Rats are running amok in Waltham, residents say

WALTHAM, Mass. — They are tearing into trash barrels, tunneling past foundations and turning backyards in battlefields.

In Waltham, rats seem to be everywhere.

“Until last year, I never saw a rat,” Waltham resident Phil Fournier said.

But they are seeing them now.

From Doty Street to Virginia Road, Waltham public health officials confirm complaints about rats have been rising.

“It's spreading. It's not the house down the corner anymore. It's now half way up the street,” Michael Anzivinio explained.

As Marie Farrell knows, fighting rats requires a cooperative effort, and she and others feel the city is not cooperating.

“We’ve got a lot of rats,” Marie Farrell told Boston 25 News. “You want us to bait and trap and do whatever, but everybody around us has to do that -- including the city.”

Every third night, Farrell sets traps.

“Sometimes we catch them. Sometimes we don't,” she said.

Anzivinio lives nearby. He took Farrell’s lead and hit Home Depot Tuesday.

“So gonna bait them tonight and see what happens,” he said.

Fifteen minutes away, Fournier's former suburban paradise is home to some seriously unwanted guests as well.

"Getting up in the morning, vacuuming the pool -- they're floating in the pool. It's disgusting," he said. 
"You can't win this battle alone…we need help," said Farrell.

MORE: Police: Man kicked 6-year-old girl over Chuck E. Cheese tokens

Cox Media Group