The commune of Houyet had been affected by the floods of July 2021. Since then, rats have been swarming. Many residents complain about it and some even have to barricade themselves.
Patricia installed a camera in her chicken coop. At nightfall, she discovers on the images a dozen rats. “A week ago we had a hen who died. We don’t really know what. She wasn’t old, nothing at all. We think that maybe it’s going to cause diseases too. It’s not very hygienic, not very clean. I don’t like it”she explains.
They climb the ivy
In another neighborhood, rats are THE subject of discussion between neighbors. “There were about twenty on the little building there”, shows Florence. She lives in an apartment, high up, but that does not discourage rodents: “The rats actually climb on the ivy and come to the balcony. From 8 p.m. it’s madness, it’s the fight. They fight and recently my little dog was on the balcony and he was attacked by a rat.”
about a hundred behind her house
Samantha, her neighbor, shows one of the holes through which the rats pass. “These are not small rats 10 cm long. There are some like that”she says, mimicking the size of a big cat. “It’s non-stop. It’s at a point where we no longer want to come to the garden. The animals are being attacked, even our own children we are afraid for them.” She thinks there are currently a hundred of them behind her house.
The mayor has taken measures
The municipality recognizes the problem and has called on a rat extermination company to act in the coming weeks. The mayor, Hélène Lebrun, believes that the current heat promotes their presence and invites residents to report each presence of these pests to map their presence and better act against this scourge. “Phone the municipality to the works department to list the neighborhoods and streets with problems. We already offer poison granules for pests but apparently they are not strong enough at the moment.”