Melbourneâs possums Rats ravage bayside cars
EFL - notice the tie-in to the NZ problem menu from yesterday.
MELBOURNEâS problem packs of bayside rats have acquired a dangerous new appetite for car cables. Not content emptying seaside cafes of customers and sending families running from beaches, rats in the City of Kingston are now snacking under car bonnets and turning residentsâ vehicles into death traps.
Braeside woman Megan Michelis was horrified to discover rats had gnawed large holes in the wires, accelerator cables, and battery casing in her car. She lives in fear that rat-related damage will lead her to have an accident while driving her daughters around. "My kids are in the car every day. Iâm supposed to check under the bonnet daily to make sure itâs safe to drive. But I donât know what Iâm looking for," she said. Her husbandâs car, a new $60,000 Prado, has also been chewed into disrepair by hungry vermin. She is angry that Kingston council refuses to play pied piper to her familyâs rat problem. "I pay rates and theyâre not willing to bait. It comes across that the rats have more rights than us," she said. "I told a lady at the council that there was a plague and she said, âItâs not a plague, thereâs just a large number of ratsâ."
The City of Kingston council recognises a rise in suburban rat sightings within its borders, but does not regard Ms Michelisâs Waterways home near Braeside as a problem area. Ms Michelis said the council told her if bait was laid without an environmental report being concluded, innocent possums could die. But the Waterways resident denies there are any possums near her home. "Thereâs only tiny trees here because itâs a new estate. Weâve never seen a possum," she said. "Weâve had rabbits, foxes and rats, but no possums. And anyway, theyâre willing to kill people in cars, but not kill a possum?"
Ms Michelis said she and her husband first saw a rat scuttling up a pipe in their housing estate four months ago. Since then, they have seen rats across the road from their house and regularly hear them running across their roof. They regard the rat problem in Waterways as caused by the large numbers of rats on the foreshore finding their way into the estates. But the council is adamant its procedures are necessary and baiting on demand is not the answer. "When youâre baiting things you kill things," council spokesman Mike Petit said. "Somebodyâs got to assess what the impact is going to be on the area. You have to balance cables in someoneâs car with the needs of the environment."
That's a new one. Just how much does the environment need swarms of rats? | Mr Petit said the result of the councilâs investigation of Ms Michelisâs complaint may be council giving her the number for a pest controller. The rise in rats in bayside suburbs is believed to result from low rainfall. In wetter years, numbers of sewer rats would drown in seasonal downpours.
Just bait the little buggers with a plate of vegamite sandwiches, and have the wrist rocket at the ready - hey, its not a firearm. Leave the hungry possums alone though as I donât think they like the taste of AUG 9 cable jacketing.
Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-29 |