The port city of Marseille in the south of France intends to cooperate for the second time with ferret breeders to help rid the city of overpopulated rats.
The ferrets drive the rodents out of their hiding places, the rats are caught in the prepared nets and the workers then put them to sleep with the help of gas, described the intended method of fighting the rodents, the AFP agency described.
The city considers this method to be gentle and ecological. It was used for the first time in 2022, when it eliminated 100 to 150 rats in four parks. Now the city is returning to the procedure and would like to use the ferret services permanently from next year.
“This method leads to the elimination of at least 90 percent of the rat population in the area,” says ferret breeder Alexandre Raynal. According to him, this pest control technique was already used in the Middle Ages.
One female can give birth to up to 2,500 rats in her lifetime, according to Raynal. According to city hall estimates, there are about 1.5 million rats in the streets, underground and sewers of Marseille, which is roughly twice the number of people living there.
“When I go to the bakery, they always get tangled under my feet. We just let them run over and then continue. But it would be better if they weren’t here,” pensioner Agnès Blangeardová describes her experience.
Raynal’s company will be hunting rats in Marseille all this week. If their test phase proves successful, the city will issue a tender next year for a long-term collaboration between the ferrets and the city hall of Marseille.
Source: zpravy.tiscali.cz
