Cold weather brings rats indoors. Here’s how to keep them out

I was out walking some time ago and I spotted a liner berthing at the quayside in Cobh. Once the mooring ropes had been secured to the anchor points on the quay wall, I saw a crew member fitting plastic discs to the ropes. They’re called rat guards, and they fit around the mooring lines.

As the name suggests, they are designed to keep rats from climbing across the ropes and entering the vessel. I knew these things were used in the past, but I had assumed that a combination of modern technology and engineering had come up with something more sophisticated to keep rodents at bay, so I was a little surprised to see them.

I never considered that rats might be an issue for modern cruise ships but when you think about it, rats have always been a pain for mariners. Ships provide an abundance of food for rodents and an endless supply of hiding places and there was a time when ships even employed rat catchers to keep the vermin under control.

That got me wondering about whether they are still managing to board modern liners and according to Flyfreshflight.com, they are. But, they say, it’s important to note that the number of rats on a cruise ship is typically very low, and they are rarely seen by passengers.

That may well be but just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there and now I can’t get that out of my head. The mayor of New York said recently that nobody hates rats as much as he does but I reckon I’d beat him into second place. The thought of being in close proximity to one on dry land makes me heave but if I knew I was sharing a ship with them I would probably head overboard.

They have always been a problem for seafarers though and in the early days of shipping, rats were a major cause of death for sailors. They were responsible for spreading diseases such as bubonic plague, typhus, and cholera and they also caused damage to the ships and their cargo.

It wasn’t only the sailors they annoyed either. Rats were a problem for soldiers too in the trenches during WWI. The unsanitary conditions provided an ideal environment for rats to thrive. The trenches were perfect for rats, with ample food sources from discarded scraps and the bodies of fallen soldiers.

The rats grew to an unusually large size due to the abundance of food, sometimes reaching lengths of over a foot and soldiers often found them in their sleeping areas and even on their bodies while they slept.

The rodents were notorious for scavenging the dead bodies of soldiers and in some cases, they even attacked living soldiers, gnawing on their flesh.

Rats are resilient creatures and despite the development of new pesticides and rodenticides, they continue to be a problem today. According to an article in the New York Times, there are an estimated three million rats in New York City alone. The place is crawling with them.

They can chew through anything softer than steel and live no more than 100 feet from a reliable food source. National Geographic said Rats live in families and have two to 14 pups at a time, keep their nests relatively clean, and patrol small territories.

When the pups reach puberty, as early as 10 weeks of age, they move out and look for mates and could grow as many as 270 pups by the 30th week and wrap up with a whopping 11,907 rats by year’s end. Reproductive rates are highly dependent on environment so the more shelter, food, and trash, the higher the rat count.

There’s no shortage of these vermin in Ireland either and our unusually mild autumn may have contributed to an explosion in rodent numbers ahead of the inevitable winter chill that will send many of them indoors.

The Echo reported that rodent control experts Rentokill are experiencing a 100% in call outs related to rat problems in homes and businesses in Cork. And they expect to be very busy over the coming weeks and months, as rodents seek warmth and shelter indoors.

They are urging home and business owners to be mindful of the presence of rats in their premises after an increase in rat-related callouts was recorded. The company said it witnessed a substantial rise in rat callouts in January 2024 in Cork when compared to the same period last year.

No-one knows exactly how many rats we have in Ireland, but a recent estimate put the number at 10.5 million. That number of rats would eat about 210 tonnes of food every day and contaminate with faeces, urine and hair very much more than that.

New York has come up with a novel approach to its rat problem – targeting the rodents with birth-control pills. Under a plan approved by the city’s council, contraceptive pellets will be placed in special rat-accessible traps in a small section of New York and hopefully the creatures will eat their way to a lower birth rate.

In the meantime, Rentokill have some suggestions to keep rats at bay. They say a small hole in the wall can become much greater very quickly if a rodent is lurking nearby, so they advise sealing them up as soon as possible. Also, don’t leave doors open for extended periods at this time of year as rodents will be looking to come in from the cold.

Another suggestion is to place cloves of garlic around entry points to the house because rats hate the strong smell so it’s worth placing garlic cloves around entryways if you’re worried about an infestation.

As an added bonus, you have a better chance of warding off vampires too.

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