BETHESDA, Md. – Some people out for a nice meal have seen rats, a growing problem in downtown Bethesda the past few months.

Montgomery County leaders started surveying the area after receiving complaints in June, said Kenny Welch, the county health department’s Environmental Health Manager.

During the survey, Welch said, an inspector with the county’s rat control program “had even seen some things [that] in 36 years, he’s never seen before.”

He saw a rat making a home in a potted plant. Another wedged itself under a Capital Bikeshare platform.

Large construction projects in Woodmont Triangle are perhaps the root cause. Those projects displaced large numbers of rats, and discarded food from construction workers provided a new food source. Rats also made their way into nearby alleys and took advantage of food left out by restaurants and other businesses.

Welch says the county is working with construction companies to keep employees from leaving food behind, and with businesses to make sure they have enough trash containers that close fully.

Business owners tell WTOP the rats were all over Veteran’s Park, at the corner of Woodmont and Norfolk avenues, and still can be seen there at night.

One owner says the rat issue has improved significantly in the past couple of weeks, thanks to efforts that include poisoning the rats and using stronger trash cans the rats cannot chew through.