Latest news with #rats
BBC News
21 hours ago
- BBC News
Rat sightings spark action call over York fly-tipping
A councillor has begged for action to be taken after rubbish fly-tipped at a notorious dumping spot began attracting waste has been left around overflowing recycling bins in a car park at the Morrisons store in Acomb, resident Craig Smith said the fly-tipping had been a problem for years and bin bags often split, attracting of York Council said there were plans to put more skips at the site along with signs warning against fly-tipping, but that the landowners were responsible for clearing the waste. Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Waller called on the council to address the issue, which he said was getting said broken furniture was now being left in the car park along with other rubbish, including waste paper. Mr Smith, who has lived on adjacent Lowfield Drive for 12 years, said he had seen washing machines, fridges, car body parts and "an endless amount of other items" dumped added: "I've seen a couple of rats, including one dead in the car park."I had a rat in my garden about a month ago and that was the final straw, my wife's since seen one there – it's disgusting."Waller confirmed efforts to get the council to intervene were "ongoing" and said CCTV was needed to help with enforcement."All this fly-tipping has added to the demands on the council's caged van teams who have a huge amount of material to remove on top of the other needs to respond to fly-tipping," he said. Tanya Lyon, the council's community safety manager, said fly-tipping was taken "very seriously" with perpetrators fined up to £1,000 or said the council was working alongside its waste disposal company to put warning signs on the recycling bins and the viability of installing CCTV was also being added: "On private land, fly-tipping will be investigated, but landowners are responsible for clearance."The Local Democracy Reporting Service said it understood Morrisons had been in contact with the council over the issue, but the supermarket chain had declined to comment councillor Emily Nelson, Labour's ward member for Westfield, said anyone with information that could help with taking action against the fly-tipping should come forward. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Climate change helping rats thrive in Canada, experts say
After years of rising complaints and worsening infestations, Toronto has all-but-officially declared a war on rats—one made necessary for reasons that may (or may not) surprise you. 'Climate change is a huge, huge driver here,' said City Councillor Alejandra Bravo in an interview with The Weather Network, explaining that Canada's cold winter temperatures once served as a natural form of pest-control. Not to mention birth control. DON'T MISS: 'But with climate change, they can reproduce constantly,' she said. 'A single pair can produce hundreds of offspring in one year. Maybe even as high as one thousand.' Orkin Canada's Bernie Grafe agreed that earlier springs and longer warm seasons are allowing rats to both survive in greater numbers and breed at breakneck speeds. 'Plus you're getting a rodent population that is getting smarter, getting more resilient,' he said. 'The longer that a rodent population will exist within a confined structure, the longer they have the ability to adapt. They just get smarter to the environment. They also get smarter at eluding traps. I mean, we have videos showing rats picking up sticks to set off rat traps, right?' Warmer temperatures due to climate change have helped rat populations grow in urban centres such as Toronto. (A Shot of Wildlife) Climate + construction = perfect rat storm It's not just the warmer weather. In Canada's biggest cities, rats are also being pushed out of their underground nests by construction projects…and into nearby homes and businesses. 'As soon as you shake up the ground and those nests… now they need a new home to live,' said Grafe. 'It doesn't take long for them to look next door and go, 'Hey, this looks great.'' Nowhere is this more apparent than in Toronto, where near-constant development is wreaking havoc in some neighbourhoods. Bravo, a key player behind the push for a coordinated rat response at City Hall, says she started hearing from residents about rats in 2022 while knocking on doors during the municipal election campaign. RELATED: 'A woman called into our office saying that she lives near construction, that her daughter had been awoken in the middle of the night by a rat jumping on her bed. Imagine what that does to that family.' Another woman reportedly told Bravo that 'rats were sunning themselves outside her screen door' every day, forcing the woman to 'bang on the glass every morning just to leave the house.' WATCH: Invasive species cost $1.3 trillion to world economy over nearly a half century Click here to view the video Not just a Toronto problem While Toronto may be the 'rattiest city in Canada,' it's not the only one seeing a surge. Cities like Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are also experiencing more infestations—something experts warn could become the new normal as climate patterns shift. 