Thelma and Louise on the prowl for rodents at Burlingame’s Washington Park

While Glomstad said there have been no formal complaints about the presence of mice, her team hopes to prevent infiltration in the building. The department hired exterminators to set traps and worked with the county’s Mosquito and Vector Control District for landscaping. Still, both efforts failed to end the thriving rodent population at Washington Park.

The idea of getting a cat to curb the unwanted inhabitants is not new for the department. In the past, Glomstad said the Parks Division recruited “feral cats” that solved the same problem at the park’s yard. After those cats died, she said the rodent population “exploded.”

Upon learning that the animal welfare group Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA offers barn cat adoptions, she applied to adopt a pair of female kittens, which they named Thelma and Louise. Staff, including her, tends to the kittens in feeding, changing litters and providing shelter.

Since being left under the care of the Recreation Division in August, the kittens have exhibited innate hunting instincts, to which the parks and recreation director commended their performance.

“We’ve already had a few confirmed kills, so we’re very happy so far with the progress,” Glomstad said. “Let’s just hope it keeps going.”

Like the Recreation Division, people living near the park also expressed their delight with the kittens’ arrival. On her daily walk at Washington Park with her 6-month-old baby, Burlingame resident Tatiana Garcia spotted the kittens on the prowl in her neighborhood.

“Because I live so close to the park, I don’t want [the rodents] to start to spread where I live,” Garcia said. “It’s definitely a concern. I don’t like rodents at all, so I would like it to be contained.”

Daniel Schwiderski, of Burlingame, goes to Washington Park almost every day to play at the pickleball court and walk his dog. At dusk, he said he often sees mice zooming from one bin to another or hears trash cans rattle. For him, the presence of rodents poses a health concern.

As a public space, San Mateo County residents host parties and events around the park, causing trash to accumulate. If left untreated, Schwiderski said, it could become an issue in the future.

Both Burlingame residents said the Recreation Division’s solution of recruiting cats is a safe way to curb mice in an area where both pets and children often visit.

With the solitary nature of Thelma and Louise as barn cats, Schwiderski said he has encountered them a couple of times. He recalled them being friendly, open to petting and willing to “meow” at you.

While they have been successful in Washington Park, other areas may not see similar success.

“It’s not possible to do other parks because we don’t have staffing in other parks or a place for them to go,” Glomstad said. “They really do need a safe place to go, and I just don’t have that in the other parks set up that way.”

Recently, the department posted social media content featuring the kittens to let people know that the kittens roaming around the park are not lost.

“If everybody knew that they belonged in the park,” Glomstad said, “then they would leave them alone and let them get to work.”