On trash night in neighborhoods across Boston, you’re likely to see furry long-tailed creatures looking for a meal. Rats, who thrive on food scraps and small amounts of water, are alive and well in the city’s streets.

South End neighbors have reported frequent sitings in recent weeks. Rats have been spotted in alleyways, wandering across Blackstone Square, and even crawling up the walls of brownstones, where they may be nesting in attics.

“A lot of people have had to hire exterminators because they’ve heard rats in their walls, found dead rats in their homes, found holes in their gardens, or wires have been chewed through,” said Abigail Cohen, president of the Union Square Neighborhood Association (USNA).

Rats have been known to chew through car wiring, racking up significant bills for car owners.

“People are no longer parking their cars in certain parts of the neighborhood,” Cohen said.

Since the start of the pandemic, more food has been consumed and disposed of at home, creating greater food sources for rats in residential areas.

“The reality is that the rodents are smart, resilient and know their environment which really makes them a challenge to address,” said Lisa Timberlake, spokesperson for Boston Inspectional Services Department (ISD). City Councilor Ed Flynn, ISD, Public Works and the Office of Neighborhood Services have joined the USNA to address the problem.

Relationships with neighborhoods, “are something that we rely upon for much of the intelligence gathering needed to do a comprehensive assessment of the rodent activity in a particular neighborhood,” said Timberlake.

ISD recommends removing any leaves and debris nearby one’s home, where rats and mice like to hide. Food left out for birds or other animals will also attract rodents, the department says. Other tips include sealing openings both on the ground level and above and getting rid of any standing water. Perhaps most important is storing garbage in metal or heavy plastic containers with tight-fitting lids and placing trash out as close to collection time as possible.

When waste is left out over night, there is plenty of time for rats to comb through bags and bins.

“One of the major causes for concern is that in many of our old neighborhoods, locations to store trash receptacles are scarce and result in trash being stored inside the units,” said Timberlake.

Without room for trash bins, many South End neighbors end up putting trash on the curb in plastic bags. Garbage bags should be approved by Boston Public Works for their quality and thickness.

In 2019, the South End piloted a collapsible trash bins system in partnership with the city. The pilot included 30 households on East Brookline Street. While early results were positive, use of the bins was not widely continued after the pilot.

Now, Cohen and the USNA are convening an action committee to look into potential solutions and will continue to update the neighborhood with their findings.

“Rats know no boundaries,” Cohen said. “We all have to work together on this.”