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PROVINCETOWN — ����6�Ͽ������ regulations on trash containers to discourage the rat population in town are coming.

A new mailer sent to property owners and a new public service announcement re-emphasizes the need for preventive action, based on complaints about rats dating from the summer, town Health Agency Morgan Clark said.

“No new reports,” Clark said of the timing of the new announcements. "These things take time."

The latest regulations, which take effect Dec. 1, require all trash and recycling cans for commercial and residential properties be labeled on both sides with the property address. Also, all dumpsters or “roll-offs” must be accompanied by an integrated pest management contract for the duration that the dumpster is on someone’s property. The integrated pest management contracts will also be required for construction projects interior finish removal to building demolitions.

The first offense is a fine of $100, with second and third offenses costing $200 and $300, respectively.

Repeat violations will be subject to fines, according to Clark.

A year ago the Board of Health approved other changes to help address the rat problem. Trash and recycling containers are required to have fitted lids. Also, recycling is not allowed in clear plastic bags. All trash and recycling must be fully enclosed in order to prevent rodents and other animals from getting into it.

Provincetown is not alone.

The rat problem on Cape Cod has been “gradually getting worse” for about five years, Mike Travers, the owner of EcoGeek Pest Control of Sandwich, said. Calls for rats are up “at least 10 times” what they were five years ago, with many coming from residences rather than just businesses with dumpsters.

“The rat population has exploded on Cape Cod,” Travers said.

One of the biggest factors of the rat overpopulation is outside food availability, Travers said. Rats “set up shop” near food sources and then breed, he said. Two healthy rats have the capacity to produce 15,000 offspring in a single year, he said.

“When we give them food, shelter, water they’re going to thrive," Travers said.

The complaints to town officials about rats led to the formation of a task force, which consulted with experts and came up with a list of regulations to make Provincetown less accommodating to the rodents, according to Clark. In addition to all the new regulations about trash disposal, the task force sent a mailer to property owners advising them against leaving food outside, and encouraging the clearing of vegetation and other material that rats could use for shelter.

Residents are encouraged not to use poison to eliminate rats because of the possible harm to other animals that eat rats, according to the task force. Neighbors can be a good source of information if they report seeing rats, the task force says. The animals are nocturnal, elusive and often hard to spot.

“Rats is just sort of a swear word,” Travers said. Being in denial about the problem is only making it worse, he said.

Theories about the growing rat population including climate change, which offers the rodents more time to breed during the winter because it is warmer, and storm flooding at breakwaters and marshes, where rats live. A growing turkey population on the Cape has caused predators like coyotes to feast on the birds rather than rats, Travers said.

In August, the Board of Health held a to discuss the and possible solutions where many residents discussed their encounters with rodents.

In September, the Provincetown Animal Welfare Committee spoke to the Select Board about their ideas to combat the growing rat problem, which included the education campaign.