In 2006 it was Glover Park, and before that, Dupont Circle, but NBC4 reports that the D.C. Department of Health has officially declared Tenleytown to be the rat hotspot of this year.

The neighborhood surrounding the intersection of Wisconsin and Nebraska Avenues is lousy with rats right now, and the “Rat Abatement Team” is putting out poison in the hopes of putting a stop to the vermin population explosion in the area. The nexus of the rat menace is a piece of city-owned land that’s currently home to a deep and complex maze of rat boroughs. Yuck.

Spring is typically the biggest growth season for the rat population in the District. In 2007, complaints about rats logged by District health officials increased by 8 percent over the previous year. Former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams declared a “War on Rats” in 1999, and Mayor Adrian Fenty redeclared the war last year. But if this is a war we likely will never win, at least the worst infestations appear to be moving north. Maybe we can eventually fight our enemies in Maryland, so we don’t have to fight them here at home?