Hank McMonigle has been seeing some strange wildlife activity when the sun goes down in his Plano neighborhood.

Every night for the last several weeks, fat brown rats have been darting around his backyard and in the alley behind his home.

“Squirrels are cute, bunny rabbits are cute,” he said. “Rats are not.”

Last week, he hired a lawn crew to trim backyard brush that the rodents could use as shelter. The next day, he found a dead rat in his backyard. The day after: another on front his porch. All the while, he could count as many as 10 rat sightings every night.

“It’s like a circus out there,” he said.

It’s unusual to have so many rodents in the neighborhood, McMonigle said. In the 20 years he has lived in Plano, he’d seen only one before this summer. Now, with everyone staying home and creating more garbage, he’s seen overflowing trash cans in the alley behind his house — a smorgasbord for rodent appetites.

“There’s plenty of food for them,” he said. “These aren’t just like little white mice — these guys are big.”

Widespread sightings

The surge in rat sightings is not just in Plano. Coronavirus-related closures have forced pests to seek new sources of food everywhere. Aggressive, hungry rodents have been reported in cities across the U.S., including in North Texas.

Janet Hurley, a researcher who studies pest control for Texas A&M AgriLife in Dallas, said that not only are rats changing their behavior this year, but homebound residents are seeing and hearing them scurry around the neighborhood more.

“Calls spike because people are seeing more activity,” Hurley said. “We’ve seen an increase, but it all has to do with the food.”

The pandemic has also meant more garbage at home, which can become a feast for refugee rats if left out. Delivery leftovers and expired groceries that end up on the curb are an open invitation to all kinds of critters. And — just like wearing masks in public — it takes only a few people not doing their part to wreak havoc.

“Ultimately, rats need to be viewed as a neighborhood issue,” said Brett Johnson, an urban biologist with the city of Dallas. “You can be doing everything correctly, and all it takes is one person in a neighborhood to effectively create a nuisance for everyone.”

Rat problems have recently been top of mind at Plano’s The Pest Shop, owner Mike Smith said.

“We’re experiencing record numbers,” Smith said. “We have never had more rat customers.”

A warming climate and suburban sprawl have made North Texas a perfect environment in which rats can thrive, he said. Coronavirus closures have made the regional rodent problem even bigger.

“Restaurant closures absolutely freaked out the rat population,” Smith said. “They really, really rely on restaurant waste for their food source.”

Smith says that calls about rats are usually seasonal, picking up in the winter months when the rodents move into attics to stay warm.

“Now, we’re talking about rats all day, every day, all year long,” he said. “At an emergency level.”

In Dallas, the city’s animal services department doesn’t deal with rats since the critters rarely carry rabies, and the city’s 311 service hasn’t seen an increase in the number of calls for rodent-related problems.

Plano’s animal services department is not licensed to conduct pest control but encourages residents to clean up brush and eliminate food sources to help limit rat activity.

Plano hasn’t received an unusual number of complaints this year, City Council member Shelby Williams said, although he’s definitely seen more rats in his own yard. He recently had to scoop one out of his backyard pool. After setting up traps, he caught a few more.

“We’ve got to be a little more vigilant than usual,” he said. “It’s something we take seriously.”

CDC advisory

Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released an advisory warning of “an increase in rodent activity as rodents search for new sources of food.”

According to the CDC, rats’ normal hangouts — outside commercial dumpsters with regular food waste — have become less appealing since restaurants have closed their doors or scaled back menus.

Last month, Hurley said, she worked with colleagues in New Orleans and Miami to send a proposal to the CDC for a program to find better ways to track rats and educate communities on how to keep them at bay. Her personal network of experts have all reported rats moving into new neighborhoods.

Rats and other rodents have always been around in North Texas residential areas, Hurley said. They normally feed on backyard bird feed, pet food that’s left out, compost piles, and other kinds of waste.

“I tell people, if they had a game camera or security camera in the backyard at night, they’d be amazed at what they see,” Hurley said. “They’re looking for the easiest opening.”

Rats, like any animal, look for food, water and shelter, Johnson said. Without all three, they move elsewhere. He said it’s important to limit food sources and make sure there’s nowhere for rats to find shelter.

“Usually when you’ve got rat issues going on in a neighborhood … there’s a rat or mice hotel somewhere nearby,” Johnson said. “By the time you notice you’ve got a mice or rat problem, they’ve been around for a while.”