FOREST PARK, Ill. (WGN) – In the quiet alleys of Forest Park, residents have been dealing with a lot of unwelcome visitors.
“Since COVID, there’s been an explosion of rats here,” Spiro, a Forest Park resident, said.
Spiro and Sharon live in the same apartment building near Jackson Boulevard and Circle Avenue and said they’ve been dealing with rats in their alley for several years.
“There’s a bunch of restaurants here, so when COVID closed there was no food in the dumpsters, so they became way more bold in terms of eating my tomato plants, digging holes here,” Spiro said.
Things took a turn for the worst when the seasons changed. According to Sharon, her family has noticed several new rat roles within the last week alone.
“We were surprised they came back again because it was good here for a while,” Sharon said.
The residents said village officials sent out a pest control company to help mitigate the issue.
Exterminators placed black boxes containing bait on neighborhood lawns. Residents, however, feel the traps aren’t working.
“The bait boxes would be emptied out and there would be nothing in there,” Spiro said.
Spiro and Sharon said they’ve had to take matters into their own hands to keep the rodents away.
“The only way we’ve been able to get rid of them, at least temporary, is those traps Tina has been buying that actually snap and kill them, because these boxes, they’re totally avoiding the boxes,” Sharon said.
Village officials acknowledged the increasing number of rats in a council meeting last week. They’re asking residents to try things like waiting until the night before to put their trash out to keep them out of alleys.
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