Rat complaints up in Green Bay area. Here's why, what you can do to combat the nuisance.

GREEN BAY - Green Bay officials said an uptick in rat complaints this year reflects the city's increased attention to the problem moreso than an influx of rats.

Still, City Council and city staff members on Tuesday urged residents to educate themselves about how best to deter rats and to contact the city if they do as part of a proactive effort to minimize the nuisance.

"It's impractical to eradicate," Council Member Brian Johnson said. "It's about controlling the problem."

The city has received 129 complaints this year with at least one in every council member's district, though many of the complaints come from west-side neighborhoods between the Fox River and Interstate 41.

The key message was to restrict rats' access to three resources they need to survive and multiply – food, water and shelter, according to Bill Paape, Green Bay Housing & Zoning Enforcement supervisor.

The discussion arose after Council Member Chris Wery requested details about the volume of complaints in recent years and the city's enforcement efforts after residents in his west-side district contacted him. The council accepted Paape's report without further action.

"If you have concerns, if you're seeing (rats), if you have concerns about food-water-shelter, let us know," Paape said. "Part of our job is to educate. There isn't just one particular issue causing them to be there."

Here's what to know.

Rat complaints are up in Green Bay, but remain below the peak in 2018

Paape said rats have been a topic of complaints since he started with the city in 2011.

Right now, Paape said he put the problem at a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The number of complaints remains well below its peak in 2017 and 2018 when the city received 208 and 277 complaints, respectively, about rats.

The city in 2018 actively targeted rat nuisances and by 2019 the number of complaints dropped back down to 78.

The city averages about 101 rat complaints per year, Paape said during a Sept. 25 Policy and Protection Committee meeting. But rat nuisances are not limited to the city, either.

Second inspector focused on rats has increased complaints, but can't minimize the issue

This year, the City Council approved funding to hire a second inspector, part of whose job would be to focus on rat complaints. Paape said the extra staff has fueled the increase moreso than the rats.

When the inspector responds to a complaint, they also survey the surrounding neighborhood for any signs of hospitable shelter or easy-to-access food sources like rotting apples or birdseed on the ground. Those inspections lead to more areas to address.

What about giving residents rat traps?

Some residents urged the city to consider buying rat traps to give to residents, saying the current efforts didn't seem to be effective.

Brown County purchased 1,500 rat traps in 2018 to give to residents. Two years later, in 2020, more than 600 of those traps sat unused in the Neville Public Museum storage room.

Paape said the city consulted experts who advised staff to put money and resources into inspections staff and community education rather than traps. One reason, he said, is that traps don't always work.

"Rats are afraid of new things in their environment. Traps commonly don’t work. They’re very smart. If their buddies get hit by a rat trap, they’ll be smart enough to avoid it," Paape said during a September committee meeting.

What should you do if you see or find a rat?

Paape still said city officials need to hear from residents and that they should not take rats lightly.

"We don’t want to give a false sense it’s not a problem. If you minimize it, eventually a small problem will grow into a big problem," Paape said.

Paape said the overwhelming majority of property owners do their part to reduce rats access to food-water-shelter, but that everyone has to get on board to effectively manage the nuisance.

"There's a small percentage of people that aren’t doing their part, that have waste building up in garage, that are not storing food waste properly, that can attract them," Paape said. "It’s getting everyone to get on board."

Paape said residents can report sightings or file complaints with the city via its online "Request for Service" portal or by calling the city's Building Inspections Department at 920-448-3300. He said inspectors are happy to come out and provide residents pamphlets and information.

Residents can inspect their own properties to and remove any easily accessible food, water or shelter on their property. If you have questions about resources, you can also contact your local neighborhood association.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier. 

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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay asks residents for help spotting rats amid uptick in complaints