- Associated Press - Tuesday, January 22, 2019

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Daniel Lusa poked a long, wooden stick into a cavernous hole at the edge of a parking lot in Hartford’s Behind the Rocks neighborhood.

Sensing no movement, he dropped a small packet of poison into the opening and nudged it in deeper with the ligneous rod.

Beneath his feet, a network of dozens of tunnels was laid out across the dirt expanse next to Zion Street - a home for dozens of rats that camp out in the subterranean refuge during the day.

“I could put a whole box of poison here, I really could,” he said. “But then I’d be going, ’Where’s the box for the next property?’ So you can’t.”

Lusa is the city’s sole rodent inspector, and he’s been fielding a growing number of complaints from residents about the furry creatures. During the course of a day, he might visit as many as 10 properties to survey nests, leave poisonous pellets or check on whether the rats have gnawed into the deadly pouches he planted.

“I know the properties by heart and the rats usually come back after a while,” Lusa said. “I get rid of them and then all of a sudden, they’re back because someone left the garbage out. And they multiply like crazy. They go from one property to the next.”

Rodent-related calls logged with the city’s 311 information system increased in 2018 to 144, up from 126 a year prior. But more calls and emails have poured into Hartford’s health department, which responds to the complaints but doesn’t keep a running tally.

The rat problem reached the city council last week, when concerns were raised about an outbreak in the Blue Hills neighborhood. Talk of rodents has also intensified at community meetings, with residents grumbling about mice infestations and rats frolicking in backyards. Data collected by the city show that Hartford’s Frog Hollow, Asylum Hill and Behind the Rocks areas have registered the largest number of rat complaints.

In May, the city sent a health department employee to attend a three-day “rodent academy” workshop in New York City. Department leaders are using strategies gleaned from the training - such as leaving dry ice in rat holes to suffocate the critters - to develop a plan for combating the apparent increase.

Mayor Luke Bronin, who is up for re-election this year, said he plans to add another rodent inspector or two.

“You’re seeing this problem explode in city after city,” he said. “As you have winters with less extended periods of cold, you’re having more rodents survive and that leads to the rapid growth in population.”

In Hartford, officials are planning to launch an education campaign to remind residents how to properly dispose of trash, how to prevent rodents from entering the home, the importance of managing vegetation and how to use the city’s 311 phone system and mobile application, which help workers track trends and direct resources. Bronin said he may tap kids from his youth service corps program to knock on doors in March or April and talk to residents about rodent issues. Block by block surveys may be done to get a better handle on the issue.

Areas where development is underway, including Blue Hills and pockets of Hartford’s South End, have seen an influx of rodents because the creatures’ habitats are being disturbed, the mayor said. The Metropolitan District has dug into sewer lines - another home for rats.

And dumpsters have become an issue.

“Particularly at multifamily homes, there are a lot of places that use dumpsters that are not adequately sized,” Bronin said. “So we’re going to be taking a look at whether we should amend an ordinance to require larger sizes of dumpsters.”

Meanwhile, Lusa continues to put down bait, cover rat holes with rocks and cycle back through properties to ensure rodents don’t return. On a recent morning, he stepped into a narrow passageway behind a two-car garage on Franklin Avenue and discovered a dead rat sticking out of the ground.

“Got him in the act,” he said, reasoning that the rat had chewed through a poison packet.

Litter from a dumpster nearby sometimes drifts onto the Franklin Avenue property, Lusa said, bringing with it hordes of rats.

He’s seen all this before. In 1999, the city’s rodent problem got so bad that Mayor Mike Peters declared a state of emergency. Hartford spent more than $2 million to distribute special trash containers, retrofit city garbage trucks, contract with pest control firms and hire additional health inspectors. It beefed up code enforcement and street cleaning efforts.

A “rat task force,” composed of employees from the city’s license and inspection, public works and health and human services departments, was formed. Lusa was part of the team.

Today’s issues pale in comparison to that time period, when entire city blocks were overrun with rodents, Lusa said. But he knows how even the small problems can vex residents.

Hartford has learned from its previous attempts and is more astute at handling complaints, said Liany Arroyo, director of the health department. Department heads are now working closely together to address nuisances, she said.

Raymond Vail, who lives in a three-family home on Vine Street, has faced a chronic mouse infestation, and his neighbors have protested a spike in the rodent population. He wants to see more done to fight the critters in Hartford’s North End.

“I’ve seen an increase, and I know quite a few people have been complaining,” said Vail, 70.

Donna Thompson-Daniel, chairwoman of the Blue Hills neighborhood revitalization zone, listened to a flood of complaints at a recent community meeting. People in her area have reported a sharp uptick in rat and mouse sightings over the past year.

“All of sudden, they’re starting to appear,” she said. “Some people said they’ve been here since 1964 and had never seen a rodent” until now.

Thompson-Daniel was happy to hear that the city will bring on additional rodent inspectors, but wary of the timing.

“Don’t just do this as a political stunt,” she said. “I want them to seriously tell me that they are going to work this problem and make sure that we do not look like New York City.

“We don’t want to be like that.”

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Online: https://cour.at/2T62Gwh

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Information from: Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com

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