WASHINGTON — Rats are all over the city, and most people hate them.
But not Bobby Corrigan.
"This animal gets the job done," he said.
He loves rats.
"I always had an interest in things others did not," he said. "Nobody had an interest in rats. They were too yucky."
Corrigan is a scientist who studies rats and consults cities on rodent control. He's consulted the District of Columbia since 2006.
DC Health brought him in to teach residents how to keep up with the booming rat population. He led a tour of a park at the corner of 21st and I in Foggy Bottom, pointing out rat burrows and tunnels, indicating active rat colonies.
The burrows are just steps away from an overflowing garbage bin.
Come nightfall, overflowing public garbage cans across the city will become a sumptuous buffet for D.C. city rats.
Half-eaten salads and grease-stained pizza boxes sustain the city's thriving rat colonies, which Corrigan said have rebounded following the height of the pandemic when restaurants were largely shuttered.
“They will follow their noses...they have a great sense of smell," Corrigan said.
And they want shelter to avoid predators, usually hiding in areas with heavy vegetation.
Corrigan said it's impossible to know just how many rats there are, but D.C.'s 311 service request data gives some insight into how much of a nuisance they are.
In Fiscal Year (Oct.- Sept.) 2020, the city received 8,107 service requests for rodent control, according to a DC Health spokesperson. In FY2021 they grew to 11,391. With a little over two months left of the fiscal year, so far the city has received 10,156 requests.
Wards 1, 4, 5 and 6 had the highest volume of requests over those years.
And it's not just a DC issue.
"Rats are so successful—there's so many cities around the world right now thriving—Washington, D.C. or New York or Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore...Seattle, Dallas, Chicago, Rome," he said.
So why are they thriving? Corrigan credited the availability of food and trash following peak-COVID, more people living and working in cities and global warming creating milder winters.
Here are Corrigan's VERIFIED tips to keep rats out of homes and businesses.
For homes:
- Keep your garbage containers clean
- Keep your trash inside that container and the top closed
- Look for any holes leading through the foundations or through doors or gaps below doors
Additional tips for businesses:
- Use dumpsters and maintain them
- Keep clutter under control