Efforts to rid rats statewide continue, but some are now concerned that the use of rat poison is having a harmful effect on many animals beyond those it's intended to kill.
Arlington is among the local rat havens, with hundreds of complaints pouring into the town's health department in recent years.
In 2018 alone, 148 complaints were sent to the Board of Health in Arlington, with 101 in 2017, 80 in 2016 and 50 in 2015.
Action is being taken here and in other towns, but now some are raising questions about the impact the operation is having.
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For places like Chelsea to Milford to Waltham, a town which declared a public health emergency last summer due to rats, the problems persist.
Mild winters, construction and poor waste management all are contributing to the issue, and Arlington is among the towns using a multi-pronged approach to fix the problem, ranging from educating residents to exterminating the rats.
The fear now is what the rodent control efforts throughout the state are having on the animals that prey on rats.
"They become very weak, they become a very susceptible prey," Arlington Animal Control Officer Diane Welch said. "Hawks, owls, fox, coyotes, domestic dogs, cats, anybody.”
Meet Autumn. She’s a Red-tailed hawk whose prey is becoming increasingly toxic. Find out why and how this problem may impact your own pets, at 10 @boston25 pic.twitter.com/iNlSzVcDUk
— Evan White (@EvanWhiteIII) December 21, 2018
Autumn, a red-tailed hawk, has been with Welch, a veteran falconer, for several seasons. Now, she's worried any hunt may be Autumn's last.
A 2011 Tufts veterinary medicine study discovered a form of rodenticide, a powerful type of rat poison, in 86 percent of the owls and hawks studied over five years.
"Poison is our last step in the strategy that we put in place here," Christine Bonginorno, director of health and human services, said.
Arlington is mindful of wildlife, and generally uses dry ice, which is viewed as a more humane way of killing rats.
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"When it is put down in rat burrows, it actually suffocates the rats," Bonginorno said. "They die underground. It's a natural way."
However, poison is still available when needed, and potentially in other towns, as well.
Experts say the best way to get rid of rat problems is to remove the food sources and clutter, and that includes compost and bird feeders.
The New England Pest Control Management Association did not respond for comment.
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