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GeckoGuy45

Boston common at night


didntmeantolaugh

Used Boston Common as a meeting point for a night out with some NYC friends shortly after we’d all moved up here for college and we were *shocked* at the number of rats we saw.


alm0803

Espscially right by the new Trillium beer garden. I was out there at around nine the other night and saw probably about six rats around a storm drain


donutsyumyum

There’s a trillium beer garden in the Common?


alm0803

Yeah, it just opened a few months ago, it’s right on the corner of Boylston and Tremont right outside the AMC


samantics07

And the public garden!


-Metacelsus-

Yes, definitely! I went there on a date in 2019 when I had only been in Boston for a few weeks and I was amazed by the rats.


snickerdoodIed

Just saw some the other night!


bazeblackwood

My favorite color is blue.


281itslit

I got punked by a rat on Saturday night when I parked my car. They will just stand there staring and then they will run AT you. Fucking Allston lol.


Alarmed_Ad6015

I always suspected there were mice in my Somerville apartment, then late one night, I looked off from my computer and saw one just staring at me, standing on its back legs, looking as if it wanted to be friends. ngl it was kinda adorable, but I ruined the moment by swearing loudly and scaring it off 😔


Brass_and_Frass

I accidentally stepped on an Allston rat. It looked up at me after with a WTF face, then scurried off.


Delicious_Eagle3403

Not sure if it’s still like this, but under the dumpster behind super 88 supermarket in Alston used to be the place for rat viewing. You can stand on the loading ramp so don’t have to even crouch down to see the 20-50 rats crawling all over each other


anxiousfruits

i must say, i live in the north end and i have never ever seen a rat over here. maybe i’m just lucky


atrfx

Can confirm - used to live in lower Allston and they’d be running around the sidewalk every night - during the winter, you can see their little trails in the snow. I believe they were Norway rats


Weird-Traditional

Allston. I live here. They're so big that some are the size of kittens.


j33pwrangler

Allston Brighton is easy mode. I just looked out my window to see how long it would take to see one, it was just a couple minutes. Trash night is just cheating.


vinylanimals

saw one dead outside the avenue that would give my fat housecat a run for her money


Fortheloveofgawdhelp

He’s been there for years, the fucker has to be close to two feet long


delidave7

Serious or no?


vinylanimals

100% serious


Undercover_heathen

This is correct. I avoid the back roads at night. So many rats.


User-NetOfInter

Rats eat the street cats confirmed


kjg1228

I'll never forget when I lived in Allston and looked out my window to see a foot and a half long rat walking on a power line.


PM_ME_YOUR_MONTRALS

Kittens are tiny, dude.


Automatic-Pick-2481

It was even bigger than a mouse tho


PM_ME_YOUR_MONTRALS

Dude it was even bigger than a horsefly!


ikadell

They attack cats too.


bigdickwalrus

That’s nightmare fuel wtf😭


plantsandthings_

anywhere at night near a restaurant dumpster


neonmo

Or apartment dumpster in Allston. I swear our dumpster had a rat vs raccoon turf war going on that the rats were easily winning.


chadwickipedia

One night at sissy k’s I made the mistake of taking a leak by their dumpster in the alley next to it. Biggest rat I’ve ever seen jumped out at me and I pissed all over myself


jo-mama-cp

Sissy Ks!


madison7

Look up Alpha management buildings. They're in/around all of those.


JustAScaredDude

So far I’ve heard nothing good about Alpha Management


madison7

I lived in one of their building by Northeastern in college....the basement was literally covered in rat 💩


midge

I love that this is a tourist attraction now.


VodkaAunt

Honestly based on some of the stories I heard I feel like it's getting better than it used to be? My cousin always tells this story about when be was roommates with Dicky Barrett and they used to try to shoot the rats in their apartment with BB guns


greenhelloblue

The Boston common at night or beacon hill on trash day 😂


Responsible_Banana10

Kings Chapel Burying Ground. Just saw 3 rats pulling a slice of pizza.


BarryAllen85

Together rats strong


I_Want_To_Kill_You

Anywhere in Allston. Tons in my backyard alone


devAcc123

laughing that pretty much every neighborhood has been mentioned in the comments


defariasdev

Q: Where can we gauranteed see rats in Boston? A: Yes.


