East Vandergrift hires exterminator to combat rat problem

Unwelcome guests showed up at a Memorial Day family gathering near Susanne DeFalco’s home in East Vandergrift.

“My kids were there for a cookout, and they were sitting here watching rats go up and down the steps,” said DeFalco, 76.

DeFalco is one of five residents who voiced their concerns to council Monday.

“The rat problem is bad enough now, but if they don’t do anything now it’s just going to get worse,” DeFalco said.

The residents said they’re frustrated by what appears to be an apparent ongoing rat infestation that has increased over the past two months along McKinley and Kennedy avenues.

“We’re by the river, and we noticed an increase (in rats) this spring,” borough secretary Kristen Sarno said.

Council voted Monday to hire a commercial division of Terminix in Bridgeville for 10 weeks at a cost of $1,525. Sarno said extermination plans are expected to be implemented within two weeks.

She said Terminix will place 45 bait stations throughout the borough, primarily along McKinley and Kennedy avenues. Each station will contain an edible poison. Terminix crews will inspect, clean and refill the stations.

The borough plans to mail letters to all residents, outlining safe trash and garbage procedures.

“We’re asking everyone to keep their trash in cans instead of bags,” Sarno said.

According to the Terminix website, rats will eat trash, compost and pet food and even their own fecal matter.

Sue Harwick, another resident who addressed council Monday, said she believes the rodents are Norway rats. Norway rats are excellent climbers and are known to cause problems for homeowners. They also can transmit diseases such as plague, jaundice, rat-bite fever, cowpox virus, trichinosis and Salmonella and bring fleas and mites into homes, according to the National Pest Management Association.

Harwick said she recently found a dead rat about 9 inches long on her property, and a neighbor helped her remove it. Living rats have caused her more problems. Her auto mechanic recently told her that rats chewed engine wires underneath her vehicle, resulting in more than $450 in damage, and she said she has spent more than $100 of her own money attempting to eradicate the rats.

“If it weren’t for the stimulus money, it would have taken me about three months to acquire this much extra cash,” Harwick said.

Harwick said she can’t afford to fight the rodents and is pleased council is moving forward with extermination plans.

Wesley Whitlinger, who has lived on McKinley Avenue for more than 25 years, said he sees rats daily on his property. He said one brazen rodent ventured into his living room.

He has set out poison and traps, but that hasn’t appeared to do much to control the rat population.

“They need an exterminator because it’s more than one person can handle,” Whitlinger said.