WALTHAM, Mass. — Jessica Alexis, hair stylist and owner of J. Lex Salon, has a regular at her Moody Street business in Waltham, but it’s not a paying customer.
“I nicknamed him Godzilla because he’s massive,” Alexis said. “New York has no comparison to the type of rats and size of the rats I’m seeing out here.”
Alexis, who recorded the giant rodent on her cell phone, fears going out to the parking lot not only because of Godzilla but so many others.
“I think that they need to figure this out soon, because otherwise, it seems like the rats are taking over the city, and we’re going to need to leave,” Alexis said.
Around the corner from her salon, resident Alicia D’Abreu is also fed up with the rodent problem. Rats have chewed holes through the plastic lids of her trash bins, and, last week, she found a dead rat under the hood of her car after smelling an odor on the way to work.
“We used to hang out in the yard, and we don’t do that anymore, because the rats would run between our legs,” D’Abreu said. “We’ve tried traps, but then that turned into the disposal situation, which was bad, because we had a collection of rats sitting in the hot barrels for the next week until the next trash came. Then, it was a maggot situation with all the dead rats in there.”
The City of Waltham has been working on the public health emergency for years, but as the issue gets worse, they are doubling down on efforts to curb the rat issue, announcing plans to issue fines to those who improperly contain and dispose of trash.
Mayor Jeannette McCarthy told Boston 25 News Friday the health department has handed out notices in the past but will begin fining those who do not use water-tight trash bins with tight-fitting lids and anyone who leaves out plastic bags of trash.
“We’re trying to enforce the longstanding ordinance we have that you can’t put plastic bags out,” McCarthy said. “When [the bags] are out, there’s more food, more population, and it’s a vicious cycle.”
McCarthy said restaurants and new construction in the area contribute to the problem, but containing trash is key. She said a mild last winter also led to a higher population.
“We have to get rid of the rats,” McCarthy said. “It’s just not healthy, and there’s just too much of it going on.”
Because of the harm to other wildlife, the city is no longer using rodenticide, but instead placing more baited traps around city buildings and in problem areas.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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