Burnaby’s first and favourite information source
Delivery 604-942-3081 • Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Local star is on the rise
PAGE 23
A ukulele revival
PAGE 11
Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com
Take my wife – please! Teamwork:
Ben Stevens carries Deirdre Kiely around the race course en route to a victory in the wifecarrying contest, Sunday at the Scandinavian Community Centre. The contest was part of the fun at the annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival, which took place over the weekend. See page 3 for more photos.
Larry Wright/ burnaby now
Does Burnaby have a rat ‘epidemic’? Janaya Fuller-Evans
staff reporter
Don’t feed the wildlife. This is the message a Burnaby man is hoping city council will send to residents, to deal with a rat problem in the Metrotown area. Craig Wilson has lived in Burnaby for 34 years and says he has never seen the rat problem as bad as it is now. “I’ve noticed it for about five years, but for the past two it’s been an epidemic,” he said. Wilson spoke to council at Monday
Golf Burnaby
golfburnaby.net #ri&ing (ange*
' %urnaby +ountain
' (i&er)ay
Pitch & Putt
' $entral Par" ' !en*ington
night’s meeting about the problem, saying he thinks it stems in part from the people scattering birdseed along the parkway underneath the SkyTrain line. He has seen as many as seven rats at a time feeding on birdseed in the low-lying bushes along the greenway, he said in a phone interview prior to the meeting. “It’s gotten to the point in that area that if I hear a woman scream I don’t even look up anymore,” he said, adding he knows she’s seen a rat. Wilson walks through his neighbourhood in the Edmonds area towards Central Park on a daily basis, he said, and notices
at least a couple of rats every time, and often as many as five to seven. He’s noticed a lot of bird feces, as well as rats, near the Maywood Community School, Wilson said, adding it is a health issue for children in the area. “Birds carry all sorts of diseases,” he said.’’ While he has seen some rats around Central Park, he said he thinks the population is lower there because of coyotes in the area. Squirrels also feed on the birdseed in the park, he said, adding they are also vermin, just with bushier tails.
Dinner for 3
$25
Whole chicken with one large sideline and your choice of 2 garlic bread slices or 2 buns
He said he and two TransLink workers saw 15 rats in under a minute underneath the Metrotown SkyTrain station about two years ago. There was a woman feeding birds in his neighbourhood recently, but as soon as a sign was put up stating, “Don’t feed the wildlife,” she stopped, according to Wilson. He would like council to approve similar signs throughout the area, to help combat the rodent population. Coun. Nick Volkow said there is some question of jurisdiction in the area, as Rats Page 4
Free Electronic Recycling Bottle Depot (Full Refunds Paid) TV’s | Computers | Home & Auto AV Gear Sprap Metal and Waste Paper
604.299.3121 2961 NORLAND AVE., BURNABY