As rats invade, Back Bay residents recoil

A man walking his poodle near the Public Garden detects his dog acting strangely and looks down to discover it has snatched up a rat in its jaws. Down the block, a couple on an evening stroll among the shops and sidewalk bistros on Newbury Street encounter several of the gray rodents congregating under a bush. Michael Ross, the district city councilor, visits a friend in the Back Bay and looks out the living room window.

``I saw seven rats the size of small children," Ross said with a tremor of disgust.

In recent weeks, residents of the Back Bay say the neighborhood has been besieged with unusually large rats, possibly stirred up by sewer work that began last month in the area. Ross and a Back Bay neighborhood association say complaints made to their offices have surged. People report spotting the animals in homes, gardens, trash, and on fire escapes.

``If you go out to walk your dog, you might pass one flying by your front lawn," said Peter Sherin, chairman of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. ``If you park your car, you may see one scurry from under the car in front of you. They're just out more."

Fingers have pointed at the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, which has been digging up sewer pipes and relining them. Commission officials deny assertions by Ross and others that they did not take adequate rat control measures when starting the project, saying they hired contractors who put out traps and poison.

City inspectors are looking into the commission's rat control procedures and yesterday began putting rat poison in sewer holes to try to bring the problem under control.

Contractors digging up sewer lines are required by the city to have a pest control plan that involves placing bricklike bait in sewage lines and placing traps above ground in areas where rats could be living. Contractors are supposed to treat the area before, during, and after construction, and the city can halt work if they are not treating the area properly.

``We're going to monitor this from today on," said John Meaney, principal health inspector for the city's Inspectional Services Department, which yesterday ordered that additional traps be placed in the vicinity of construction and canvassed the neighborhood for other potential problems. Several residents were cited for improper disposal of garbage, Meaney said. Commission officials said they have taken all necessary precautions.

Whatever has brought them, the rats have sent shivers of loathing through the neighborhood.

Ross said he has received dozens of complaints over the past month, two to three times the normal number.

``It's embarrassing," said Mark Mazer, who lives in the Back Bay. ``Tourists walk by, and I overhear them. They shriek and laugh and jump because the rats are running right by them.

``You're visiting from Hawaii and you visit the Back Bay; you don't expect to be confronted with two or three rats in your path. It's disgusting."

When his daughter visited him from New York last weekend, Mazer said he made sure to avoid areas where he's recently seen rats.

While some suspect the sewer work is the most likely cause -- disturbing the hordes of rats that thrive beneath the streets and sending them into the open in search of other sources of food and water -- residents have been speculating about other causes, too. The problem has triggered finger-pointing as some neighbors accuse others (students who just arrived for the new school year are a favorite target) of rat-friendly practices such as failing to seal trash cans properly or taking garbage out to the curb the night before it's to be collected.

Sandi Gaskin, who recently installed cement and wire mesh in her small back yard to keep rats from burrowing under the wooden fence, said: ``We're not going to get rid of the rats in the city. But if people would just abide by city ordinances, a lot of this would be resolved."

Gary D. Alpert, a rat specialist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said rats tend to come out when their usual food sources have been disrupted.

``This time of year tends to be more active," Meaney, the city health inspector, said. ``There is increased breeding with rodents. There tends to be more out there. They can jump up to 4 feet, and they're excellent climbers. They can adapt in almost any condition. They can chew through wood, soft metals. I've seen them chew through toilet seats."

The rats tend to be afraid of humans; there have been no reports of rats biting humans.

Beacon Hill and Back Bay are particularly welcoming areas for rats, Meaney said, because the neighborhoods are built on a landfill, and the multitude of cracks and crannies in centuries-old infrastructure make for inviting homes for rats.

Jeanne Richardson, a spokeswoman for Boston Water and Sewer, insists that their work to clean and reline the sewage system on Charles and Beacon streets is not the culprit.

``We regularly take proactive measures," she said.

A subcontractor, Waltham Pest Control, has been inspecting the worksite each week, and installing bait stations that attract the rats and traps them, she said. The company did not return calls seeking comment.

Still, every night when Mazer walks his dog, he says he sees at least two rats.

One night, his black poodle, Rosie, was pulling away from the leash when he looked down. A rat jumped out of his dog's mouth, fell on his feet, and then ran across the street and hid under a car.

``It really freaked me out," he said.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.