By KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — Rats may be running amok and leaving feces on properties throughout the Charles Street neighborhood as well as being the cause of the tomatoes that vanished from a garden.
Borough officials and the Health Department are currently working on rectifying a potential rat problem in the neighborhood.
As of Aug. 17, Borough Administrator Jennifer Maier said she, along with the borough’s health inspector and members of the Department of Public Works, have been to the neighborhood.
“We believe we have located the source of the problem and it is being addressed,” she said.
John Jockwer told the Borough Council at a meeting on Aug. 15 that he had planted 15 tomato plants in his garden this year; however, he said he does not have one tomato to show for it.
“Something is going on,” he said.
In his 26 years of planting the garden enclosed with a fence, Jockwer said he has never had such a drastic problem with any kind of rodent.
“We butt up to the cemetery, and there’s a lot of wildlife and raccoons and things of that nature,” he said. “I know there have been squirrels, and every year I lose a few tomatoes here and there, it’s just the nature of having a garden, I understand that.”
Jockwer noted that some of the vegetables in his garden have not been eaten, just the tomatoes.
“[Whatever it is] must love the tomatoes for the juice,” he said adding that over the years, he has seen squirrels take a few bites and he would find tomato pieces here and there. “This year nothing is to be found [of the tomatoes he planted].”
Jockwer joined several of his neighbors to address the concern of the potential rat problem in their neighborhood.
“Physically, I’ve not seen a rat,” he said.
However, Jockwer’s neighbors including Mark Geller have. Geller told the council that for a few months, he has often seen rats running through his backyard.
“It’s not a random occurrence … we’ve seen them many times in different parts of the street,” said Geller, adding that it is a health and property maintenance concern.
Mayor Peter Cammarano and Maier said they are aware of the concerns.
“[These problems do] crop up in town, and we have addressed it [in the past],” said Cammarano, noting that food sources and/or garbage may be the issue.
Maier said the borough’s health inspector did initially go out to Charles Street and recommended individual property owners to reach out to a pest exterminator.
“This only happened once before where a house was demolished, but this is not your situation,” she told the residents.
With that situation, Maier said she and the health inspector visited the demolished home and found three to four burrowed holes on the property where rats had dug through.
“The neighborhood was well-kept, people were not leaving food out, it was just once [the rats] have their home established, they kind of roam around,” she said.
Maier said they requested the property owner to hire a professional exterminator and that took care of the problem.