Hello. I have lived in downtown Menlo for 17 years and recently became aware of the large rat infestation that we have in Menlo Park. I’ve seen three rats in the past week in my neighborhood. My landlord is taking care to protect this property, so that is not my issue. My issue is that based on comments on my Nextdoor post about this, rats are a citywide issue! Many people are reporting them, and a woman posted that she glanced in the city’s trash bin in front of Baskin Robbins this morning and saw a huge rat. Another person reported that his car mechanic—after seeing rat damage in his car’s engine compartment—said, “you must live in Menlo Park—I see this all the time”. This is a known issue!
There are countless empty storefronts downtown, so I imagine that rats have been able to nest and breed without detection. I am NOT proposing the use of poison that can also harm our kill all our other wildlife and pets, but surely there are other solutions. Is the city do anything to stem the tide of this infestation? And if not, why not?
Thank you,
Tyra Gilb
947 Menlo Ave
