‘Rat Island’: City ‘deploying all tools’ to destroy rodent paradise

A traffic median dubbed “Rat Island” due to its severe rodent infestation will have its population decimated as health inspectors have pledged to use every tool available to wipe out the pests.

An unofficial (but official-looking) caution sign has been erected on the island at Mission Street and Duboce Avenue, warning: “Rat Island: Do not feed wildlife.”

It’s unclear who planted the sign, but videos on social media show a thriving community of sizable rats scurrying into underground lairs on the rodent island paradise.

“The San Francisco Department of Public Health is deploying all the tools available to address the rodent situation at Mission Street and Duboce Avenue,” the department said in a statement Thursday.

The median is city property that’s overseen by the Department of Public Works.

Inspectors “found burrows and evidence of a severe rodent infestation” in the median and a nearby Mission Street planting area after receiving a complaint about the location this week. Officials warned a nearby property owner about “an unsanitary garbage area,” which has since been cleaned.

The median was a well-known hazard to commuters at a nearby Muni stop Wednesday morning.

“There’s hella rats in this little corner here,” said a passenger on the 14 bus who identified himself as Kappy.

T.R. Fullhart, who lives across the street, said the rat problem is just a fact of city life.

“There’s someone that comes and tries to feed the birds, you know, seed and stuff. And, of course, the rats eat it,” said Fullhart. “In my opinion, it’s just kind of part of living in a city.”

A study of 16 major cities (14 in North America, plus Amsterdam and Tokyo) over an average of 12 years, published in January in Science Advances, found that climate change is fueling a hemisphere-wide population boom for the black rat. In the case of San Francisco, the population has grown by more than 10% — more than every other city in the study besides Washington, D.C.