incentives and encouraged to buy mini-trash compactors to restrict rats from accessing their waste food. A recent report from the pest control company Orkin ranked Washington, D.C. as the fourth “Rattiest City” of the nation. D.C. was in the fifth spot in the Orkin ranking last year. But throughout 2018, as the rodent problem worsened, the District climbed up one spot.D.C. is facing a spiraling rat infestation and the government is struggling to keep pace. https://t.co/cEwDmOhMsL
— WTOP (@WTOP) December 12, 2018
Washington DC Ranks 4th on Orkin’s List of ‘Rattiest Cities’