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Pesky rats are invading a New Jersey suburb causing alarm among residents and triggering a mad scramble to exterminate the pests.
A resident in Walwick, Lucy Wanklin, shared that the rodents are wreaking havoc on her precious tomato garden. She also revealed her shock that in only a span of two to three weeks, they have caught about 43 rats in their property.
Another resident Gary Nicolosi said that the rats are totally unexpected. He added: “I’m pretty disgusted because we pay taxes here.”
Residents have been struggling with the rat problem as they’ve been trying to set up traps in an effort to stop the recent rat infestation to little success. One plausible explanation by authorities why it is becoming such a challenge to catch the rats is because the source of the pests remains a mystery.
Borough officials say they are not certain where the rats are coming from, but that “they believe nature will take care of the problem on its own.”
What the officials could only effectively do at this point, they say, is to distribute information-dissemination materials like fliers to residents with instructions for them to eliminate the possible source of food for the rodents.
Waldwick Animal Control officer Carol Tyler said: “Humans tend to do things that bring in animals they don’t want. Maybe we have to use exterminators for a few but we are not overrun with rats.”
While borough officials may be unsure about the rats’ source, some residents have a clearer picture where they could be coming from. Locals speculate that the rats are coming from the Russo Development construction project down the block.
The developers contest that the rodents originate from their site. They have, however, hired pest control as a “precautionary” measure.
Residents want Waldwick to take a more pro-active measure to fight the rat infestation. Wanklin demanded: “Take some of that tax money and get exterminators here.”
Unfortunately for Wanklin and the rest of the affected residents, their town has currently no plans to call in an exterminator, leaving the locals and “nature” to take care of the rat's invasion problem.
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