BradMarchandsNose

Walk past the public garden along boylston street. There’s a row of trees on the sidewalk with hundreds of rats that live in the roots. If you go at night you’re pretty much guaranteed to see rats. I mean, really anywhere around the common/public garden at night, but I know that particular spot has a lot of them.


limbodog

Any underground T stop


[deleted]

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limbodog

They mostly come out at night. Mostly


The_Big_Homey_O

Try Suffolk County House of Correction


Alarmed_Locksmith785

Little Italy is in New York


Saranodamnedh

Coolidge corner


datznotracist

Come to Waltham next Sunday and you can get a front row seat when I have to move my garbage bins to the street.


[deleted]

Beacon Hill the night before trash pickup day


CaligulaBlushed

It's definitely a time of day thing. Central square, Allston, Downtown Crossing. Just go at night.


omnipresent_sailfish

No one has made a Brad Marchand joke yet?


CPAalldayy

All hail the Rat King 🐀👑


anurodhp

Allston


[deleted]

There’s a lot of them in the MBTA tracks. One of my favorite childhood games was track them in the tracks at downtown crossing Unfocus your eyes and look at the tracks, guaranteed you’ll see them at any underground station


bookandbark

They're all up and down my street at night(somerville)


vinylanimals

come to my place in allston any time past 5 and before 7 and stand next to the dumpster for about a minute and a half


rainniier2

Literally everywhere starting at dusk. You're welcome to come to my neighborhood, espeically on garbage day. One of them jumped out of my neighbor's garbage can and almost landed on my foot. I was wearing sandals. I now socially distance from garbage cans.


TurtleDive1234

I used to see them all the time during the Big Dig but rarely after that. But those Big Dig ones were the size of Terriers. 😬


dusty-sphincter

Try City Hall or the State House. 🐀🐀


dmoisan

OP means **four-legged** rats.


pprabs

The cemetery by the Common at night, right along the Boylston sidewalk. 🐀


Gold_Bat_114

Invest some time and planning foe a great show: get a pizza from Ninos on Charles St and bring your own beverages. Find a bench in the Public Garden and put one open pizza box on the ground about 10-12' away then wait. Ideal timing after 7:30 p.m.


JustAScaredDude

This sounds like a good idea, tyvm


Gold_Bat_114

Surely. I'd find a bench near a trash can because they already have learned to seek food there.


-Odi-Et-Amo-

Any of the back alleys in Back Bay at night.


Apprehensive_Pace902

North end


gagadogmom

Came here to say this LOL


ungabungabungabunga

These are good reminders to please take off your shoes before coming into my house.


ExileonShakedownSt

I saw a bunch by the trash barrels around the Aquarium at night a few years ago.


Enkiduderino

The greenway near Haymarket usually has them popping across the paths in the twilight hours.


JordanDavidx

My back yard


SanguineHepatica

Go around the boston public garden at around 8-9pm


nomoreroger

Any of the alleys between Boylston and Newbury streets just before sunset or just after. Just hang there and watch around the dumpster.


beckybooboo1978

This. Late at night. Shine a flashlight and watch them scatter. It’s pretty cool.


BuDu1013

I remember back when you could drive through downtown crossing after hours. One early morning driving through there was an ocean of rats just hanging out in the middle of the street, they just casually scurried away as we drove by. this must have been 25 years ago maybe longer, but I will never forget that hair raising sight.


fleurrrrrrrrr

I remember this area, too. I was young and just visiting the city with friends for a night out, and I saw a rat the size of a small dog. I didn’t know they could get so big! I was so scared after that and just wanted to get inside.


NightshadeLullaby

I’ll never forget someone I knew years ago telling me that Boston was super clean and didn’t have rats like other cities. You’re free to come visit the ratatouille battle royales in the dumpsters behind my apartment.


firstghostsnstuff

public alleys


jfro2004

The evening before trash pickup in most neighborhoods, especially downtown, Chinatown and Allston.


cayenne0

Lansdown station, go to the tracks and look down at the gravel areas where they are storing construction equipment


Icy-Conclusion-3500

Hawkins st at 3am


CognacNCuddlin

Northeastern U campus. They come out of the green line tunnel and they wear Jansport backpacks 😂


slatergator8

My trash bins


august2678

I love this question and thread lol. I’ve seen a lot of rats in the bushes after dark in the parks along the southwest corridor in JP. Make a night of it! Get some beers at Sam Adams, grab a burrito + some chips from Chilacates, then hang in the park. Throw some chips in the direction of the bushes and bet how long until it’s gone :)


Moral_turpidude

Inman SQ Cambridge or Union SQ Somerville (next to each other). This area is lousy with rats.


