If you haven’t been to Arlington in say the past 5 years or so, you’ve probably missed all the development that’s been happening along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor. While I’m all for the growth of my fair city, and the economic stimulation that comes with it, there are many things about the changes I have not enjoyed… Construction crews that wake me up every morning at 8AM with jackhammers and block traffic along narrow two lane roads…Increased automobile and foot traffic that creates chaotic levels of congestion around the new Crate and Barrel or Cheesecake factory…

But growing up in Northern Virginia, I’m used to adapting to the changes brought about by fast-paced development rates. When I was a kid Kingstowne was a forest – until one day someone decided to tear it all down and build townhouses for the growing number of people living in this area.

But there is the one thing that I truly hate about it: Trash. The picture below is a road in my neighborhood on a good day. See the one really big trashcan? Yeah, that’s mine. While I’m all for reusing the plastic bags you get at the grocery store – I can’t imagine leaving piles of them filled with trash from my kitchen rotting on the side of the road.

Apparently only one neighbor in my little areas is keen to the idea that trash shouldn’t be left on the side of the road in a manner that allows any manner of vermin to get into it. While some people may like the idea of finding rats outside nesting in their gardens, scurrying through their parking lots, living in their backyard shed, running along the outdoor dining areas of local restaurants (true stories all) – I do not.

In fact, the Arlington Environmental Health Bureau specifically provides the following frequently asked question on its website: What foods bring rats into my yard and neighborhood? Garbage that rats can get into, like garbage cans with loose lids, plastic or paper bags, and litter.

So to the people who provide the local rat population with an all-you-can-eat buffet every Monday and Thursday night – the blood of any rat that I am forced to kil to keep my property free of vermin is on your hands…and believe me I got some really wicked traps.

Not that I’m looking forward to killing something, but I have to get better results than what the Health Bureau’s Vector Prevention group seems to be doing…sometimes "ongoing monitoring, consultation …designed primarily to focus on prevention efforts, rather than extermination" isn’t enough.