THE rats are back.
First they terrified residents at Colshaw Farm, then they plagued Alderley Edge and now the vermin have set their sights on Handforth.
Three rats have been found dead at two separate locations in Handforth over the past week and residents are blaming the fortnightly wheelie bin collection.
Mum-of-two Judi Robinson, 64, of Marton Way, found two rotten rats covered in flies in her garden and fears her nine-year-old grandson may be bitten by one of the long-toothed vermin.
The keen gardener said: "Quite frankly the state of them covered with flies made me want to dispose as quickly as possible. I have a grandson of nine who plays in my garden and another grandchild on the way, plus the fact that I would like to use my garden myself without fear of rats. Fortnightly bin collections cannot help the situation."
Former secretary Judi thinks the rats were killed by her cats, Jess and Twinkle, both aged three, but the problem in the long-term should be solved with weekly bin collections.
She added: "I feel like we are living in a desert surrounded by oases as most authorities around us collect weekly. My son lives in Stockport – weekly collection, friends live in Congleton – weekly collections. Will it take a rat bite on my new baby grandson to make someone do something about this problem? I can’t tell you in polite terms what my reaction would be, should this situation occur."
Judi is not alone in her Handforth sighting as 75-year-old Margaret Prentice of Honford Court, South Acre Drive has also spotted a bloated dead rat behind a grit bin near her home.
Margaret, originally from Newcastle in the North East said: "I’ve been passed around different departments by the council who don’t seem to know who should collect the rat."
A Macclesfield Borough Council spokeswoman said: "Environmental health won’t come out to collect it, street cleansing will deal with it. If it is on a private footpath it isn’t the council’s responsibility."
Paul Morgan, MBC’s head of waste, said: "Wheelie bins provide a better deterrent for vermin than black sacks ever did. They are bigger and thicker and we have had no reports of rats chewing through wheelie bins. Nationally rats are on the increase for a number of reasons including refuse, litter and people feeding birds in their gardens. "
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Digsy00 (12/06/2008 at 11:24)
Bitten by a dead rat.
Rob Atman, Colshaw (18/06/2008 at 17:35)
For your information Mr Hudson, the rats aren't back, they have always been there but we are giving them everything they need to make living in our habitat far more appealing.
Is this Chris Hudson an intelligent man or just a poor quality journalist on the hunt for a story? In case he wasn’t aware, rat poison is available in any DIY / hardware store for the public to purchase and, believe it or not, some people actually have the common sense to treat their own rat problems. So the scenario is this, Mr Smith notices that he has rats in his garden, perhaps living under his shed, because his neighbour feeds the birds, Mr Smith duly treats the problem with some commercially available rat killer. Said rats eat the poison and then, a few days later dies whilst on the look out for food (for the uninitiated, most rat poisons are not acute and take several days to be effective) but of course it doesn’t die on Mr smiths or his neighbours property it dies on someone else’s garden.
Then, the complainant has the audacity to admit that HER cats have probably killed the rats!! Well, here’s a tip for you Mrs Robinson, get rid of the cats and you won’t have to deal with the dead animals YOUR cats have killed. Tell me please, if either of your cats leaves you a "parcel" in your house, does you: A: leave it there. B: pick it up yourself and dispose of it. C: Phone the local authority.
Once again, an ill-informed member of the public jumps on the fortnightly bin collection bandwagon which, frankly, has nothing to do with a rat increase, the mild winters, last years wet summer, people feeding animals, leaving food waste in black bags OUTSIDE their wheelie-bins are FAR more serious contributors to rat population increases than bi-weekly bin collections have **EVER** been.
Tell Chris Hudson to remove his head from his blinkered backside and actually do some proper investigative journalism before looking for a scapegoat.
Mr Robert Atman.
midway, West Germany (24/06/2008 at 09:51)