Rats! D.C. calls pest company about rodents more often than New York

Pest control company Orkin released a list on Monday of what it termed the top 20 rattiest cities the cities where the company performed the most rodent treatments in 2013.

The Washington region came in third place, behind only Chicago and Los Angeles. (See Orkins complete list at the bottom of this post.)

Rikin S. Mehta, a senior deputy director of the citys Department of Health, told the Post earlier this fall that Washington has one of the most comprehensive rodent-control programs in the country, geared toward understanding patterns of rodent behavior, not just exterminating animals when they pop up.

Mehta said that the city has a team of 14 rodent control specialists who are dispatched within two days every time a 3-1-1 call comes in about a rat sighting in a public place or a business. Residents can also report rat sightings to the Department of Health, and see where their neighbors have spotted rodents, by using the Posts rat tracker.

Over the summer, Mehtas branch of the Department of Healthconducted a rat summit in each ward to ask residents about where they spot the creatures. The results will be published by spring.

Mehta and Gerard Brown, the program manager for the rodent and vector control division, offered some tips for avoiding rats at home: Put trash in a can, not just a plastic bag, and always keep the lid closed. Put away dog food as soon as you finish feeding your pet, and clean up dog waste right away. Keep the grass in your yard short.

Starve the rats, Mehta said. Pesticides are not enough. You really need to cut them at the food source.

Brown agreed, Sanitation is pest control. Eliminate the food, and we can eliminate the rats. We have to change human behavior to do that.

Maybe our competitive spirit will help us with that task. After all, we cant let New Yorkers think theyre better.

The complete list from Orkin: 1. Chicago 2. Los Angeles 3. Washington, D.C.-Hagerstown 4. New York 5. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose 6. Seattle-Tacoma 7. Detroit 8. Cleveland-Akron-Canton 9. Baltimore 10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale 11. Dallas-Fort Worth 12. Denver 13. Houston 14. Atlanta 15. Boston-Manchester 16. Minneapolis-St. Paul 17. Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto 18. Syracuse 19. Indianapolis 20. Charlotte

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Rats! D.C. calls pest company about rodents more often than New York