Rats outnumber humans, figures reveal

By Malachy Clerkin

A SPOKESPERSON for the Eastern Health Board said: "In the last five years there has been no real rise or fall in the number of sightings." However, the population could well rise this spring, depending on the unpredictable Irish weather.

The EHB’s Pest Control Service has its headquarters in Francis Street in the heart of the Liberties. Staff there dealt with over 7,000 calls last year relating to rat infestation.

The estimate, in figures released by Dublin Corporation to Cllr Ivor Callelly, revealed there are a whopping 1,500,000 rats in the Greater Dublin area. They arrived at this figure by scientifically analysing the amount of sightings reported to them over the course of the previous year. The 1996 census reported the human population of Dublin city and county to be 1,058,264.

Paul O’Hare works in the Communications Department of the EHB. He told The Liberty: "The main reason why rats continue to be a problem for householders and owners of commercial premises is because they have an excellent ability to adapt to circumstances in almost any place, provided they have enough food, a source of water and somewhere to hide and breed."

Contrary to popular opinion, rats can make their home almost anywhere. O'Hare said: "It is not just the traditional places such as rubbish tips, canal banks and sewers where they are most often spotted."

They are particularly prevalent in, on, under and around the myriad of building sites across the length and breadth of Dublin. Indeed, the EHB has issued an information leaflet which outlines measures which builders, architects and site developers should take to ensure that they do not encounter the problems rat infestations can pose.

Gareth Brady, a Dublin quantity surveyor, is no stranger to such problems: "They gnaw at cables and, if there are enough of them they can threaten the integrity of whatever structures we are working on at the time.

"They can also get into the tiniest of spaces where they breed at an alarming rate," he told the Liberty. Claire Brennan, a veterinary student at UCD, has studied the life cycle of rats in detail. She said: "Around 56-58 per cent of rats are female. Their life cycle usually lasts around two-and-a-half to three years. In that time, a female living in a favourable environment produces six to ten litters, with an average of ten babies in each litter."

The disease-carrying potential of rats is obviously what gives the rodents their bad reputation. Chief among the diseases they are responsible for is Leptosirosis, or Weil's disease as it is more commonly known.

This condition starts out as a flu-like illness, with symptoms such as persistent and severe headaches. Some people develop Meningitis, and in severe cases, liver and kidney failure. In very rare instances, it can prove fatal. A bacterial disease, it is contracted through contact with rats and rat urine.

A man died from Weil's disease after an encounter with a rat on a golf course a couple of years ago, and a canoeist is believed to have contracted the killer condition from rat urine in the Liffey.

The EHB kills off around 100,000 rats per year, but realises it would be impossible kill off the city's rat population, as Paul O'Hare explains:

"Rats have been around much longer than man, so I hardly think that the EHB is going to get rid of them now. Our policy is one of containment rather than eradication," he added.