Rat Issues Linger For Some Medford Residents, Despite City Action

MEDFORD, MA — When rats started cropping up around Medford last year, several longtime residents said the problem was the worst it had ever been.

Toni Silvesteo, who has lived on Royal Street in South Medford for more than 60 years, said it was the first time she had seen a rat.

"I have not been able to use my yard all summer because I'm afraid to go out there," she told Patch at the time.

To fight the surge of rats across the city, health officials embarked on an education campaign last fall to encourage homeowners and businesses to eliminate food, shelter and water sources.

In August, the city updated its rodent control ordinance, placing new requirements on construction or demolition projects, dumpster permit holders, restaurants, residential properties and street openings.

But some residents say they've seen little change, despite the city taking action.

"I'm seeing dead rats in the street all over the place here," Silvesteo said last month. She said her dog, a 7-year-old Schnoodle named Joey, died in September after contracting leptospirosis, a disease that spreads through the urine of animals like skunks, rabbits – and rats.

"Now we have a casualty from this rat-infected neighborhood," she said.

Silvesteo could not verify that Joey contracted the disease from a rat, but said she believes he caught it by licking his paws after stepping in a puddle where an infected animal had urinated. It's not just rats – "dead squirrels over the street and a dead bunny," she said – and she has still struggled to get relief from the city.

"If the city is not going to help us, then who is going to help us?" Silvesteo said. "We're all petrified of the damn things."

While the ordinance holds accountable property owners of rodent hotspots, like dumpsters and construction sites, it still does not give the health department the power to bait private property. The city has considered a waiver program to go onto property in extreme circumstances, but "[that's] not the end all be all solution," Health Director MaryAnn O'Connor said.

"The problem's going to be addressed when people maintain their own property," she said. "[When] restaurants and businesses do what they're supposed to do."

The updated ordinance has allowed the health department to identify problem dumpsters throughout the city and compel property owners to move forward with pest control measures. The ordinance also requires construction projects to submit rodent mitigation plans, which O'Connor said has helped curb potential breeding grounds.

Both Silvesteo and her neighbor, Laroy Harding, said they had seen some improvement over the past year, but rats started to return in droves toward the end of the summer. Harding said they were once again left to fend for themselves.

"I set up rat traps, I bought poison boxes from Home Depot," Harding said. "If I catch them on a Monday, I have to put them in a bucket until the trash people come Thursday. They just sit around my house and smell."

In August and September, Harding estimated he disposed of 25-30 rats. That's about a quarter of the number he said he's seen around his property since the start of the pandemic. He redid his driveway to close up holes, moved barrels around, cut down bushes and tried to get rid of any openings where rats could hide.

"That seemed to help, but now they're coming from somewhere else," he said.

He's been told by the city that the health department can't come on his property, but feels it could figure out a way to take some pressure off residents.

"I just wish they would do more of something," he said. "More of something is better than nothing."

Medford was recently awarded a regional grant from the Department of Public Health with Malden, Melrose, Wakefield, Stoneham and Winchester. O'Connor said the grant will partially be used to address the rodent problem in those communities.

"It's not just a Medford problem," she said.

Those initiatives will include a weekly inspector that handles complaints throughout the region and maps out hotspots online.

"We will go out, we'll walk neighborhoods and try to find out where the water source would be, where the food source is, where the problem properties are in the area," she said. The city will then give residents educational materials and ensure they hire a licensed pest control company to put poison down so other animals are not exposed, said O'Connor.

The regional effort is expected to get off the ground within the next few months. In the meantime, O'Connor urges residents to prepare for winter.

"Make sure foundations don't have cracks, make sure homes are sealed out," she said. "If it's getting cold out, they’re going to look for somewhere warmer to go."