They live beneath the hoods of vehicles, surviving on dried figs. The rats of Brentwood have been troubling local resident Darcy Olson, and he wants his neighbours to help stop the vermin from spreading.
“We’re not alone; everyone’s had an experience,” Olson said.
The rats have an apparent fondness for vehicle engines. Olson caught one scurrying from his jeep, and he found droppings and dried figs under the hood of his Volkswagen. Olson said his neighbour had a windshield “washer fluid incident,” where something had been chewing beneath the hood of yet another vehicle.
“There’s always been rats. My cats have always been bringing them home, but it’s been more prolific in the last year and a bit,” Olson said. “This summer, it’s usually pretty hot and heavy because of all the fruit and things, and when the mall started up, there was a flurry then because of construction at Brentwood mall.”
Olson would like his neighbours to get rid of any old wood piles or fruit from their yards, as both are attractants for rats.
The Fraser Health Authority’s health protection program has been helping by supplying poisoned bait boxes for single-family homeowners. Anyone who receives bait has to agree to keep kids and pets away from the poison and dispose of the boxes and any rat carcasses afterwards. (Multi-family dwellings are not eligible for the free rat bait.)
“We’re not going to get rid of rats in the city, but we can deter them from coming in our yards if we take a precautions,” said Gord Stewart, manager of the health protection branch.
Stewart’s office tracks rat reports and mails out pamphlets with rat prevention tips to areas with high levels of activity. Burnaby’s three areas of increased activity for July are: Lougheed mall/SFU, North Burnaby/Heights, and Metrotown. Brentwood was not on the list, but Stewart explained that construction activity tends to displace rat populations.
“There’s a ton of construction going on in Brentwood. Whenever they take down those old buildings, the rats got to go somewhere,” he said.
Stewart did not seem surprised by Olson’s experience with rats in his vehicles.
“It’s warm and there’s lots of stuff to chew in there,” Stewart said. “(People) can’t get their car started and they open it up and it’s like a rats’ nest in there. … If you have an area where there’s lots of rats, they are going to look for anywhere they can nest in.”
Stewart recommends removing or securing all food sources that may attract rats; that includes fruit and uncovered compost bins.
“If there’s any food in the yard, they’re going to go to the attractant,” he said.
The two types of rats in Burnaby are black rats and roof rats. Both are considered invasive species, brought to North America on settlers’ ships.
Tips for dealing with rats:
Prevention:
- Get rid of your bird feeder. The seeds spread all over the ground and attract rats. When you feed the birds, you’re probably feeding the rats.
- Make sure your garbage is tightly bagged and sealed.
- Keep your compost bins shut. If it’s an open compost, turn the pile over all the time. Don’t leave food scraps on top for the rats to eat.
- If you have fruit growing in your yard, remove it as soon as it’s ripe. Rats love fruit.
- Do not leave pet food or water outside.
Detection:
- Look at your property for signs, like droppings, burrows or things that have been chewed or gnawed.
- Watch your pets because they will pick up on a rat’s scent and get excited.
Removal:
- Use traps and glueboards for indoor infestations and bait for outdoors. You don’t want a rat to eat poison bait inside and die somewhere in your walls, where it’s difficult to remove the carcass.
- Call Fraser Health at 604-918-7683 to receive free rat bait if you live in a single-family home. Apartment or condo dwellers should contact a pest control company or their landlord.
