Published in the Back Bay Courant, April 28, 1998

Springtime brings with it a proliferation of vermin and visitors. Their appearance in the same sentence should not be read as equating one with the other. Both are ubiquitous, but the problems they present are unique.

Rats have been around as long as there has been civilization. With buck teeth, pointed ears and long tails, they make cute cartoons. In the flesh, however, most people react with revulsion.

Rats like to frequent areas that are dark and not well-traveled, where trash and garbage abound. There is something particularly eerie about catching them in your headlights late at night, staring defiantly as your car travels down an alley. Even more unnerving is then exiting the car, imagining rats scurrying over your feet.

This year there will be a lot of rats. It's the weather's fault.

New England's usually brutal winters have the salutary effect of killing rats and interrupting their breeding cycle. The last winter, marked by exceptionally mild weather, has been a rodent's joy. There are more rats around than usual. And, because they are all competing for food, they will be more visible than normal, foraging further afield for a bite to eat.

What is to be done? Over the last several years, the city has beefed up its Rodent Control Division, hiring more employees and embarking upon a campaign to attack rats aggressively. If you see a rat, let someone know (Rodent Control's number, by the way, is 635-5352). Inspectors will come out and begin baiting traps. Frequently they will examine the residents and businesses in the area, looking for openings in buildings that allow rats to come and go as they please.

The city can do a lot, but the truth is, the city didn't put the vermin there in the first place.

Rats infest alleys because there are some people who never took to heart the lessons their mothers taught them. Instead of cleaning up after themselves, they leave trash and garbage around their homes. Alleys in particular are treated as a no man's land, with the common attitude being, "I didn't put it there, so I'm not cleaning it up." It is this food supply that drives the rat population. Without it we wouldn't have any rats.

Which brings us to visitors. Visitors also infest the area, brought not only by food but by the Marathon, July 4th, baseball games, runs, marches, parades, concerts and the natural human impulse to travel.

You know the consequences. Streets are clogged and blocked, parking is unavailable and litter is strewn every which way. Indeed, there are summer days when the fastest way to drive from Boylston Street to Beacon Street is 93 south, 128 north and 93 south again. These oftentimes are the same days when the closest residential parking spot is somewhere in Hyde Park and the smart resident tries to figure out a reason to be visiting someplace in northern Wisconsin.

Over the last few years Boston has made an effort to accommodate residents' wishes. The number of marches and parades is limited, and the Metropolitan District Commission is now diligent about controlling concerts on the Esplanade. Still, downtown Boston is a popular place, and frequently there is little one can do except grit one's teeth and mutter banalities about all of this being good for the economy.

The trick is achieving a good balance between the needs of residents and the demands of those who visit. Aside from limiting the number of events, Boston now publicizes them well (including on the pages of this newspaper) so that residents can be forewarned. More of an effort is being made to limit street closings and to have additional police on watch to control any confusion.

There may be other measures that should be taken as well; your suggestions would be welcomed.

Rats should not be tolerated, but visitors should be. A collaboration between residents and the city may allow us to do both.