Rodent control

==Insights==
===Pittburgh Issue====
====On the crawl: the city's rat problem gets worse====
:By Adam Brandolph, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, June 16, 2008
Oh rats!
They're running rampant throughout Pittsburgh.
"We've seen an increase over the last six months," said Public Works Director Guy Costa, whose department handles the city's rodent complaints.
There have been 140 calls to the mayor's 311 response line concerning rodents this year -- about twice as many as during the same time period in 2007, according to statistics compiled by the hot line coordinator, Wendy Urbanic.
In April, the 311 hot line received 12 times the number of calls it received a year earlier for rodent complaints; last month there were 10 times more calls than in 2007.
"We try to do what we can," Costa said. "There are certain sections of the city where we constantly have a problem."
Point Breeze, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Knoxville, Homewood and the Hill District are hit the hardest by the four-legged pests, he said.
"Some of it is caused by construction," Costa said. "The vibrations move the rats from one location to another."
Neighborhoods where garbage disposals are prevalent often have problems with rodents because food gets into the water system, providing rodents with a bounty of food, he said.
In 2004, the city got rid of its rodent-control program under pressure from Act 47, which demanded the city cut lesser-needed programs.
Blighted neighborhoods always have been eligible for federal funding for rodent-ridding, but the mayor allocated $50,000 this year to reinstate the program.
Residents who call the 311 hot line will have a city employee out to their property to set up poison traps, Costa said. They also will receive tips on how to prevent rodents.
"We get more rodent complaints at this time of year because people are outdoors and more likely to notice rodent activity in their yards and neighborhoods," Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce W. Dixon said in a statement.
The onus is on the property owner, Costa said.
"You just have to take precautions," he said. "If there's food around, they're going to feast off of it. If there is no dog waste or food, the chances of them being around are greatly minimized."
The rodents -- primarily Norway rats and common house mice -- have coexisted with humans in Pittsburgh for years, said Adam Witt, general manager of Witt Pest Management in Polish Hill.
"They'll certainly continue to coexist and find ways to do so," he said. "After all, there certainly are a lot of them."