Rats are always a problem in big cities. Due to never-ending food sources from restaurants, public trash, and litter along with the unfortunate homeless camps in Portland; rats have a smorgasbord of food options to choose from. A rat’s main objective is to eat which they do several times throughout the day. Though they can easily forage for foods like fruit, berries, and seeds they will more than likely go after whatever is easiest. Dumpsters and trash bins filled with food scraps are an easy target for rats making Portland a great food supply.
Is Portland The Rattiest City?
According to a recent study, Portland ranks 24th on the list of rattiest cities, beating New Orleans and Sacramento. It certainly isn’t a win to be listed as one of the top 50th rattiest cities in the U.S. Whether you work, live, or are just visiting Portland the last thing you want to think about is coming across rats and knowing that the city of Portland falls right in the middle of 50 other cities certainly increases your chances of coming across one or more of them. Rats can live anywhere from rooftops, underground burrows to piles of trash. They try to avoid human contact but since they are most active during the night-time hours it’s common for people to dismiss them but if you live in the city and go walking around at night you’re bound to come across them at some point and maybe even more never then before.
How Did Covid Effect Portlands Rat Problem
The greatest impact that Covid has had on Portlands rat problem was when the city was shut down and people were staying indoors causing restaurants to shut down and leaving the streets empty. Dumpsters, full of the days leftovers, were no longer full and the rat’s food sources began to grow scarce. Over time, rats started to go elsewhere for food which meant that instead of being localized within the city, they spread out to neighboring suburbs of the city. People in suburbs have their fair share of rats to deal with outside of effects from Covid, but around this point, it started to increase and residents took notice. Until city life went back to operating as usual, rats were content to spend their activity in a new area. As long as a food source presented itself that was all that rats cared about and they didn’t seem too disappointed with people being home more and getting rid of more trash as a byproduct.
What Can You Do If You Have Rats
Rats are not something you want to mess with as they carry all kinds of diseases. Everywhere they walk they leave a trail of urine and feces that can spread disease if you have close contact so the first thing you want to do is call your local rodent specialist and let them know what you are noticing around your home. They will be able to come out and assess any rat activity around your home as well as let you know what can be done about them. The key component outside of getting rid of rats and any damage they have caused is making sure that they no longer have access to your home. A rodent specialist will be able to determine their entry points and therefore be able to secure these entry points so they can no longer access them. Getting rid of any damaged insulation, drywall or other areas where urine and fecal matter have been deposited is important as these are contaminants that can affect your health. Structural damage may also need to be repaired as this can cause structural vulnerability and possibly lead to bigger issues that are costly.
What Is The Situation With The Portland Rat Problem
An article posted online by KATU News addressed Portlands rat problem last November stating that Portland and Multnomah County proposed a $400,000 allocation from tax revenue to be spent on dealing with the current rat situation. With homeless camps reportedly infested with rats and an increase in calls from around the city addressing rat concerns, hopefully, this funding will decrease the noticeable rat activity. However, as most rodent companies know, you can never 100% get rid of rats which leaves the situation with the Portland rat problem uncomfortably formidable.
Portland may not be able to completely eradicate all these disease-ridden pests but it’s certainly worth the effort to try and make a dent in the rat population as rats are known to increase dramatically within short periods of time. Allowing the rat problem to grow will eventually mean that a greater problem is on the cities hands which involve the transfer of disease and residents will most likely not be too happy about it.
