Although the Chinese Zodiac may not agree, 2015 was apparently the year of the rat in Denmark. Two mild winters in a row have created optimum breeding conditions for the pests and several municipalities have received record numbers of reports of rats.
“There are many more rats this year,” Erik Erbs – the head of road and park maintenance in Sønderborg, a town in southern Jutland – told DR Nyheder.
Unpleasant record
Erbs said his department received 900 more reports of rats last year than in 2014, which had been the previous record year. In total, there were over 3,000 rat reports in Sønderborg last year.
“We have had to put extra staff on rat control since October just to keep up,” said Erbs. “We’ll continue with the extra staffing until March.”
Is the Pied piper available?
Esbjerg has also been plagued by an increasing number of rats in its sewers.
“The number of rats is quite high,” said Torben Bergmann, the environmental officer at Esbjerg Municipality. “We have used more resources on rat control.”
Pest control company Rentokil heard from 170,000 customers who found rats in their homes, making 2015 a record year.