'Ottawa is dealing with this right now… I got a request for an interview from Radio Canada in Montreal. They're also looking at this,' Bravo says. 'This isn't a problem that's going to go away. It's a problem that's only going to grow.' To wit, a U.S.-based study published in early 2025 found 'significant increasing trends in rat numbers' in 11 of 16 major cities worldwide. Toronto came in at spot number three with a faster-growing rat problem than Amsterdam, Buenos Aires and even New York City. 'Increasing rat numbers in cities are linked to climate warming, urbanization, and human population,' declare the study's authors. 'Warming temperatures and more people living in cities may be expanding the seasonal activity periods and food availability for urban rats. Cities will have to integrate the biological impacts of these variables into future management strategies.' A chart showing the number of rodent-related service requests in the city of Toronto from 2015-2024. (The Weather Network) A coordinated approach Rodent-related complaints have skyrocketed by more than 116 per cent in Canada's largest city over the past decade. In 2015, the City of Toronto received 1,165 service requests related to rodents. By 2024, that number had grown to 2,523. Unlike Alberta—where a no-nonsense Rat Control Program has kept infestations at bay—or Ottawa, which has a Rat Mitigation Working Group to coordinate citywide enforcement efforts, Toronto has never had a unified rat strategy. Until now. Councillors officially approved a new plan to get rodents under control during a meeting at City Hall on July 24. The initiative is expected to take effect sometime in 2026. SEE ALSO: First introduced by city manager Paul Johnson in June, the proposal outlines the creation of a dedicated rat response coordination team, public education campaigns, coordinated outreach to construction site managers, and blitz-style inspections in neighbourhoods with high rat density. While rats are not considered a major public health threat in Toronto, officials say the psychological impact on residents is real. 'Some people living in areas with rat infestations also report psychological distress, disturbed sleep and stress arising from safety concerns from perceived risk of disease transmission and damage to their homes,' reads a report from the City of Toronto. 'Rat sightings may affect mental health through the perceptions of powerlessness, neighbourhood stigma and fear associated with other neighbourhood disorders.' Prevention Over Elimination So what can individuals do to help combat the problem? Grave says the key is prevention, not just extermination. That means addressing the conditions that allow rats to thrive in the first place: garbage left in the open, structural gaps in buildings, and overgrown vegetation that offers shelter. 'If you eliminate breeding and feeding and places for them to hide… that could be something as simple as landscaping or garbage control,' he explains. 'Every time you have one of those situations in a back alley, where someone's decided that they're going to throw seven bags of garbage beside the dumpster because it's too full, well, guess what? You just created a buffet for every rat in the neighborhood.' Rats can be attracted to garbage that hasn't been disposed of properly. (Lauren O'Neil/TWN) Bravo agrees — and says public participation is going to be essential in any city's success. 'We have to recruit the people of Toronto to be part of the solution,' she said, pointing to proper food disposal and waste management, but also more benign-seeming human behaviours. 'When people feed pigeons, they don't realize they're also feeding rats, and that's something that we have to start to tell people: don't feed wildlife, because the rats are going to come and eat it.' 'Rodent populations go hand in hand with human existence… the amount of garbage and food that we do produce,' said Grafe similarly. 'The one recommendation I do have is to just take action. Ignoring it is never going to solve the problem.' Thumbnail image made with Canva Pro.
BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
'Dickensian conditions' in rat-infested flats in Sandbach
People living in a residential block in Cheshire which has an infestation of rats have said they are living in "Dickensian" of Valley Court in Sandbach said there were rats throughout the building and also raised concerns about fire doors which do not close and security Fernay, who lives with his 10-year-old son in the building, said he wanted those who own the building to "realise that we're not just numbers in flats, these are families".Housing association Torus, which owns the building, apologised and said a "comprehensive approach" would be taken to resolve the issues. Mr Fernay and his son moved into the flats in March and said they were "really happy" but soon faced issues with rats."It started after we've been here about four weeks, and first heard it behind the oven and the extractor fan," he said, adding he thought it was a bird initially."I banged the oven and a head of a rat popped out from behind the oven," he said in recent days he also found a dead rat on the floor of his living room.A pest control officer was sent out who said the issue in his apartment was from a large hole underneath his sink, but filling it would involve ripping out the a meeting with the housing association on Wednesday, Mr Fernay said the work had added he was also told by a pest controller that the complex's rat problems had been caused by a collapsed drain."Surely these are urgent cases? What is more urgent than a rat infestation when there's children around it?" he added he had hired a carpet cleaner and was "constantly bleaching everywhere"."You shouldn't be having to be living like this. It's 2025 and it's Dickensian," he said. Dale Hunter lives on the top floor of the said although he hadn't had rats in his apartment, he had heard them underneath the floor and had other issues with the moved in in May 2024 but found out that due to an issue with his meter, he was paying for a neighbour's bill as well as his, and is still waiting for an accurate his biggest concern is fire safety in the building, as a number of the fire doors do not close."If you look at the door outside my apartment, it stays open. The floor isn't straight, so when you push it a bit too far, it catches," he said."I'm extremely embarrassed of where I live, unfortunately I'm not in a financial situation to put myself into private." Cath Murray-Howard, the chief operating officer at Torus, said: "We are really sorry for the distress this has caused our tenants and the unpleasant conditions they have had to live in; it is clear we have fallen far short of our expected standards in this said the company had tried numerous tactics to rid Valley Court of the problems, and a "comprehensive approach" would now be taken."A full clean-up will also be carried out and once finished, we will monitor the works going forward so the issues do not return," she said."Tenants have been incredibly patient and we thank them for this and we will be keeping them updated..."Once again, we apologise and want to assure them we are committed to fixing these problems as quickly as possible." Read more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
CBS News
22-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Chicago woman is fit to be tied with rotting berries falling from neighbors' tree
A woman from Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood said a giant tree's sweet berries are causing a sour situation. The woman, Jane, said she was looking for someone finally to listen to her concerns. "That's why I chose to contact Channel 2 News," she said. "I need someone to listen to me." Jane never fancied herself a farmer. But for the last 28 summers, she has gotten quite the haul of rotten berries landing in her backyard. CBS News Chicago met Jane as she was clad in blue jeans and a T-shirt honoring the old Neo nightclub in Lincoln Park, scooping rotten berries out of nets hanging between garages on her property and collecting them in plastic bags. The daily harvests add up. "Since I've been gathering them and weighing them, since June 14, I'm over 215 pounds of berries," Jane said, "just this year." There are more rotten berries beyond the nets. Even more are piled up on the ground and nearby garages — and they're not suitable for people to eat. "You can't use these for cooking. You can't use these for donating to anybody," Jane said. Instead, the berries make a delicious meal for all sorts of members of the animal kingdom — pigeons, bees, fruit flies — and most frustratingly, rats. Jane snapped photos of her hungry, hairy visitors of the order Rodentia. One momma rat was spotted carrying her baby as she stopped for a snack earlier this month. "There is rat feces everywhere," Jane said. It has made for an unsanitary, slippery, smelly situation. "It's something like old beer, fermented wine," said Jane. The berries fall for about six weeks straight, and end up rolling around in the nets and on the ground. Jane can't control the decaying fruit, because it is not coming from her yard. It is coming from a gigantic mulberry tree on her neighbor's property. The tree in question is so big that some of its branches are held up with metal. "If we get a sudden downburst, that chain's not going to hold anything," Jane said. Jane shared concerns with Ald. Matt Martin (47th), but was told the city can't do much because the tree is on privately owned land. "It is your right to take down the branches that encroach on your property line, but I know you mentioned the problem is with the entire tree," Martin's staff wrote. "Our office does not have the capability to compel your neighbors to take down the tree." The take-matters-into-your-own hands advice when it comes to tree branches crossing property lines doesn't always work