"North End residents say rats having a field day" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | December 1, 2009
Rats are wreaking havoc in the North End, burrowing through walls, gnawing through wires, and feasting on the neighborhood’s surfeit of discarded pizza boxes and restaurant garbage, aggrieved residents and the neighborhood’s frustrated city councilor testified yesterday.
Must be spending too much on prisons, Massachusetts.
“It’s as if we’re living in a Third World country, and our community has turned into a rat infestation nightmare, causing property damage and spreading disease,’’ Anne M. Pistorio, a member of the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association, told a hearing of the City Council.
Yes, readers, THIS is BOSTON, Massachusetts!!!
Where has all the tax loot gone?
City officials acknowledged that rats are plaguing a few areas, but they denied that the problem is worsening. “I don’t characterize it as a rodent problem; there’s rodent activity,’’ said Leo C. Boucher, the city’s assistant commission er of inspectional services who has gone on several 4 a.m. rat patrols, setting traps in the darkened streets of the North End and other neighborhoods. “From what we see, and we do see, there have been isolated hot spots.’’
Then MAYBE YOU WOULDN'T MIND TAKING UP an APARTMENT down there, huh?
Councilors called the hearing on Boston’s rodents after fielding rat-related horror stories from residents across the city. Several, frustrated at what they called a mounting problem, discussed restricting the hours when residents can put out trash, or making it easier for city inspectors to collect fines from residents and business owners who violate sanitary codes.
Yup, the answer in Massachusetts is ALWAYS to FINE, FEE, or TAX!!!!!!
“For some reason, it seems like it’s getting bigger and bigger in regards to the problem,’’ Councilor Salvatore LaMattina said of rats in the North End, which he represents. “For the people who live in those areas, this is an emergency.’’
I would THINK SO!!!
Janet Gilardi, 64, a lifelong resident of the North End, said she sees rats scurrying across the street in her neighborhood and that her son is reluctant to sleep in her basement when he visits from California. “They’re scary,’’ Gilardi said of the rats she sees feasting near her Fulton Street home. “They’re defiant. They look at you like you’re the nut. I mean, I just can’t handle this any longer. It’s an awful, awful situation.’’
So they are like the Israelis? That would be an insult to the rats!!!
Try to think of them as "pets," lady!
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Boucher said inspectors had trapped 90 rats in one “major infestation’’ on Endicott Street. He said the city hopes to reduce the problem by setting more traps and urging residents and business owners to seal their trash tightly before hauling it to the street. “I’m not happy until there’s none,’’ Boucher said of the city’s rats. “Will there ever be none? I’m not sure that’s possible.’’ William Good, the city’s inspectional services commissioner, told the council rats have been plaguing Bostonians since the 17th century, and “are an aspect of life in a city that’s this old.’’
Translation: Just LIVE WITH IT as we LOOT the TAX BASE for FAVORED INTERESTS and OUR OWN POCKETS!!!
--more--"
Don't look now, but someone is watching you!
The barred owl, thought to be less than a year old, has been spotted around the mall for about a month. When workers brought in a four-story spruce for the holidays, it found its roosting spot. (Addie Flisser/For The Boston Globe)."
Maybe he could pick up a few rats at night, huh?
You won't be getting any help from this guy:
"The 1,200-pound 2-year-old leaves behind three fellow giraffes at Franklin Park: her parents, Beau and Jana, and little brother, Hamisi, born July 23.
Sox, shown five days after birth in October 2007 at Franklin Park Zoo, was sent to the Pittsburgh Zoo in a mating effort. (Zoo New England via Associated Press/ File)."
Related: Meet Franklin Park's New Pivot Man
Is it just me, or does the Globe seem like a croc of s*** to you?
Excerpts from the Globe’s environmental blog.
This month, federal and state biologists met at an abandoned copper mine in Vermont for an annual survey of bats. In previous years, they counted at least 900 in a sample. This year, they caught one.
The reduction is due to a deadly bat illness called white nose syndrome, which is decimating bat populations in the Northeast. Federal officials are getting more organized to combat it. Marvin Moriarty, Northeast regional director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, unveiled a draft national plan this month to better control the spread of the illness, minimize the risk, and coordinate research and public outreach efforts.
Researchers have been stunned by how quickly the lethal syndrome has spread since bats with a fuzzy white fungus on their bodies were first photographed in February 2006 near Albany, N.Y. Since then, hundreds of thousands of hibernating bats are estimated to have died - if not more - from Vermont to Virginia. Affected bats can be emaciated and act erratically, flying around during daylight hours in the winter before dying.
Scientists are honing in on a fungus, a cold-loving variety, as a possible cause. Yet bats are dying in such numbers - mortality is higher than 90 percent in some caves and mines - that they are deeply concerned about losing too many before a cause or solution can be found....
An environmental group that has been calling for a more organized and formal response said last week that it was pleased with the Fish and Wildlife plan - but much will be needed to save the bats. “Getting a plan written is an enormous step forward. Next, it has to be implemented, and it needs money. Otherwise, it’ll just be a way to pass time as the bats disappear,’’ said Mollie Matteson, a wildlife biologist and conservation advocate in the Center for Biological Diversity’s Northeast office.
Come to think of, I haven't seen many around the last couple of years.
Also see: MSM Still Silent on ClimateGate Crime Against Humanity
Animals Advance the Agenda: Bats in the Boston Globe Belfrey
Did Bill Gates Make the Bats Sick?
