Community Corner

Charles Village Rat Rub Out Produces Results

So far about 150 rats have been confirmed killed since the Charles Village Community Benefits District rat abatement program started.

A rat abatement initiative in the Charles Village area has resulted in about 150 confirmed kills in the program’s first month.

David Hill, executive director of the Charles Village Community Benefits District, told residents at the Charles Village Civic Association’s annual meeting Tuesday night that his employees have collected 150 rats from neighborhood streets.

After the meeting, Hill speculated the total number of rats killed in the program is probably higher than the 150 employees have confirmed. He said that he has heard anecdotal evidence from residents telling him about rat carcasses being found in yards.

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“The downside of this program is that we have no direct measure of the number of rodents killed,” Hill said.

Hill said some residents and workers have noticed a peculiar smell in the neighborhood’s alleys. He said that smell is from the bodies of decaying rodents.

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“Everyone seems to understand and doesn’t really seem to mind [the smell],” Hill said.

The program involves Regional Pest Management placing 480 baited stations throughout the four neighborhoods that make up the benefits district in mid-August. The process is child-safe and pet-safe.

Jeff Hauf, president of Regional Pest Management, also attended the meeting. He told residents that the success of the program will depend in large part on the neighborhood doing its part and eliminating competing food sources such as trash and pet waste.

“We’re only as good as the sanitation,” Hauf said.

The abatement program, which costs about $23,000, is being paid for, in part, with a $15,000 grant from the Johns Hopkins Neighborhood Fund grant. The rest is coming from the benefits district budget, which comes from surtax on property owners within the district’s boundaries.

“If the project is successful, we’ll use it again next year using surtax funds,” Hill said.


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