‘I have the heebie jeebies.’ Plainview residents report growing rat infestation in neighborhood

All morning, I have the heebie-jeebies. I can't take it anymore. Homeowners in Plainview say their neighborhood has been taken over by rats. They can bite you. They can bite my dog. I don't need rats around here. Neighbors near Barnum Ave say they noticed a few during the summer, but over the past couple weeks, the problem has gotten much worse. My wife came home from the store, and a rat this size went under her car. And as you could see, The rats are going underneath my shed and it's a disaster. Now they see them every day in their yards scurrying across the street. I screamed and I froze and that's when I thought okay this is war. And for one unlucky neighbor they even came into the house. And I saw a rat run from my office indoors across the floor under the vent. Into the wall that it ate through. Tracy says she set traps immediately, and on Friday night, she caught one of the culprits. One of her neighbors caught seven more outside his house. But no one knows where they're coming from. I don't have a lot of garbage. I don't know why they're here so all of a sudden. Some people talk to an exterminator but say treatment would cost close to $3,000. Neighbors say they've also called the town of Oyster Bay and the Nassau County Department of Health. They say those organizations told them someone could come assess their yard and give recommendations, but it's on the homeowner to take care of their property. We need someone to help us look at the bigger picture and come up with a solution to the problem. In Plainview, Nassau County, Jenna Rae Gartner, News 12.