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Fight against rats is a ‘never-ending battle’ “As soon as they’re dead, another stampede of rats come.” — Vince Campolongo
Homeowner says attempts to control growing rat population have failed by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter In the last few years, Vince Campolongo has served up neighbourhood rats an estimated 400 bags of poison. The unwanted rodents, he said, have eaten it all. “As soon as they’re dead, another stampede of rats come,” he said. “It’s a never-ending battle.” Campolongo, 40, wants to raise awareness of a rat population he believes is growing in Richmond. Since moving into the neighbourhood of Gilbert Road and Steveston Highway over 20 years ago, the ballroom dance teacher has been witnessing more vermin activity. The situation is just as bad in another Richmond neighbourhood where he owns property. The nocturnal creatures have feasted on his backyard grapes, tomatoes, figs and peppers. Traps and bait stations do little to make a dent in the population, and his father is now experimenting with a homemade rat-drowning trap. “We have been using the same tomato seeds every year for 40 years. In our family to have a garden is part of out lives. If things stays like this I might not be able to do so much longer,” Campolongo told The Richmond Review. Friends have also had plenty of rat encounters, he said, including one whose car was infiltrated by a rodent that gained access through an air intake and chewed its way through the dashboard, gnawing on the backseat.
Matthew Hoekstra photo Vince Campolongo has tried bait stations, rat traps and poison in an unsuccessful bid to eliminate rats.
Getting in the way of their control, he said, are people inadvertently feeding them with bird feeders and those who even appear fond of the critters. “A lot of people are friends with rats. They don’t want to kill them, to the point where they’re actually feeding them—intentionally or unintentionally, I don’t know.” Kevin Lee, owner-operator of Richmond Pest Management, has offered pest control in Richmond for 23 years. He’s noticed the rat population grow, and said favourable winters are a big factor. “In previous years when it’s a nice cold, frosty winter, only the hardiest members of the litter would survive. But with our winters being so mild recently, everything that’s being born is surviving.”
A lack of natural predators, food availability and house demolitions that encourage rats to move around are other factors supporting Richmond’s rat population. Lee said homeowners can control rats by eliminating outside clutter and ensuring their structures are free of cracks and crevices that rodents use to gain access. “When the weather gets colder like this, they all want to duck inside somewhere warm, like most animals.” Another key, said Lee, is to reduce available food sources. “Unfortunately when you’re growing your own fruits and vegetables, whatever you don’t harvest for yourself the animals will get to.” Richmond Health Services provides rodent control services on
Merry as Christm
behalf of the City of Richmond. Health officials can help homeowners identify problem areas, such as food sources or harbourage areas. If those areas are taken care of, officials can provide bait stations loaded with poison—as long as the homeowner signs a liability waiver—or traps. “We don’t want to be seen as a pest control company,” said Dalton Cross of Richmond Health Services. “We do this program more to help the homeowner bring it under control. The other component is education, and in some cases enforcement of the (health protection) bylaw.” Cross said Richmond’s rat populations have been “quite consistent” over the years, but said rats are always looking for a meal. If they find a regu-
lar food source, such as a vegetable garden, they’ll look to nest nearby. “If people are having problems with rats then they should...take some sort of control measures to keep the rodents out. That’s sometimes easier said than done,” he said. “A homeowner oftentimes has to decide what they wish to do on their property, (but) we would never require a person to remove a vegetable garden.” Restaurateurs know all too well the attraction rats have to food. So far this year, Vancouver Coastal Health has temporarily shut the doors on seven Richmond restaurants for pest infestations. In 2012, just two local restaurants were ordered closed. In 2011, health authorities issued orders for nine restaurant closures for pest infestations. According to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, problem rodents are three introduced species that came with Europeans settling in North America: the house mouse, Norway rat and black rat. All can transmit diseases, damage buildings and even start fires by gnawing on wiring. Norway rats, which have up to seven litters per year of eight to 12 pups per litter, usually live at ground level, in crawl spaces and in burrows around buildings. Black rats, also called roof rats, nest in ceilings and attics. The ministry suggests using poison as a last resort. Some types are effective after a single dose, while others, such as warfarin, require multiple doses. “In areas where warfarin has been used extensively, particularly in cities, it is useless because rat populations have become resistant to it,” according to the ministry’s website.
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