5 readers from 5 neighborhoods share their rat horror stories

“A rat entered my house by chewing through a PVC pipe," one respondent said.

Boston unveiled a new rat action plan last week to tamp down the city’s rat population and improve residents’ quality of life, which some Boston.com readers say are impacted by rats.

The Boston Rodent Action Plan (BRAP) is a multi-agency initiative to decrease the city’s rat population and rodent infestations. The city’s historic and aging infrastructure (such as densely populated neighborhoods with alleyways and old sewer systems) along with cobble or brick streets and sidewalks contribute to the issue, according to the announcement.

To combat the problem, the city’s Inspectional Services Department enlisted the help of urban rodentologist Dr. Robert Corrigan to develop a report on Boston’s rodent control needs. The 51-page report walks through the city’s community engagement process, best practices, and an implementation plan for pest management, focusing on prevention rather than reaction.

In the report, Corrigan “enthusiastically suggested” a trash inspection and management pilot program be introduced to the residential and commercial areas of Ward 3, which encompasses the neighborhoods of Downtown, Chinatown, the North End, the South End and the Haymarket area. These neighborhoods, along with Allston/Brighton, Back Bay and Beacon Hill, south Dorchester, and Roxbury, were all deemed priority action neighborhoods.

Corrigan said the city should focus primarily on the environmental root causes of rat infestations (such as garbage management) and turn to extermination approaches secondarily.

“It can’t be over-emphasized that the Boston (any big city) garbage conundrum must be addressed to have any realistic impact on the future of Boston’s city rat population,” Corrigan wrote in the report.

In light of BRAP, we asked Boston.com readers to share their rat horror stories with us. Below, five readers from five of the Priority Action neighborhoods share their experiences and frustrations on the city’s furry friends.

Responses have been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.

“A rat entered my house by chewing through a PVC pipe. It came from the sewer system in the street. It then proceeded to chew through a lamp wire and terrorized my tenant that saw it up on her kitchen countertops. I had to hire a professional exterminator to get rid of it.” – Frank, Brighton

“Walking back home in Dorchester one night, I was enjoying the warmth and suddenly a huge rat jumped off of a trash barrel like three feet in front of me and ran off along the street. It was such a close feeling and it was huge. Really ruined the serenity of the night.” – Brendan, Dorchester

“We can’t even sit out in our backyard in the evening because the rats are all over the place. They have chewed holes in my trash barrels and I have to kick them before adding any more trash bags because they are sitting in the barrels. It’s disgusting and frustrating.” – Theresa D., Allston

“As residents are allowed to use plastic bags for both trash and recycling, there is a huge rat problem. Bags are ripped apart by rats and people collecting bottles, leaving food waste all over the old and uneven brick sidewalks.” – C.S., Beacon Hill

“Rats can be seen running across the sidewalks in the evening. The answer is to have trash pickup later in the day. In my section of Boston, trash is not collected on Fridays until around 9 a.m. and folks put their trash out before that. Tuesdays, they pick up at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. and we see rat holes in trash. Wu has the power to change this.” – Philip W., South End