Marin/Sonoma Mosquito & Vector Control District
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707-285-2200 (office)
595 Helman Lane, Cotati, CA 94931-9736

    A discussion on rat control became a discussion on civic responsibility last night in Greenbrae.
    The Greenbrae Property Owners Association invited public officials to a "Rat Town Meeting" to see what they could do about the disturbing explosion in the rodent population.
    The answer: Not a whole lot.
    Supervisor Hal Brown and Ron Keith, an entomologist with the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District, said the brunt of the responsibility falls on the homeowners themselves.
    "The resources we have are very, very limited," Brown said. "We are doing all we can with the resources we have."
    Keith said the main solution is for the residents themselves to take action - by trimming their ivy and bushes, plugging gaps in their homes, getting rid of their bird feeders, and not leaving dog food dishes outside. All these steps make neighborhoods less hospitable for opportunistic pests, he said.
    "We have all the resources these rodents need to survive," Keith said. "You can't just take bait and throw it at the rodent problem."
    Keith said the district, which is responsible for some 500,000 residents in Marin and Sonoma counties, can't possibly exterminate rats at each home and combat its other foes, including mosquitoes and ticks. The staff, he said, consists of only 10 technicians and 11 other employees operating on an annual budget of less than $1.5 million.

    However, Keith said, pest infestations run in cycles, and the rodent boom will eventually ebb if residents do their part.
    "Animal populations go up, and they go down," Keith said. "We are in the crest of a population explosion. We are on a growth curve, and we don't know where it's going to end."
    Some 30 residents who attended the session at Bacich School last night swapped horror stories about rodent sightings. One complained that her vegetable garden had been decimated. Another reported seeing rats running up and down the street.
    "You can get unbelievably graphic, wretched stories about rats," said Parkside Way resident Murray Indick, who helped organize the forum. "One of the guys here won't go for walks at night because of the rats."
    Officials said rats are a countywide problem, a view corroborated by pest control workers.
    "It's all over Mario County," said Jason Farrell, service manager, at Earl's Pest Control. "It's been worse in the last couple of years because the water table's rising and the weather's abnormally cold, and the rain's coming and going."
    As their food sources dwindle, the rats get bolder. "I've gotten calls from people saying a rat was sitting in the bathroom just staring at them," Farrell said. "They're not as afraid as they used to be."

YOU DIRTY RAT: Jason Farrell of Earl's Pest Control services a rat trap yesterday. A boom in the rat population has caused dismay in Greenbrae.