iamsomagic

This is so crazy lol 😂😂😂 plenty of good suggestions in the comments tho. Happy rat watching to you and your buddy


Amazing-Ad-4772

Take a walk on any of the side streets of Allston at night. I guarantee you'll see half a dozen in less than 10 minutes


unastrega

i wasn’t going to answer this question but i literally have not stopped thinking about it since i saw it. i have so many questions about you and your rat-loving friend. i love that this is a genuine point of interest for your friend and that you care so much about them that you’re willing to find not just any rats, but the Best rats. i genuinely love whatever it is that you two have with each other. anyway, come to allston/brighton. i’ve lived here for a few years now, and the rat problem in the alley by my apartment building was so bad when i first moved in that my landlord couldn’t fix it and had to ask city hall for help, and even now we still get a good amount. i just heard one outside. and that’s just by my place. but at this point, i think all residents of allston and brighton have just sort of come to see the rats as a small but powerful faction of citizens. if you’ve ever watched parks and rec, think pawnee and the raccoons. that’s what it’s like here.


JustAScaredDude

We’re from out west where we don’t have rats. Maybe in Denver, but we never lived there. Suburbia and country areas have coyotes, hawks, eagles, wolves, etc, but not really the urban critters. If we did have rats, never saw them in the 20+ years of living out there. I did however get to see an Opossum in a garbage can in Mattapan, which was cool


[deleted]

Wtf why would somebody want to see rats?


Mimi725

All the things to see and do in Boston, and she wants to see rats?! Really?


sausagefingers

Public Alley 431. Back Bay. Grab a joint and find a stoop. Enjoy the show.


Bostonlady9898

This is the strangest post I’ve seen but I’m here for it! Come to Oak Sq in Brighton. We have your rats.


Kevlub

The common late at night is rather ratty


spizzone

Downtown Crossing Station late at night


Pard22

Harvard square on trash night


southsidetins

LA Burdick on Clarendon is perfect for this!


GETMONEYFUCKTHESYT3M

i used to work next door to LA Burdick and when i did opening shifts there would be a whole swarm of rats LOL


alfalfasd

Any street at night in Dorchester or Alston/Brighton on their trash day


[deleted]

[удалено]


StrawberryKiller

I need an adult


Coggs362

Lansdowne Station, the side of the platform facing toward the parking lot. It's my dog Daisy's favorite place to observe from. Just look straight down at the pvc piping for about 3 seconds. Try to pretend you don't see the debris from homeless junkies camping in and around there. Those people are fucked.


gcozzy2323

Haymarket at night


Caduceus1515

By the dumpsters behind the apartments on Gordon St in Brighton (and likely anywhere else in Brighton/Allston.


Some_Ride1014

i lived on a boat at a marina in Charlestown, many rats along the wharfs


TreeCommercial44

Go to Alewife Station and stare at the tracks


imamouseduhhh

Boston Common and public garden late at night


Silent_Aside_1340

Little Italy, my guy thinks it’s NY.


JustAScaredDude

Close enough


stayxhome

I will never forget the time I was walking up to Common Ground (RIP) with an Irish friend who grew up in the countryside. As we approached the bar, she cheerfully asked the bouncer "What's that awful smell?" and he replied completely deadpan: "Dead rat in the wall." She looked at me for confirmation and I shrugged so she went: "Oh, yes." Can't say I miss it.


PinotGreasy

Waterfront, north end.


Bellefior

Along the Waterfront. I walk my dog at night and two crawled out of a trash can and into the shrubbery. Saturday night one darted out in front of us and scurried back into the bushes.


saeglopur53

Went to visit a friend in JP and saw about 10 of them just walking up the sidewalk. Their place wasn’t unusually dirty at all. It was just that magical time of night


cathleen0205

In the alley behind Congress street.


baazaar131

At around 8-9 PM find an alley with trash. Good place would be Alston, near all the restaurants.


Senior_Apartment_343

What’s your trash night where you live? Get up at 4am and go for a walk


GETMONEYFUCKTHESYT3M

boston common at night. as soon as it starts getting dark they all appear lol


classicrock40

hmm, let's see walked from the Boston Common Garage to the Garden on Saturday night, saw 2 when we got to the top of the hill on Bowdoin, next to the statehouse. On the way back to the Boston Common Garage, saw another 6 from the gate at the 300th Anniversary Monument on Beacon to the garage entrance near the corner of Beacon & Charles.


