Washington, D.C., America’s ‘Rattiest’ City, Declares a New War on Rodents

Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital and one of the most beautiful cities on Earth, earned the sort of title last year that no city wants: the “rattiest” city in the country. After a year-long wait (it’s the nature of everything in D.C.), officials are now stepping up their efforts in their war on rodents, this time using a mixture of legislation, enforcement, and a pilot program that sounds like it came out of a science fiction novel. First, the city wants to crack down on infestations, and the Department of Health may soon get more power to recover costs from property owners and managers who do not dispose of or secure trash properly.That tougher posture is also showing up in proposed legislation. The Rodent Accountability and Transparency Amendment Act — yes, the RAT Act — would create a public online dashboard to track the city’s anti-rat efforts and give officials more leverage over businesses and property owners who let infestations fester. Another bill would gradually replace open-top public trash cans with rodent-resistant bins, because for years D.C. has essentially been running an all-you-can-eat buffet with no lid.And then there’s the most headline-friendly tactic of all: putting rats on birth control via an edible bait.Mayor Muriel Bowser recently described the city’s new pilot as a “blitz,” writing on X: “This spring, we’re combining baiting, tracking powder, & an innovative fertility suppressant to target the rodent population. Let’s work together to keep the population down by securing trash & keeping alleys clear.”The pilot, led by DC Health, will begin in the Adams Morgan area in late April or early May before expanding to Barracks Row and Chinatown if it works. The city says it will use a three-pronged approach: anti-coagulant bait placed in and around burrows, tracking powder spread inside burrows so rats poison themselves through grooming, and the liquid fertility suppressant meant to reduce reproduction. In other words, D.C. is taking a full-spectrum approach: poison the present and prevent the future.The initial phase will last three weeks in high-density rat areas. During the first week, a team of four inspectors and one supervisor will apply all three methods and return every other day to check results. Abatement then drops to two days in week two and one day in week three. The program reportedly costs $130,000, though one account of the announcement described it as a $30,000 “rodent control pilot.” Either way, the city is spending real money on a problem that has long felt both impossible and deeply familiar.And residents have noticed. “They be in the dumpsters. They be running in groups, like, two, three — a few too many,” one man told NBC Washington.DC Health says the city tracks roughly 3,000 rat burrows and has already received more than 6,600 rat complaints this year. Complaints are slightly down from recent years but still topped 16,500 last year—enough to suggest the rats are not exactly keeping a low profile.Success, officials say, will still depend on human behavior as much as rat behavior. Trash left on sidewalks, overflowing bins, dog waste, and alley clutter all make life easier for rodents.

Washington, D.C., America’s ‘Rattiest’ City, Declares a New War on Rodents

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