# How big a problem are rats in LA really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205 "2006-01-03T07:19:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/1 "2006-01-03T07:19:47Z")
I’ve heard that LA is infested with rats. That even the Bel Aire and Beverly Hills homes aren’t free of them. Is this true. Are they really all over? Is there any area that is not infested? Santa Monica? Pacific Palisades? How about the tony high-rises on Wilshire Blvd? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/2 "2006-01-03T07:50:19Z")
I lived in eastern L.A. County for years and never heard anyone mention them. Of course, cats seem to find them, but isn’t that the same everywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/3 "2006-01-03T09:50:26Z")
At first I thought you were talking about Louisiana (LA=Louisiana right?) I have no clue about L.A. (Los Angeles). But, in Louisiana, I have seen only one rat in my life. That is about one rat in 40 years or so. Ok, thats all… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/4 "2006-01-03T18:03:09Z")
Yes, Los Angeles has Rats, big f…ing Rats, However, there are different species of rats. Depending what part of the city you are in. Take the Wharf for example. The Port of Entry, more specifically, Terminal Island. I was doing business there and noticed a large rubber 50 gallon trash can next to the staircase leading into the office. I looked in and saw about 20 rats swimming around in a couple of gallons of water. My contact said that the island is infested with rats and every night they put some Purina dog chow in the bottom of the container and a 2x4 gang plank connected to the staircase. The Rats jump in to eat the chow then they can’t get out. In the morning, They just add water and the rats swim and crawl all over each other until they expire. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/5 "2006-01-03T19:46:00Z")
I have friends who used to live in a big old house in the Hollywood Hills. (Dot com money.) Their backyard was an ivy-covered near-vertical slope with a twisted path that snaked up to a guest house at the top. They referred to it as the “rat highway”. I’ve never seen a live rat in Westwood. There was the dead one that turned up in the bottom of our elevator shaft though … . ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/6 "2006-01-03T19:52:38Z")
If you haven’t seen rats, you haven’t looked hard enough. I remember watching a David Attenborough PBS special on rats, and he stated: Anyone living in a city is never more than 15 meters away from a rat. He may have been exagerating a bit, but I think you get the point. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/7 "2006-01-03T21:02:17Z")
Pretty much any big city is full of rats. Ivy = Rat condos Sewers / strom drains = Rat interstate highways Is LA infested? Probably no more than other similar cities. While I have seen cars where rats have eaten wiring (and heard of pleanty more stories) I can only think of one time I saw a rat. I was driving home in rush hour traffic. I was stopped on the fast lane of the freeway. A large rat climbed out of the strom drain grate in the center divider next to my car. :eek: Creeped me out. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/8 "2006-01-04T10:04:23Z")
Used to have them at work (Whittier), but they’re gone since the Cat Patrol took over. Bastards even crawled up on my engine block and chewed up my spark plug wires once. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-big-a-problem-are-rats-in-la-really/338205/9 "2006-01-04T11:08:36Z")
From [the Encyclopedia.com article on rats](http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/r1/rat.asp): > [@](#): > > The brown rat is the larger of the two, growing up to 10 in. (25 cm) long excluding the naked, scaley tail and sometimes weighing more than a pound (.5 kg). It is commonly brown with whitish underparts and pink ears, feet, and tail. It is a poor climber, but an excellent burrower and swimmer; it is found in the damp basements and sewers of most temperate zone cities. and > [@](#): > > Despite human efforts to exterminate rats, the house rat population is probably equal to the human population.