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Readers Respond

City rats not so easily deterred

Baltimore Sun
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Dan Harrison, 62, carries his Baltimore city garbage can from outside his house; through his house, down the front porch steps and onto the sidewalk. He lifts it so it won't scratch the floor.

Dan Harrison, 62, carries his Baltimore city garbage can from outside his house; through his house, down the front porch steps and onto the sidewalk. He lifts it so it won't scratch the floor. (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun)

While I am mostly happy with the "big, green and ugly" trash cans the city has provided to residents ("They're big, green and ugly, but they discourage the rats," Jan. 18), I am afraid that the containers are not the panacea for pest control that the article makes them out to be.

The main problem is that a "monster" is successful at keeping vermin away only if the lid is closed, and not all residents close the lids on the receptacles after they put trash in. And if a lid remains open for only a day or so before the trash is collected, that doesn't leave enough time for sanitation code enforcement personnel to respond to a 311 complaint, but it's plenty of time for rats to feast on the offerings.

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So, yes, the big, green trash cans are an improvement, but no, I don't think the dual problems of careless citizens and the rats they attract are in the can for good.

Sean Tully, Baltimore

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