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| Heavy rains bring rats |
| [30.08.2007, 11:48pm, Thu. GMT] |
Increasing numbers of rats are moving above ground, and into Norwegian homes, after the wettest summer in decades.
Rats thrive best in damp surroundings, and some pest control specialists are already seeing the results of an especially damp summer.
"We've had more calls than normal, from all over southeastern Norway," Arne Nese of pest control firm Rentokil told consumer web site Forbruker.no. "There's a clear link to the wet weather we've had."The rats, Nese said, have been forced out of overflowing sewers and saturated ground. They're surfacing and looking for food and new, safe places to stay.
Trond Dyrli of Oslo Skadedyrkontroll said his firm has also logged a marked increase in calls from unhappy homeowners.
He advises homeowners against trying to solve a rat invasion themselves, purely by setting out rat poison. "People need to be careful with it, and think about other animals getting to it," he said.
Any rat sightings should prompt calls to pest control firms, because it's harder to get rid of them once they’ve entered homes. Neighbours should be alerted if homeowners spot rats, because their homes will be vulnerable as well.
"The rats chew on electric cables, they dig through insulation material and can cause water leaks by gnawing through pipes," Nese warned.
Petter Gundersen said that all the rain may have drowned some rat colonies. His firm, ISS Skadedyrservice, hasn't noticed an increase in calls this summer.
Aftenposten’s reporter |
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