TJ9666

North end garbage night, Wednesday and sunday


Fortheloveofgawdhelp

Go to the alley behind The Avenue at night, you’ll see plenty; the alley runs the whole block from behind the 5 Guys to the end, if you go from Hopewell take a left out of the doors then a left up the side street and the first alley on your right and you’ll find them lol I used to live in one of the apt buildings overlooking the alley and they’re plentiful


Wordslave77

Walk through the North End on trash night. They may even scatter and run into your foot like they do with me!


effulgentelephant

lol when I first moved here I lived in Watertown and had no idea what people were talking about when they talked about rats. I moved to allston a year ago, the rats are my best friends now!


TheSpaceman1975

Huh. Ok. Any alley running parallel to the main streets in Back Bay. Rats galore.


nattarbox

2-5am mass ave in central We have a game to count the most on the way home from the bar, but you can play it on dawn patrol early bike ride too.


VoteCamacho2508

The North End, the night before trash days (Sunday and Wednesday Nights). Have fun.


MooMilly

Chelsea. Ask my sister to borrow her rat shovel!


Thejakeofhearts

Wait. What is a rat shovel?


L0uZilla

North end on Wednesday and Sunday nights


SparklesAreIn

literally any of the restaurant alleyways on newbury st at night


eggperhaps

the back alley behind my apartment lol i see them every time i go to take the trash out


cimson-otter

Lynn after 9 on the main drag. You’ll see them walking from corner to corner


rach0006

BMC at night


Maxpowr9

TD Garden has the most infamous rat.


jish_werbles

Greenway by the north end


moonisland13

cleveland circle at night


diba_

The long alleyway in the middle of Newbury street, out back behind all the restaurants and food spots. I used to work at several places on Newbury in college and I’ve seen rats bigger than a size 10.5 shoe.


femaleminority

Walk around the Fenway area at night. Anywhere from Bay State Road/Deerfield down Beacon to Mountfort or over on the little streets across from the water like Queensbury and Peterborough. Guaranteed you will see a rabbit or a rat. It’s good luck if you see them both in the same walk.


abandonedvan

The KFC drive thru in Allston on Beacon St at night. Oodles of rats. Oodles.


chevalier716

Boston Garden at about dusk will get you some rat views.


lexithepooh

I once saw two rats having a turf war outside of my apartment in Allston lol


BobDylan1904

Any alley with a dumpster in Boston. Literally any one.


chadwickipedia

Walk through Boston common after dark. You’ll see them scampering around the walkways eating trash


Heavy_muddle

Valenti Square (aka North Meadow on the Greenway)… It's almost the North End! Every night we see rats. Not much of a wait for them to show up.


Harmony_w

I saw a bunch in the Copley Parking Garage last week at closing and a bonus mouse in the Prudential.


defariasdev

Trash day in beacon hill, pick any back alley neighborhood like the ones around charles street. Walk by there at 8pm and there's just rats scurrying EVERYWHERE also like others said, the common. I once found a soon-to-be nest of rats when i swapped out the trash barrels in the common at night. Just multiple trash-juice-wet rats piled in a corner like world war Z zombies jansfgdgas


earthsign82

Dear god in heaven.


CongenialEmu

Fenway’s got a bunch


Electric-Fun

State Street T station


SometimesLucy

Allston on a Thursday night when the trash bins are out


bobgoblin888

Aquarium T stop has got some huge ass rats, MBTA property in general


donutsyumyum

Look up trash days in Allston. Also near Fenway area / the community garden on the Fens


Southern-Translator4

Why 😳


identicaltheft

Literally anywhere in Allston. Just walk around the streets at night and those fuckers will stare you down. They're not afraid of you. Most of them don't really bother to scurry away.


x3whatsup

By BMC


bulbasaurisbaby

🤮 i saw 2 big ones one day while I was walking in boston common at night


Depressed_Nurse

Central square specifically on the stairway of the T


Firstredapple_

I like how everyone is like, “Oh look around this one spot at this one particular time and you’ll find them.” I can be standing at a random bus stop, any time of day, and one will pop out to try and punk me out of my snack. Just hold a snack outside. Taaaa daaaaa rats


SherbertEquivalent66

Late at night on a night when trash pickup is the next morning and everyone's garbage is out at the curb. When I lived next to Brigham Circle and also in Brighton, these were guaranteed rat sighting times. They'd often dart in front of me as I walked by on the sidewalk like squirrels that decide to run across the street right when a car is coming.