out. CBS News Chicago covered a similar overbearing tree story in 2021. In that instance, Roula Savakis of Chicago's Peterson Park community was so frustrated with a wall of trees blocking her windows that she hacked them back. In response, her neighbors took her to court, alleging at least $100,000 of damage. Asher and Cynthia Kohn accused Savakis of violating the Illinois Wrongful Tree Cutting Act. They claimed she damaged 38 of their trees intentionally and illegally. Four years later, CBS News Chicago has learned that the Savakis family ended up selling their home to the tree-owning neighbors and relocating. Back in Lincoln Square — as Jane's dog, Brutus, went hunting for mulberry-loving rats — CBS News Chicago went looking for the tree owners. Jane and two plant experts suspect the tree is a white mulberry. "Interestingly, white mulberry was introduced to the U.S. back in colonial times because it is the preferred food of the silkworm caterpillar, which is where we get natural silk from," said Jamie Viebach, horticulture educator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Viebach said while white mulberry is not officially listed as an invasive species in Illinois, it is non-native and very weedy. "It can basically be considered invasive (though, without the legal ramifications of the official designation)," Viebach wrote. The tree is treated as invasive by some land managers. "It is not regulated or banned in any statewide way in Illinois, though it is often managed and removed by land managers when it is found growing in natural areas," said Chris Evans, an extension forestry and research specialist at the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences at the U of I Urbana-Champaign. Viebach also noted that the white mulberry is a species the Morton Arboretum lists as a "problem plant." Such a description sounds fitting to Jane. "This is a health issue right now," Jane said. "This is a safety issue." Berry season will be wrapped up in a few days. Will farmer Jane be back at it next year with another season of falling berries? CBS News Chicago knocked on the neighbors' door, but never got an answer. The city can issue citations to homeowners whose vegetation creates a "public nuisance." CBS News Chicago was told that while Savakis' situation with her neighbors' trees in 2021 met the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation criteria for a public nuisance, Jane's berry situation does not meet those criteria and does not warrant any fines. The city said the following constitutes a nuisance per ordinance 10-32-140 Trees, shrubs or other plant materials – Public nuisance:
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Rats are taking over our gardens and block of flats because other locals dump their rubbish here
Disgusted residents have revealed how rats have 'taken over' their block of flats and gardens. Craig MacPherson, 54, insists the vermin have moved into the buildings and surrounding areas in Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 'large numbers'. He blames locals 'carelessly' dumping their rubbish and a 'lack of interest' from Renfrewshire Council as the main contributing factors. Mr MacPherson feels the problem will continue to get worse unless it is addressed 'properly' by the local authority. He said: 'I moved into my current property in June of last year after it was the last option put forward by the council in terms of social housing and have been complaining about issues from the start. 'The tenements on Ferguson Street back onto some close gardens, which are impacted heavily by the rat infestation. 'Rubbish had been building up regularly until the council finally came and removed a lot of it recently. 'However, there are still bins overflowing, which is one of the main things that attracts the rats. 'Many neighbours share my frustrations, particularly since the vermin are also getting into the building.' Mr MacPherson feels locals are fighting a 'losing battle' trying to combat the vermin and said a lot of people 'do not feel comfortable' living on the street in its current state. He continued: 'I know tenants who have left and plenty who are desperate to leave. 'The gardens are peppered with rat holes, you can hear them going mental at night around the bins and the adult males are near the size of small rabbits. 'They have a perfect habitat around the back due to the state of the place and lack of care from the council. 'The number of vermin will only continue to grow. 'The rubbish is an eyesore, and the smell from that, and the rats, is another major problem.' Mr MacPherson hopes the council can help deal with the rat issue, but 'isn't holding his breath', claiming the street has been 'abandoned' for a long time. He added: 'While I understand that some private tenants are causing issues, and the council does not have any power to resolve those problems, they could definitely do a lot more to maintain the social housing in the tenements on this street. 'Things have been abandoned for far too long, and the street has been allowed to get in this state due to a lack of care. 'It was once desirable but now it's anything but.' A spokesperson for Renfrewshire Council said: 'Our pest control team are aware of rodent issues on Ferguson Street, Renfrew, and are carrying out treatments to deal with infestations in this area. 'Residents can play their part too - as general advice, we would ask everyone ensures waste is disposed of correctly using all the bins available, and food waste is not left lying as this brings the potential for vermin and reduces the effectiveness of any treatment to eradicate any infestation. 'If you see or have concerns about vermin in your community, contact our pest control service on 0300 300 0380 or email to discuss your concerns and arrange a visit to assess any rodent activity.'
