A rat hunt will be conducted in Paris, the French capital. Rats have invaded Paris, they are everywhere: in squares, parks, building halls… There are estimated to be several million rodents. (Ref. French TV newscast of Friday, December 9, 2016).
The city has launched a campaign of deratization. The problem is both health, aesthetic and economic. Rats give a very bad image of the capital, which is a flagship destination for tourists.
The town hall reacted, here’s how…
Paris parks overrun by rats
The proliferation of rats particularly affects several sites in Paris:
The Champ-de-Mars, which will be partially fenced off for deratisation
Four gardens in the 4th arrondissement
Langlois Square (fourth)
The Saint-Gervais Hospitals School is also treated against rodents
St. James Tower Square: 38 boxes of bait were deposited with 114 blocks of raticide products – closed and treated since 29 November
– Villemin Garden (Xe), closed and treated since November 29
Cambronne and Garibaldi Squares, in the 15th
The Rose Garden (fourth), closed since 30 November
– the Square of the Rocket and the median of Boulevard Richard-Lenoir will be treated
But a big city like Marseille is not spared. Rodents are estimated to be close to eight million in the Phocaean city.
Rats are rodents that can transmit diseases. They are really a health threat, although there is no more plague, we are not in the Middle Ages!
The town hall said: “This immediate action plan will continue in the coming weeks with a series of punch operations at other infested sites”
Rat Invasion: Why?
Cities are changing with more green spaces made up of bushes. These are places for rat development. But the root of the problem comes mainly from the garbage cans. Waste is left in the streets, outside the garbage cans, which provides a real feast for rats.
Deratisation: what means are used?
The means used to eradicate rats are classic: rat traps, raticides,poison bait and a technical cleaning team.
The mission of the city’s agents will also be to change the bad habits of citizens. A communication campaign will be launched to educate citizens: for example, not to feed pigeons, and therefore rats. Tickets are issued for anyone who unloads their garbage cans out of containers.
Health techniques and regulations on raticides have evolved. Disseminating poisoned seeds is prohibited because they can kill birds and pets. New traps are in the experimental stage: they are boxes with a hole through which rats enter and find the poison.
The town hall became aware of the problem and an international seminar on “the strategy of managing rats in urban areas” was held. Christophe Girard, mayor of the Ive, put this issue on the agenda of his last borough council “to fight against the resurgence of these pests”.
Breeding ultra-fast rats
And here’s a crazy reproduction of rats,an impressive graph:
A couple of rats with sexual maturation give about 4 litters per year. Gestation lasts 1 month. Each litter has 8 raccoons. The calculation is quickly done: the couple gives 32 small rats in one year.
After 6 months, the first generation reproduced and the colony already has about fifty rats.
The couple at the end of their lives will have given birth to about 1,000 descendants in total.
Rat breeding is very rapid, making it difficult to eradicate the rodent population. There is a need for integrated control measures managed by experienced parasitic experts who are trained in this intervention and the use of raticide products.
You who live in Quebec, if you spot rats in your environment call the town hall, if it happens at call the exterminator
