Thank you, John Whitmire, for leaving all that heavy trash out on the curbs for months. Without your intervention, we may not have made it to the top ten. It is not just the heavy trash that concerns me. At one time, the city had 50 neighborhood protection officers; we are now down to 14, and you have prohibited the police from responding to some of those complaints. Large, overgrown lots, 311 calls you are given a number, only to be told later that the problem has been solved when it hasn’t. I, for one, barely bother to call 311 anymore. Why get frustrated when I know there is a good chance that nothing will be done?
So, thank you, Mayor Whitmire, for taking Houston to the top in rat population. I heard a rumor that since New York has started to control the rat population, many of them are hopping on trains to Houston, where they hear there is a more inviting situation.
Our heavy trash has been out on the curb for nearly a month now, and some of the surrounding neighborhoods have to live with the heavy trash sitting for months. It has become so severe that our council member Edward Pollard is using his council funds to have some of the garbage picked up.
Crime is lower in District J than in the city as a whole. Who knows, with Pollard’s initiative, it could be that rat problems are also not as bad here, as, thanks to the council member, we have very active DART Officers.
Long hot summers, residential shifts and new development are three reasons Houston hit the top 10 in a list of U.S. cities with thriving rat populations, according to the latest rat patrol report by Terminix.
The pest and termite control company reported a nationwide increase in rodent activity in 2024 and placed Houston seventh, just ahead of Dallas at No. 6 in a ranking that measured cities that were most affected.
