Check out this article: “This is what happens to all the rats when cities flood.”
Note that it is not just flooding but other disasters that can cause an explosion of the rat population in a disaster zone.
I live in suburbia and did not think that rats could be in our neighborhood. Well, one shriek from my wife when she was in the garage once changed that perception. We found out from the exterminator that rats are indeed everywhere. The “roof rat” mentioned in the story is pretty endemic.
So, we have four bait boxes that I check twice a year, one for each side of the house. You know, the bait is pretty much gone every time I check. One last funny story, from this summer.
I was hosting a garden tour of our home’s garden (check the link if you like for a drone video of the garden) and it was early and the first guest walking up the side of the house said there was something “with a tail” laying on the sidewalk. I went to check it out and sure enough, it was a rat that had evidently enjoyed a bit too much to eat at one of the bait boxes — not quite dead, but immobile. I dispatched him/her with my spade and disposed of the remains. I had thought of taking this magnetic tag that said “Host” that I had as an extra for the day and placing it next to the rat, but one woman was so freaked out, I figured it would be better not to do so.
I still have some judgment left!
