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mpjjpm t1_j4lvntm wrote

Surprisingly, rats don’t actually care how much money humans earn or pay for their housing. The rat problem around Coolidge Corner is as bad as I ever saw when I lived in Brighton. Lots of restaurants = lots of rats.

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3720-To-One OP t1_j4lwapo wrote

Who knew that rats are attracted to the smell of lots of food scraps and easy access?

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random12356622 t1_j4mreb0 wrote

If you ever want to get rid of the rats - Dutch underground trash collection system - It is almost never full or over flowing, keeps out the rats, and if they get in, keeps in the rats - until collection day.

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troiscanons t1_j4n3tsl wrote

I live in Amsterdam. Those things are cool. There are also still rats everywhere.

Also, trash collection for private homes involves just putting your bags out on the curb, no bins, a system which keeps the mice and rats very happy.

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random12356622 t1_j4s70da wrote

Perhaps the building code for residential/commercial/industrial - should be modified or at least looked at.

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datpiffss t1_j4mxfe0 wrote

It’s always the Dutch… never got why their ovens are so bad compared to literally everything else they do.

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DoctorPepster t1_j4n32w0 wrote

What do you have against Dutch ovens?

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datpiffss t1_j4n3e0p wrote

Once tried to make the thanksgiving turkey with a Dutch oven. Lost my girlfriend, dog, the respect of my family… but most of all, I lost my original gotta catch ‘em all bedsheets due to grease stains.

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jgonagle t1_j4o95mw wrote

Can't blame shitting your bed on Thanksgiving on the Dutch.

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boston_acc t1_j4n362m wrote

I traveled 50 years into the future just looking at this.

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[deleted] t1_j4lvc3z wrote

[deleted]

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FakenameMcAlias t1_j4nb21z wrote

Halfway through I thought they'd make a use net group for the cause.

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[deleted] t1_j4nvqtc wrote

Lol! I said the same thing about the email on another platform.

1

3720-To-One OP t1_j4lw1xp wrote

For real lol

The NIMBY AI must still be learning. Lol

−42

charons-voyage t1_j4lwuv5 wrote

How is this a NIMBY issue lol? Rats are pests and carry disease. If there is a rodent issue, the community should want it dealt with. This might be a little “whiny” (like, yeah, you live in a dense area with restaurants, there are gonna be rats), but it’s not NIMBY

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80s_pup t1_j4mcfx1 wrote

i mean, they def dont want rats in their backyard...

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charons-voyage t1_j4mko3m wrote

True, but it’s not like they wanna put the rats somewhere else. They just want them dead lol.

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3720-To-One OP t1_j4m0rj1 wrote

I mean, you live in a dense urban area with lots of restaurants. You are going to see rats, it’s a fact of life.

Calling it a “rat crisis” because there are a few rats, is a bit hyperbolic.

It would be like living on Nantucket and complaining about seagulls.

−31

charons-voyage t1_j4m1ab7 wrote

That’s not NIMBY though lol

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3720-To-One OP t1_j4m8ava wrote

The person who whines about a “rat crisis” in Brookline, is probably the same kind of person who whines about “neighborhood character” and a whole bunch of other NIMBY bullshit whenever there’s any sort of medium density construction proposal.

−35

Opposite_Match5303 t1_j4mju0q wrote

The kind of person who talks about "the kind of person" is probably the kind of person who makes unfair generalizations about other groups of people

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tomdobs55 t1_j4mk9yj wrote

I'm in pest control and it is definitely not hyperbolic to refer to Boston and surrounding towns as dealing with a rat crisis

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abhikavi t1_j4mqmhr wrote

I don't think anyone is expecting zero rats.

I don't live in Brookline, but I've definitely heard about the rat problem and it sounds like a hell of a lot more than "just a few".

Rats being a problem in urban areas has got to be one of THE most common issues though all of human history. They're disease-carrying pests. It does require mitigation.

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Efficient_Art_1144 t1_j4lrno0 wrote

They gotta get the turkeys to develop a taste for rat flesh. Problem solved

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liyochka t1_j4majgh wrote

Gotta bait the rats with cocaine first.

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RelativeMotion1 t1_j4ndygq wrote

That’s how you get crack hawks. You do NOT want crack hawks.

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fordag t1_j4o77t4 wrote

What about cocaine bears?

And I don't mean down at Ramrod....

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fordag t1_j4o7245 wrote

"Carnivorous Turkeys Rampaging in Brookline, No One is Safe!"

