Rats Back On The Table At Worcester City Council

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester might attempt to do something human civilization has been trying to do since at least when the Black Death ravaged Europe in the 14th Century: eradicate rats.

As part of this week's city council meeting, At-Large Councilor Donna Colorio is asking City Manager Eric Batista and Public Works and Parks Commissioner Jay Fink to come up with a "comprehensive plan to eradicate rats in the city" and create a map of rat infestations.

This isn't the first time councilors have tried to nibble away at the city's rodent problem. Early in 2022, former city manager Ed Augustus forwarded a plan to councilors for rat eradication that included changing ordinances to get trash cleaned up faster. The plan required property owners to clean up trash within 24 hours after being notified of a problem by the city. The old law gave property owners a full week to do the cleanup. The plan also called for increased inspection of restaurants to make sure owners were properly disposing of food waste.

The plan also included the creation of a map of rat infestation hot spots maintained by the Geographic Information System department. As of Monday, GIS did not have a map available online, according to the city's website. The map would've been used to educate residents living near rat infestations about how to prevent them from getting worse.

According to an update on the rat plan forwarded to councilors in November 2022 by Batista, the city had tracked 187 rat complaints over the four months ending in October 2022; during that same time, the city identified 49 rat burrows, and provide rat education to 37 property owners.

Batista's update also included a map showing places in the city where residents had complained about the rodents. Although areas like downtown and Burncoat appeared to have slightly higher rat concentrations, the problem was citywide. Here's a look at that document:

The last report on the city rat plan was sent to the council's public safety committee. That committee in June 2023 placed the rat plan on file with no specific action taken by councilors, according to meeting minutes.

Unless delayed by snow, Colorio's order will go to Batista at Tuesday's meeting.