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South Lake Union is the perfect breeding ground for innovation and now, rats.

“It is like a sightseeing thing, people go by and they stop and watch the rats. It is really gross,” Eden Johnson, who lives near Minor Avenue North and Harrison Street, “We’re in the city what are you going to do?”

Related: The real reason people hate rats so much

It may be no surprise that all the construction is forcing the rodents out of their natural habitat and into the streets. Ninth Avenue alone is getting seven new restaurants.

“So long as they keep their distance, I am cool,” neighbor Gussie Charles told KING 5. “It’s their neighborhood. They are not afraid of people.”

That’s why the Seattle and King County Health Department is asking people to file formal complains about any rat infestations.

Worse is that fall is the time when rats, looking for a warm spot to spend the winter, typically make their way into homes. And how do they get in? Your toilet.

Leah Helms, with Public Health – Seattle & King County, told ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio the best way to prevent an intrusion is to keep your sink clean.

“Keeping your sink and drain clean hopefully would prevent that food smell that might attract rats to your toilet,” Helms said.

Related: How to keep the rats from coming up through your toilet

If you hear splashing in your South Lake Union toilet, don’t open the lid. Squirt some liquid dish soap through the space in the lid and keep flushing.