Multiple neighbors of a Camden home are raising concern about an ongoing rat infestation that has caused the pests to spill over onto their properties. At least six neighbors have complained about the situation, including a few who spoke during a meeting of the Select Board Tuesday night.
For at least six years, local officials have been working off-and-on with the owner of 11 Chestnut Hill to reduce the number of rats living on his property, which neighbors have attributed to his constant habit of feeding birds there.
Over the last decade, there has been a seeming uptick in rat populations in other Maine communities as well, with possible explanations including milder winters that don’t kill as many of the pests and growing interest in raising backyard chickens. But the situation in Camden stands out because it’s been concentrated at a single property over multiple years.
The problem got to its worst point earlier in the summer, according to local Fire Chief Chris Farley, who has done multiple inspections of 11 Chestnut Hill in his capacity as the town’s health officer. By early August, he was considering wearing an N95 face mask and eye protection for future visits, according to correspondence shared with the Select Board.
“I am not surprised people are seeing so many rodents,” Farley said in an email to the property’s owner, Gian-Angelo Gallace, after an inspection on Aug. 1. “I have never seen so many rodents on the property as I did then. I was nauseous from the experience.”
Farley added in that same email, “My day to this point has literally been solely spent receiving concerns and communicating about rodents. The people in the area are furious about the situation and are demanding action.”
Gallace did not respond to a request for comment or speak during the Select Board meeting on Tuesday.
Camden does not have any specific ordinances related to pest control that Gallace is accused of violating, but the town is concerned about the public health impacts from a growing population of rats on a residential property, given that the rodents can carry a wide range of diseases. They reach maturity at four to five weeks, and females can give birth to six litters annually.
The city has approved a remediation plan for Gallace this summer that requires clearing fallen branches and brush from the yard, closing all spaces the rats can burrow in, setting traps, exterminating them and removing bird feed. On Tuesday, Select Board members expressed support for continuing to monitor the property.
In an interview, Farley said that he again visited the home earlier this week and found that Gallace has made progress at controlling the infestation. He saw no rats during that visit.
But it’s not the first time the town has dealt with rat infestations at Gallace’s property, and the neighbors who spoke on Tuesday night expressed concern that any recent improvements would not last. Before this summer, Camden also had to work with Gallace to remediate infestations in 2018 and between 2020 and 2021, Farley said.
One neighbor, who identified herself as Didi Steel, said she couldn’t allow her dog into her own yard because of the urine rats have left on her property.
“I’m very worried about it,” she said. “This remedial plan was in place before, and it’s now in place, but after three years, or after they stop monitoring, they start up again. I want to stop this long-term.”
“This is a ten-year, a decade-long problem,” said another neighbor, Jim Nelson. “It’s not about solving the rat problem next week or even next month. This requires a solution. We’ve been putting up with it for a long, long time. It’s not healthy, it’s not good for the town of Camden to have this kind of problem, and it needs to be fixed in a way that will stay fixed.”
