From the Public Health survey
Public Health Seattle-King County wants to hear from you about “what the public knows about rodents and your experiences with rodent control and prevention.”
A new Rodent Prevention and Control Survey has launched to gather feedback as the health department works to “improve our programming and technical assistance offerings” —
“Public Health – Seattle & King County wants to learn more about what the public knows about rodents and your experiences with rodent control and prevention,” the survey’s introduction reads.
The county says it fields complaints about infestations and “neighborhood rodent issues” and and provides information to property owners about rodent control. In some cases, health officials can call in enforcement. There is also a Seattle Sewer Baiting Program if rats show up in your toilet.
The survey’s results will help Public Help shape its programs and resources.
Public Health says the survey has 19 questions and should take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Note: Don’t go chattering about squirrels — “For the purpose of this survey the term ‘rodents’ refers to rats and mice and does not include squirrels and other animals,” Public Health explains.
CHS, meanwhile, wrote about the many rats of Capitol Hill — Black Rats, Brown Rats, Sewer Rats and Norway Rats and Roof Rats, Lab Rats and Pet Rats — here a few years back. Rats populations thrive with access to food and water. Lack of water appears restricting but, what really attracts them is food. Cal Anderson is, of course, famous for its rodent residents but you’ll also find them pretty much everywhere else across the Hill — including, sometimes, in your toilet.
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Please spend ALL your energy in removing tents from streets, not rodents or anything else
Reviving a healthy / connected community is more important than ANYTHING else a city gov’t can do
The encampment that shared a property line with us caused the rat problem that we have experienced for two years. The numbers are starting to dwindle now that the 3 foot wide trash pit has been cleared.
Do you think the people in those tents evaporate when they get cleared out? They just have to shift a few blocks to another location, then a month or two later come back to the first. I agree that piled trash is a health hazard but the sweeps just push the problem around.
Well, they do get offered referrals for shelter. One article up from this on this site said that for the 20 offers made the people at the Belmont encampment that only 10 accepted the offers.
Now that covid is no longer is a public health threat, it is time to enforce no camping/illegal RV parking Laws. This can be done until the last shelter bed is full, per the 9th district court. Perhaps shifting local dollars from the homeless industrial complex to developing more jails, more law enforcement, and sufficient shelter beds….
Covid no longer a public health threat, homeless industrial complex….I hope you enjoy living in your parallel universe…
Not completely true. Before a camp is swept, there is persistent outreach to the campers to offer them various kinds of shelter. Some accept, but many do not, and the latter have only themselves to blame if they choose to continue to live in squalor.
There’s a lot of garbage on the streets and it can be blocks til a proper trash can is found. More receptacles that are rat proof and cannot be opened by passerby could help too.
“if rats show up in your toilet.” I did not know this was a thing. I will never go to pee with the lights off again, thank you for the nightmare fuel.
thanks for reading
I always thought rats coming up through toilets was an urban myth – until it happened to my brother-in-law. Yikes.
Anyone who has ever ran a camera down sanitary pipe in Seattle will tell you that rats in the sewer is not a myth.
You should close your lid, worried about rats coming up or not… it helps keep your toilet water from aerosolizing all over your bathroom every time you flush… (yes, yuck)
Yup, I thought it was only a problem in NYC until it happened to my neighbor here, thankfully not in my building at least