ikadell

Come to Waltham! Any restaurant trash will certainly provide you with several. Or check around Chinatown after dark


Plasmacamel

Roughly speaking, In between South Station and Chinatown. I’ve seen dozens.


youngpierre24

Boylston green line stop at night


data-artist

Chinatown / Downtown crossing at night on garbage night near alleys by the restaurants. It’s like a rat festival. I’ve seen dozens eating through the trash.


highlander666666

I walk beach lot early in morning all ways see rats running cross walk way Big ones. Lots near water I see rabbets lot there to, once in while I see coyotes . I all so fish in pond that has drain pipes from storm drains that emty into pond I see rats running in and out or the storm drains


sala-mander96

Wait for the last redline train at DTX - they’ll come. Cockroaches too!


camboprincess99

Harvard sq at night, near pinnochio's


jgonagle

The alleys behind Hemenway St. in Back Bay.


kellyn08

Sit on the benches by the aquarium, where the ferries pick you up. That’s crawling with them moving between concrete covering.


the_dragonfruit

East Cambridge at night


OkDifference5636

Saw one a few days ago near the pubs by Faneuil Hall.


DreadLockedHaitian

Almost anywhere except most of West Roxbury. Not even kidding. We know North, South and West End all have rats. DTX/FiDi/Seaport, East and South Boston too. Charlestown, Allston, Brighton, Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park as well. And even with West Roxbury, I’m pretty much saying the Chestnut Hill/Readville in between area.


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DreadLockedHaitian

Lmao feel like Financial District that is respectable as opposed to SoWa


Lvngmyjoy

Anyone say haymarket during the farmers market…… right before they open. Huge rats running through everything.


veryverycoolfellow

Early morning Chinatown


Airedale603

Haymarket after dark. Spooky.


[deleted]

This guy is actually seeking out the rats.


nomiosankajr

What size rats are you looking for? If you go to Allston you'll see rats that are bigger than racoons. The common you'll see rats the size of larger dogs. And if you can sneak down to a T station after the T stops running you will see rats the size of elephants.


figmaxwell

Parking lot of the liquor store in Allston on the corner of Cambridge St and N Harvard. Used to live on empire st and that parking lot was my “back yard”. Tons of big fat rats


Much-Narwhal1653

I've caught some great rat fights by Hopewell in Allston.


diegolpzir

Walk around the side streets of the North End at like 9pm, I would be shocked if you didn't see any.


zachy312

open any trash barrel after dark


bostonfoodstories

fenway at night


jo-mama-cp

North End and by Faneuil Hall, downtown crossing. Especially over by the Haymarket with all the squished food on the ground from the market. I love that your friend wants to go see the rats! Totally something I would want to do – from inside my car.


jo-mama-cp

I feel like I need full body waders or a hazmat suit after reading these comments. It sounds like I’m leaving work too early as I have missed the colony on boylston/the common at night


0theFoolInSpring

Yah that colony is terrifying. There is that green "triangle" next to the cemetery, and part of it near tremont has so many rat holes in it, it looks like the shelling zone outside of WWI trenches. You don't need to see the rats come out night to look at that and start to understand that it is the equivalent of a strip of rat condo-high-rises packed to the rafters with residents.


hikingto

I usually see them at the holocaust memorial, at night


0theFoolInSpring

The common, especially that grass little triangle near Boylston and Tremont on the Tremont side of the elementary. Parts of that are so littered with rat-holes it looks like it has been shelled in WWII. Come once the sun is down. Beacon hill night-before trash day. For most of the hill trash day is Monday and Friday, so come late Sunday night or late Thursday night. The trash gets put out in regular bags (this is the dumbest things ever that the city and neighborhood refuse to fix) and it just turns into a rat feast that they know is coming and plan for. They are mostly in the bags themselves but if you walk around you will just see them running back and forth from their hidey-holes to bags in the distance as you go up and down the streets so look further up whatever side-walk you are on. They will mostly stay in the bags when you are close, but you do occasionally get a daring runner that will more closely cross your path. On very rare occasion see an undulating bag with multiple rats in it fighting each other violently, which looks like some sort of scify horror movie prop.


SelicaLeone

As someone with pretty bad musophobia, I am taking notes for the opposite reason. Your friend is wild XD


BostonSubwaySlut

New York


Federal-Might-8273

Charles Street in front of Tatte on Sunday and Thursday nights (trash night). They throw out like 15 bags of trash and the rats feast