Cities have been dealing with rodent infestations for years. San Francisco, Chicago, and New York are all known to have their fair share of rats and mice invading buildings and infrastructure, but no one expects it from a suburban town a dozen miles north of the Windy City.

Although towns north of Chicago, like Skokie, have had on-and-off problems with rats, Wilmette, Illinois has seen an unprecedented breakout of the disease-ridden rodents. Since March, reports of rats have skyrocketed throughout the Village.

“The infestations we have now are much greater than we’ve had in the past, and they’re spread across the community in different areas,” Wilmette Village Manager Michael Brainman said. “ It’s just a substantial increase in rat activity.”

Recently, the Village has rolled out a program to help residents shake off the fear of rats infesting their homes. The Village is offering free consultations from exterminators. The exterminators will come to your home and check for any rats or burrows and give you ideas for how to prevent these rodent infestations, all free of charge.

Since this program was rolled out, the Village has received 800 calls for consultations. 300 of the exterminator checks were successful in finding rats. The Village doesn’t have any more data regarding the rat infestations outside of these calls.

Aside from the potential fear that comes from seeing a rat inside one’s home, Braiman says a big issue with rats is that they tend to carry disease.

“There has been a long worldwide history of rats leading to diseases in humans,” Braiman said. “We just don’t want to take any chances.”

Trinity United Methodist Church and its annual pumpkin patch has felt some of the biggest effects of the rat invasion. The church, on the corner of Lake and Wilmette Ave., is in the dead center of one of the three infestation zones. The three zones can be seen below on a map provided by the Village.

Since 1999, Trinity United has hosted a pumpkin patch on its grounds, with the profits going towards mission and charity support across the world. In total, the annual pumpkin patch has raised $265,000 for these organizations.

“We use the funds to donate to charitable efforts around the world, from here in Wilmette to Senegal, West Africa,” Tom Board, Financial Committee chairman and council trustee at Trinity United, said. 

The patch doesn’t only support these efforts, but it also helps support Navajo Farmers from Arizona. The 3,000 pumpkins are shipped from Navajo Territory to Wilmette for the event. In the end, the majority of the profits go toward charity and mission support, and a portion goes to the Navajo Farmers for their labor and efforts.

Sadly, pumpkins are a favorite food source for rats, especially during the late fall and winter months. With this and the fact that the church is in an infestation zone, the annual patch had to be called off by the Village.

The church, although disappointed, knew that there were bigger issues.

“You know, if it’s something which we have to postpone for a year, it’s not the end of the world,” Block said, mentioning how they skipped the pumpkin patch one year during COVID. “We would rather be good neighbors to Wilmette than try to make noise about how we want to go forward with this.”

The church community also responded reasonably, although they were saddened.

“People are frustrated because this is the one major fundraiser that we do every year and as such, we count on it in order to continue to support the ministries that we are supporting around the world and even here locally in Wilmette,” Block said.

Although the pumpkin patch isn’t happening, the church is still seeking donations. It is  asking for members of the church and the Wilmette community to donate to the cause. As of Oct. 25, the church has raised over $10,000 of its $20,000 goal. If you would like to donate, you may do so here.

Apart from the pumpkin patch cancellation, businesses in downtown Wilmette don’t seem to be safe, either. Rats have been reported in alleyways surrounding businesses, especially where the trash dumpsters are located.

“A few months back was the first time I went back after almost a year, and I could definitely tell there was a lot more squeaking and dark figures,” senior Adam Puljic, a Pescadero employee, said. “You can definitely tell that [the rat population’s] gone up.”

Puljic has to deal with these rats every time he or any other employee has to take the trash out. The location of the alley is out behind the restaurant and is shared by Napolita and the Wilmette Theatre.

“Walking up to it is fine, but you touch the dumpster or open the door and you hear creepy hisses and the rustling movements of rats. You then throw the garbage and run,” Puljic said. “Sometime I’ve seen rats crawling on top of the dumpsters or along the piping along the side of the building, but mostly they are inside the dumpsters.”

Puljic has yet to personally experience or hear of any rats being inside of the actual restaurant.

In residences specifically, rats can have destructive consequences for a home. Once finding a way inside, they can chew through wires, furniture, insulation, and smaller pipes. They can wipe out a kitchen’s food supply, spread harmful bacteria, and they ruin floors and carpets by using them as a toilet.

The Village does not have any solid evidence as to why there has been a spike in the rat population in Wilmette, but officials have some ideas. 

“I think it’s a combination of factors,” Braiman said. “A big part being that we have not had a very cold winter in two or three cycles now, and you need that to kill off the good amount of the rat population and that’s not happening. We see that too, with squirrels and chipmunks of bunny rabbits, those populations have exploded. So, we’re hoping for a very cold winter in a weird way.”

One big rumor going around town is that the rats are all coming from the construction of the new Ryan Field at Northwestern University. But, Braiman was quick to shut down this idea.

“It would just be speculation,” Braiman said. “Our infestations there [the area just north of the field site] started in March and April before demolition of the stadium.”

The rat problem is not only a concern for Wilmette, but for Skokie and Evanston as well. Towns farther north, such as Glencoe and Winnetka, have not faced problems so far.

“It’s all about proximity to Chicago, and it’s slowly moving its way north. So it’ll be interesting to see whether other communities to our north are impacted as the infestation has spread further north in Wilmette,” Braiman said.

If you are a Wilmette resident, especially a resident of one of the infestation zones, the Village has a list of ways you can prevent and mitigate this rat problem. This list includes: not placing pumpkins outside of your residence or business, making sure that all trash containers are completely sealed and using heavy-duty bags, and removing birdfeeders and other ways of feeding wildlife. To see more information, visit the Rat Control Program page on the Village’s website. 

This story was originally published on New Trier News on November 5, 2024.