Rats hanging out in cars and eating essential parts is a common enough problem in the District of Columbia. As City Desk previously chronicled, it happens in Adams Morgan. It happens at 15th and U. Kathryn Kailian, an esthetician who lives in Dupont Circle, had to take her car in six times for service because of rat damage. At one point, she submitted a claim for the $1,200 her dealership charged to completely re-wire her vehicle. "Our insurance company dropped us," she says.

Fed up, Kailian Googled for solutions and found coyote pee. She ordered a bottle of it on the Internet, sprayed it on her engine, and hasn't had a problem since. One bottle will last her "for years" since she only spritzes every few months. The smell dissipates pretty quickly and the rats have left her alone, despite the fact that she parks in an alley with Dumpsters filled by Five Guys, Chipotle, Cosi, and other delicious-to-rats restaurants.

But how does a seller of coyote piss collect coyote piss?

Read More "Want to Know How to Get Rid of Rats? Ask the Peeman." »

Some time ago, City Desk featured a story about Adams Morgan resident Sid Binks, who had a rat problem. The rats ate through his ignition wires and his new car wouldn't start.

Mr. Binks, you have company down at 15th and U. Sylvia Keys, a calligrapher who's lived in a condo there for 18 years, recently posted to the U Street Listserv that she finally scored an alley parking spot and, guess what? There are rats in the alley. And guess what else? They are "living, eating and partying on our motors. And leaving 'debris' behind," Keys writes.

And that's not all: "My taillight went out and the dealer said that rats had been chewing away the wires, thus costing me $200. And yes, the dealership did find a dead rat baby around my motor."

Read More "Hope and Change Can’t Keep Rats from Eating Cars on U Street" »