Yup problem "solved".

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BonesIIX t1_j4me34v wrote

Peak r/Boston post and commentary.

Let's dunk on Brookline and call them NIMBYs for no reason because some of them are experiencing new rat infestations.

From an awareness pov, I don't see this as an issue. I'm sure a bunch of people saw these signs and were like "I knew it wasn't just me".

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misterflappypants t1_j4mi5qe wrote

Brookline rats are way more rare & collectible than Allston rats

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You-Only-YOLO_Once t1_j4mjjdy wrote

I’ll be sure to grab a family sized pack of poke balls when I head to costco later.

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Ihavecometochewbbgum t1_j4lt1gq wrote

Also regular Tuesday in the entire state. Boston is filled with rats, they are everywhere

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3720-To-One OP t1_j4lu060 wrote

I mean, yeah… that comes with living in a city.

It’s like going to the beach and complaining about there being seagulls.

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Otterfan t1_j4nj6fb wrote

Rats are way worse over the last couple of years. Pre-COVID there were nowhere near as many rats in the Boston area.

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higherhopez t1_j4o75cw wrote

Oh, there were. I lived in the Fenway area back in 2005 and we had RATS. They would come out from the radiator and climb the Venetian blinds to get to our hanging plants. Once they were done feasting on the roots, they’d dive-bomb back down to the floor and scurry back into the radiator.

We had rats.

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Exciting-Ant4077 t1_j4o92uu wrote

When the Big Dig began in the early 1990's, hundreds of subterranean rats were displaced and made their way into the city.

There's been a rat problem in Boston ever since.

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CamNewtonJr t1_j4pfrdp wrote

It just feels worse because the rats migrated when we had the lockdown and all the restaurants closed. Pre-covid, the rat pop lives in areas that had high concentrations of businesses, mainly restaurants, so they could eat the trash dumped behind the business. So you couldn't walk through back bay, the downtown area, fenway, allston, or parts of Cambridge without seeing huge rats. During the lockdown, we stayed home and as a result our trash stayed home with us. So the rats moved to our neighborhoods because that's where the food was

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karma_ubuntu t1_j4mgsmf wrote

Brookline Rats sound like a great name for a soccer team.

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m0o t1_j4t7brj wrote

Brookline Rat Bastards

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swap_catz t1_j4mvxnv wrote

I wonder if there are rat hunting packs here in Boston. This seems to be a great workout for Rat Terriers and other hunting breeds and seems to be becoming a thing in other cities. The dogs also seem to have a good time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL0x5oBFC1w

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scobydoobydo t1_j4n3cu9 wrote

This seems like a good solution and keeps the dogs happy. I wonder if the owners are concerned about the dogs eating a rat with rat poison?

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poiuy43 t1_j4nakiu wrote

I remember hearing Chicago since like 2012 has been releasing cats into the city to fight rat populations like a Simpson gag

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thisoneiaskquestions t1_j4p374o wrote

Didn't they try that with Australia and it ended up being a chain reaction of "let's release the next animal to control the problem, turns out the last one was invasive!"

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MaruDramaMon t1_j4nakru wrote

We need CATS, period. A local colony of cats taken care by the community would do the job!

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Birdmangriswad t1_j4opotq wrote

turns out cats aren't great at killing rats. City rats are feisty and big. Cats tend to go for little 30 gram mice over big assed 330 gram rats.

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Dazzling_Sector_7556 t1_j4qm230 wrote

I lived in DC for several years. Someone on my street would feed stray cats in the alley. Hand to God, I cannot count the times I saw rats and cats eating out of the same bowl. The rats were huge!

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CamNewtonJr t1_j4pfxlc wrote

Cats are killing machines and would likely threaten other animal populations. Every small animal is in danger when a cat is around. Cats kill for fun man lol

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IDCFFSGTFO t1_j4ppnxv wrote

Actually cats are as at risk from these hawks and eagles and owls everybody loves posting pictures of, as sure as any rabbit.

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CamNewtonJr t1_j4psizk wrote

I don't count hawks eagles and owls in the ranks of small animals haha. I was talking about squirrels, rabbits, and other small rodents like mice.

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IDCFFSGTFO t1_j4q9ngj wrote

Yeah I'm saying cats can't be unbalancing the food chain as "invasive species" too much because they're down there on the prey scale with the squirrels, rabbits, and other small rodents like mice.

