War is declared on giant rats

War is declared on giant rats

30 April 2014

PEST control experts have finally descended on a Crossgar home plagued by giant rats.

Sé McKendry last week told the Down Recorder about the nightmare he faces battling rats, some of them bigger than his Jack Russell dog, from the attic of his Mary Street house.

He has caught 59 rats since moving into the Housing Executive property with his wife and children four years ago and said the plague hit a peak in November when he caught an average of two rats every day.

Although he hopes the spring weather will mean less rodents making their way inside, Mr. McKendry said he was disgusted to find yet another rat in one of his attic traps as recently as Wednesday morning.

However, he says he is hopeful that the infestation may finally be brought under control after a team of experts arrived at his home on Monday afternoon, determined to find the reason behind the plague.

Environmental health officials, Housing Executive officers and drain experts examined the property, using cameras to investigate sewage pipes running into the house and exploring the attic to look at possible points of entry.

Mr. McKendry said they found one missing block in the loft, which may give rats access to the attic from the cavity walls, but no obvious problems with the pipes.

He said they now needed to find out how the rats are getting into the cavity walls.

“There were no holes in the sewage pipes so that does not seem to be a problem,” he said.

“I told the men that I have seen the rats climb up the pebble dash of the walls and was told they can get through a hole the size of an old ten pence piece so their point of entry could be very hard to find.

“I am hoping to have this sorted before next autumn because they do tail off at this time of the year.

“If we got the problem sorted over the next few weeks it will give us peace of mind as the winter approaches that we will not be inundated once again.

“The rats are so persistent. Some of them have ground their teeth down to nothing eating through the cages in the attic.

“If they are particularly big ones it sounds like they are dragging dead bodies across the floor upstairs.

“We just want them gone once and for all.”

Housing Executive official, Jim Murray, confirmed officials had visited the McKendry home on Monday to try and resolve the problem, which he conceded was “serious.”

“Work is now ongoing to check the sewers with cameras and also to examine the loft for any other possible points of access,” he said. “The Housing Executive will continue to work with the tenant and environmental health to address this issue.”