| There have been reports in London of a 22-inch rat found by pest controllers. It is said to have been boosted by a carb-heavy diet of fast food and be resistant to traditional rat poisons.
The London report was quickly followed by one from Edinburgh of an 18-inch rat.
Despite a few isolated incidents in recent months, most notably at City Road and Peddie Street, the city council said there was no evidence of a significant rodent problem, and no sightings of large rats in the city.
“There has been no pattern of any big increase in rat problems in Dundee,” a spokesman said.
“In 2004, pest control officers dealt with 228 calls about rats. There were 212 in 2005 and so far this year there have been 112 calls.
“One reason why the situation has not got worse in the city is because the council aims to tackle problems as quickly as possible.
“Rats need a good food source and will be drawn to areas where this may be readily available. Something as simple as putting out bread on back greens could be enough to attract them.
“Discarded food among dumped rubbish will attract the rodents and that is why the council arranges to have such areas cleaned up quickly and pest control carried out as soon as possible.”
A number of recent incidents have caused concern in the region.
Last week, a Methven resident complained that fly-tippers were attracting vermin to the town’s high street, while Dunkeld picnickers were recently shocked to discover rats feasting on leftovers in a park on the banks of the Tay.
Russell Bowen, manager of Ellbow Pest Control, blamed much of the problem on “student slovenliness” and unregulated private lets.
“Problems arise when flats inside a block are owned and let by different landlords, and no-one can agree whose responsibility it is to clear up mess, so it just festers and attracts rats.”
He said some students would just throw their rubbish out the window.
“The Seagate can also get pretty bad due to the number of takeaways in the area, and leftovers are often thrown down back alleys for the rats to find,” he said.
A rodent report released last year by the National Pest Technicians’ Association has shown that rat-related call-outs by local authority pest control officers have gone up by 26% throughout the UK since 1998.
Dundee City Council said its pest-control advice was free and advised anyone who feared they might have problems to call 436288. |
