PAWTUCKET, R.I. -- In an age of iPads and email, iTunes and eBay, the battle against rodents in city neighborhoods now inevitably gives us "E-rat."
The system Pawtucket inspectors have begun using is not the stuff of a technology behemoth or budding start-up. Rather, Shaun Logue, city zoning and code enforcement director, said that each time inspectors install scores of bait boxes at city homes or other location around the city, the information goes into a computer. Two weeks later, the system sends inspectors back to the same places to see whether a rat ate the bait or whether traps should be moved, said Logue. The idea is to keep on top of the problem using a coordinated database.
The E-rat system will be part of two public meetings. One is June 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Smithfield Congregational Church Hall, 514 Smithfield Ave., and the other on June 11 at 6:30 p.m. at Woodlawn Community Development Center., 210 West Ave. The meetings will include information about a new neighborhood task force.
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Read more in Tuesday's Providence Journal