City councilor wants critters to ‘get high and die a happy death’

Rodents are destroying the quality of life in Somerville, according to a city councilor who says he wishes the pesky critters could “get high and just die a happy death.”

Most cities and towns across Massachusetts and country have experienced an infestation of rats since the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting local and state officials to explore ways to tame the nuisances.

Somerville City Councilor Jesse Clingan, chairman of the so-called Rodent Issues Special Committee, last week invited local wildlife conservation advocate Laura Kiesel to present ideas she believes could help the city control its rat population.

Kiesel, of Arlington, suggested the city explore conducting public education campaigns and prevention efforts, including going back to the use of ContraPest, a non-lethal bait that lowers rat fertility rates. Pilot studies of the product between 2014-16 reduced Somerville’s rat population by 60 to 70%, she highlighted.

Kiesel’s presentation, however, didn’t seem to sit too well with Clingan.

“I thought we were going to hear some innovative ideas about ways to get rid of rats. I’m not hearing that at all,” he said. “I was hoping there’d be some new thing that rodents eat and they get high and just die a happy death or something.”

Clingan said he doesn’t believe education efforts could be sustained in the long run, and the city needs to find a measure that’s “extremely effective.”

“The quality of life in Somerville is depleting very fast,” he said. “I don’t know how many rats there are in Arlington, but I can tell you it ruined my summer last summer. I can’t go out into the backyard at this point.”

Somerville’s Department of Public Works has confirmed it will be banning the use of rodenticides — a poison designed to kill rats — on public properties and is working with contractors to find alternatives, said Alicia Privett, the city’s environmental health coordinator.

While rodenticides could be effective in controlling the rodent population, the poison could be dangerous for children and wildlife.

“The risks that they do pose to children would be an issue, was an issue, and has been brought up many times over the years,” said Colin Zeigler, Somerville’s environmental health manager.

Earlier this winter, the Boston City Council moved forwards with plans to create a department dedicated to the eradication of rodents, headed by a rat czar that would be tasked with looking into different methods of slaughter. The ordinance supporting the effort was referred to the government operations committee.

At the State House, a bill is pending that would give all 351 cities and towns in the state the power to establish standards and restrictions relative to the use, application and disposal of pesticides. Local boards of health would get a final say on the rules.

Arlington, specifically, has sent a home rule petition that would allow officials there to regulate rodenticide use on private property. The suburban town made headlines last year when MK, a bald eagle, died after consuming rodenticide at a town cemetery in February.

David Flynn, president of the New England Pest Management Association, has said it would be unfeasible for the pest management industry to navigate existing state and federal regulations as well as new ones created at the local level.

“The amount of consumer red tape that would be put on small businesses would be astronomical,” Flynn said during a hearing at the State House last May. “We also have local health agents that do not have the scientific resources available to them to research and enforce pesticides. Pesticide regulations would then be decided by town meetings, which is ‘Who can yell the loudest?’”