Except cats aren't nearly as capable or inclined to find cover and move from cover to cover like you see rabbits and mice do. And really the near-ubiquity of (particularly) rabbits and such these days, with the noticable corresponding surge of large predator birds in the area, demonstrates the point.

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CamNewtonJr t1_j4rbjjc wrote

Ah ok. This is a very fair point. So cats likely won't do too much harm because hawks and the like will be feasting on them lol

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wishforagreatmistake t1_j4usa8u wrote

Birds of prey are much more efficient and don't terrorize other species or breed like rabbits the way feral cats do. Encourage hawks, eagles, and owls to breed, stop using rat poison, and let them do their thing.

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Buffyoh t1_j4msm87 wrote

WHAT? The rats were so rude as to not turn around at the Town Line and return to Boston? Why the nerve!

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Potential_Category49 t1_j4mfwgj wrote

Did they intentionally choose a psychedelic watercolor background for the top rat or is that just the ink running Pretty cool either way

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Majestic_Electric t1_j4mgrdl wrote

Welcome to city-life. 😛

I, for one, would like to NOT indirectly poison raptors and coyotes, thank you very much.

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Exciting-Ant4077 t1_j4o9dlj wrote

Or cats

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Majestic_Electric t1_j4o9kq1 wrote

Sorry, but cats should not be left outdoors without strict supervision. Ever. They are terrible for wildlife!

0

felineprincess93 t1_j4ogg45 wrote

Agreed, but if there's a way that you could convince my negligent neighbors of that, I'd love for you to!

But also feral/stray colonies who live outdoors still don't deserve to die a painful death from rat poison.

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You-Only-YOLO_Once t1_j4mjtlj wrote

That email address is longer than whatever message I’d type to them

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Budget-Celebration-1 t1_j4mnv9f wrote

Yeah anyone ever heard of QR codes?

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You-Only-YOLO_Once t1_j4q70i7 wrote

“hi, Saw rat on Boylston send help. Best, X” With a subject of “Rat” thats still below the 40 character limit that is the length of that email address.

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[deleted] t1_j4mcp6p wrote

laughs in nyc

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5teerPike t1_j4miqh7 wrote

Seriously, pizza eating rats the size of cats.

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[deleted] t1_j4mjcmz wrote

I lived in nyc for 7 years so I can’t help but roll my eyes lol. Boston and its suburbs don’t know a rat problem

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5teerPike t1_j4mkdz5 wrote

Frankly, I've only ever seen mice (albeit Boston rats are smol). And no cockroaches is a neat blessing too

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jwlkr0 t1_j4mtn5b wrote

Come to Allston. Here we have rats the size of dragons, cockroaches and bedbugs too..

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Exciting-Ant4077 t1_j4o9bnv wrote

The rats I've seen in Boston are about the size of squirrels, only with hairless tails instead of furry tails.

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goldmanSK t1_j4nwn21 wrote

It’s likely because our standards are much higher

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[deleted] t1_j4o4t11 wrote

Absolutely. Also nyc has more people so it makes sense

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CamNewtonJr t1_j4pg1qf wrote

Weird because every new yorker knows you don't have a rat problem until the rats are in your house.

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jwlkr0 t1_j4mr2ur wrote

Everyone knows the Brookline Turkey Mafia is behind this crisis. Just pay them already!!

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LiamW t1_j4ni4gd wrote

Having moved back recently it’s especially apparent there’s a problem.

I grew up downtown near the North end and would see rats somewhat regularly at night in Chinatown and the North End. But not even once a week.

Since moving back, I see them every night I walk my dog, and also in broad daylight once a week.

This is 10-20x as frequent as when I grew up here and walked my dogs at night.

Boston needs to get trash under control, as it’s the most likely culprit given that I see overflowing trash bins all over the city now.

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Fragahah t1_j4o8glm wrote

No overnight parking in your town, RELEASE THE RATS!

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michael_scarn_21 t1_j4m3hw1 wrote

Imagine the horror if the person who made this poster visited Allston.

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Haptiix t1_j4mj3u6 wrote

Title gave me a hearty chuckle thank you OP

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blizzacane85 t1_j4mtiex wrote

Call Charlie Kelly from Philadelphia to take care of the rat problem

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thinlinerider t1_j4n6utu wrote

Why do we want to protect the rats?

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Aramyth t1_j4ntux2 wrote

Rats don't like peppermint. Peppermint oil diluted with water and spray the perimeter of your house / entrances. And in the summer you can plant peppermint plants.

