PARK RIDGE—An exterminator has eradicated a couple dozen rats from a two- block area around some North Avenue and Ridge Avenue homes and put an end to an “isolated” infestation plaguing the neighborhood.
“We are very confident in the job we did,” a representative of the exterminator told Pascack Press. She said the Park Ridge customers were offered a 90-day warranty, and that should more rats appear they’d be dealt with.
“Over the past week, customers have not reported seeing them,” Toni Migliore of Bugging Out Termite & Pest Control told us July 17.
Migliore told Pascack Press that traps were placed on nine properties in the area over the past three weeks. The remains were removed and traps reset, said the exterminator. She said all traps were removed from properties by Friday, July 14.
Council members reported at the July 11 meeting that the limited brown rat problem in the neighborhood was under control. Neighbors had raised the problem at a late-June Borough Council meeting and asked the council for help.
In the aftermath, “We continue to monitor the situation,” borough council president William Fenwick told us.
Previously, a resident who had been cited for a chicken coop, now demolished, on her property was concerned she might be held responsible for the infestation.
However, Migliore said it is almost impossible to pinpoint a source, as such infestations are generally the result of multiple causes.
These can include cluttered properties, construction that disturbs burrows, road repairs, improvements to replace sewer and gas lines, and restaurants and Dumpsters and other garbage sources.
“You could never pinpoint a cause,” Migliore said, adding that once disturbed, rats seek out food sources. She said the traps have eliminated the local problem.
Migliore told us all nine homeowners had been billed for the extermination services.
For our initial coverage, see “‘Stunned’; rats on their way out, mayor promises,” Pascack Press, July 10, 2023.”