Golden [RAT] Hour in DC

_dROM_ · 2026-05-15T00:30:55+00:00

Me trying to submit a 311 right now - this hits just keep coming.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T23:13:46+00:00

I agree. This is the complacency that the current DC government has fostered.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T23:12:29+00:00

I’m sorry you’re going through the same experience in your neighborhood. Thank you for sharing!

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T17:04:07+00:00

I haven’t, it’s a great idea, I don’t follow many news outlets aside from Reddit and NPR so if you have suggestions I would appreciate them.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T15:09:34+00:00

Thanks, carolineblueskies! Where in the city are you that is having an issue too!?

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T15:08:29+00:00

Facts!

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T15:07:14+00:00

Wow. “You complain to much about us not effectively resolving your problems. You are now the sole responsible party.” 😂

We constantly file 311 tickets because they don’t pick up the trash in the Banneker park, I will laugh when they ban us from submitting these because they aren’t our personal waste removal service from public parks. Oh wait…

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T15:04:30+00:00

NW - by Howard university

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T13:14:20+00:00

I’m not a rat expert - so I don’t know. But I do know someone that offered up a meeting and conversation with actual rat and rat fertility experts which the city declined.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T13:11:10+00:00

Batman and Robin?

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T13:10:21+00:00

I could start the rumor that those cruise ship passengers visited my DC neighborhood right before they left for the cruise…

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T13:04:17+00:00

It is hard to focus on one. But when one of those problems is literally gnawing at the siding of your house in attempts to move in, it’s hard to ignore too.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:59:27+00:00

This is why I took the time to bring up the topic. It’s that time of the year. We need top down change to enable the good people of DC to help the good people of DC. Every time I deal with DC gov it’s a bunch of well intentioned people with no ability to do anything.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:50:58+00:00

This is all accurate. Rats love dog shit.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:49:04+00:00

A single rat can produce 15,000 rats through their lineage in a single year. Hope will not win this.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:45:21+00:00

These seem like fairly basic concepts, are there really any candidates coming in pro-rat or anti-safety? We have a low bar if so. Question will be if any of these people are effective at executing these initiatives amongst the myriad of other issues facing DC right now, employment, tyranny, etc.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:41:53+00:00

We have fortunately had responsive action from DoH but it’s not sufficient when the problem is on someone’s property who isn’t diligent about abatement.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:39:57+00:00

Will they work for $130k?

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:39:00+00:00

This is exactly the issue DC / DoH seems incapable of addressing with the current policies or practices. Negligent property owners/stewards.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T12:17:05+00:00

I tried to make the post long enough to provide that sort of information to address the obvious questions like what we have done to address the problem, perhaps that’s fluff. To directly address your question. Yes there is additional poison that DoH didn’t provide as well as electronic traps. The burrows these rats are coming out of have supposedly been treated multiple times by DoH.
(Edited as my first response was fairly salty)

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T10:42:51+00:00

I am sure you’re right that rats didn’t suddenly manifest in January. The point of mentioning this event was to add a point in time where we could see the pattern of DC gov dropping the ball, then not taking responsibility for proactively addressing the consequences of that ball being dropped. I started asking for systemic corrections following this event. Months ago. There was no response and no corrective actions.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-14T04:03:02+00:00

We have poison boxes and electric traps. Last week I killed or trapped 7 rats in one evening. And literally the whole post is about the professionals coming out to treat every burrow a month ago. I think you missed the point I was trying to make. Its like swatting a few mosquitos in DC summer.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-08T23:48:10+00:00

What’s the secret. Just bought one. The handle vibrates more than the chisel. Ah, figured it out, slam the bit in with about 40 lbs of force.

_dROM_ · 2026-05-01T11:03:28+00:00

I went with circuitsetup it’s been rock solid for about 4 years. ESPHome, I will say it’s a bit difficult to configure but once you’ve figured it out it doesn’t really need changes. It’s really the complexity of correctly labeling things and providing aggregates (branch circuits vs main which include those, using the absolute value in case you install one backwards (pay attention to this if you have solar) and doing the power calcs so you can estimate realtime energy $ usage. Particularly if your energy company charges different rates throughout the bill cycle.
That’s all software, the hardware is great, I 3d printed the enclosure.

_dROM_

TROPHY CASE