Doesn't help your dirty neighbours who are messy buggers though.

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aDangOlePolecat t1_j4nu6b0 wrote

I see a minimum of 2 rats a day in Allston, but also a bunch of squirrels rabbits and the occasional turkey which is pretty neat.

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TityTroi t1_j4nvy1f wrote

Somerville is a rat nest

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Dazzling_Sector_7556 t1_j4qlu9b wrote

Thank you! I was starting to feel a little left out of the rat Olympics. We have might fine rats who fear no one! 😂

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Remarkable_Signal_78 t1_j4nz8so wrote

Back in the early 2000’s we all said that rats transformed into squirrels when they crossed the Allston/Brookline line.

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chevalier716 t1_j4o4ayh wrote

My bud had a place near Harry's in Allston, we used to count the rats running to and from the landlord's shed while we were grilling and having beers. They were coming from the restaurants in the area.

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Exciting-Ant4077 t1_j4o8o67 wrote

There will always be rats anywhere that humans live in close proximity to each other. Heck, I've even seen rats in rural areas.

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Mu5tBTru3Redd1t t1_j4pdxaz wrote

Where’s a damn pied piper when you need one.

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_linzertorte_ t1_j4pz8q3 wrote

That’s one hell of an email address.

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crispr-dev t1_j4q6mgw wrote

What’s the ecological effect if we just eliminated them?

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3720-To-One OP t1_j4qemdw wrote

I mean, that’s the hard part… eliminating them.

Because if you poison them, other animals that eat rats get poisoned.

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Exciting-Ant4077 t1_j4rb1go wrote

We could live-trap all the rats and ship them out to one of the harbor islands.

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Dry_Preparation_916 t1_j4m27bd wrote

we should start death squads and hunt rats

we must take a stand

1

Mercurio_Arboria t1_j4mq7y0 wrote

The rats in the flier look more like escaped pet rats.

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AstroBuck t1_j4nj8zq wrote

I mean, I don't think that's anything worth bragging about

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fordag t1_j4o7nvy wrote

Years ago I lived in Lynn, I used to think it was weird that there were so many "opossums" around, till I saw one up close.

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Mattressexual t1_j4o7ut0 wrote

There might be less rats if trash was put in bins instead of just a pile of bags dumped on the ground on the street. I'm looking at you, Green St.

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SilentSakura t1_j4o7zl4 wrote

My ex lives in Brookline , she is a big rat … huge reward .

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Phat_Irish t1_j4ofph3 wrote

Kind of an ignorant caption if you ask me.

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allchattesaregrey t1_j4oimpa wrote

Maybe it is that I have a cat but I have never had a real issue with rats in Allston. Not only are they not in or around my apartment but I don’t see them often either. Maybe I am just not looking.

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K_Kilo1984 t1_j4ojlow wrote

Try to go to Cambridge McDonald’s at night… from the park to the restaurant is packed of rats

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Mu5tBTru3Redd1t t1_j4pdeau wrote

Bwahaha this has been like this for 10 years at least. Don’t book holiday inn Brookline first floor… lol and don’t rent a basement apt.

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Mnemon-TORreport t1_j4pts94 wrote

The most concerning thing about this flyer is that flipping email address.

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Lilsaprelalt t1_j4pwmhx wrote

Live in the leather district, no rats!

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Commercial_Board6680 t1_j4qdjvw wrote

Expecting municipalities to correct human behavior - yes, human behavior, because that's what attracts rats - is a foolish and costly endeavor. Stop being lazy, stupid, wasteful, assholes and the rats will decrease their population on their own. We have rats due to filthy human behavior. Change that and the problem will significantly decrease.

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DooDooBrownz t1_j4qgc9m wrote

what a nice easy to remember email address

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PerformanceExact6618 t1_j4qmrxn wrote

Can only imagine the 911 calls from Brookline residents demanding the police take care of this issue.

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thegalwayseoige t1_j4qp6r0 wrote

Rats have moved into BROOKLINE?

…today I learned that rats have a better credit score than I do.

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fordag t1_j4o6oo6 wrote

Where in Brookline is this supposed "rat crisis"?

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Mu5tBTru3Redd1t t1_j4pdghi wrote

Everywhere

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fordag t1_j4plqmj wrote

That's clearly not remotely true, Chestnut Hill doesn't have a rat problem, so it's not everywhere in Brookline.

1