Author: /u/peteng

Hey Houston, I’m hoping you can help give me some advice on solving an issue that’s been affecting my community lately – rats!

There’s a lady living in the townhome complex adjacent to mine that frequently (almost daily it seems), while on her walks around the block scatters bird seed around in piles, mostly on the sidewalk, but including on top of our shared mailbox (bird s**t on mailbox, great). And while at first thought, the idea of attracting pretty birds and feeding the squirrels might seem nice, her bird seed also attracts and feeds rats.

On multiple occasions, I’ve seen rats feeding on the bird seed right after she has put it down, and these rats then disappearing off into the backyards of the homes adjacent to sidewalk. Yuck.

Obviously having and sustaining a population of rats around the property is pretty problematic given the damage they can cause if they get into garages, homes, vehicles, etc.

At least there’s a population of cats (maybe another controversial feeding the animals issue, but I’ll stay neutral on that one here) closer to my property that might help be keeping them in check, I saw one of these cats take down a rat one evening in front of my place, nice.

I know at least one person has spoken to her about it, she apparently is fully aware and doesn’t think it’s an issue. I haven’t personally spoken to her, because I’ve heard she’s a bit of a nut job (surprise, surprise), and that a neighborly conversation is highly unlikely to address things here.

Any recourse here? Is there a city agency to contact given this is might be considered some kind of public nuisance or health issue (e.g. knowing feeding a pest species)?

Appreciate it!