RATS!

Being at a loss myself for a post today (too busy this a.m.), I am sharing with you messages that Saturday Sheryl wrote recently to a woman who is with a rescue group in Los Angeles.  Sheryl is a pretty impressive writer, if I do say so myself! 

We are trying to address a problem I have with these critters at some of my locations, and have yet to figure it out.   Next step - would like to use dry ice, which has been used in big cities.

Read from the bottom up.

Happy Friday!

From: Dona Cosgrove Baker <feralcatcenter@aol.com>

Subject: Re: Cat Shelters attracting rats in the city

Date: April 7, 2018 at 4:21:05 PM EDT

To: <sbeauchemin

Hi Sheryl,

I am at a loss to figure out anything re the rats. Probably call some pest control companies that are eco friendly and see what they have to offer.

It must be a mess with them around. Cannot fathom the magnitude.

Keep me posted if you come up with a solution.

Dona

-----Original Message-----
From: Beauchemin, Sheryl <sbeauchemin@
To: Dona Cosgrove Baker <feralcatcenter@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Apr 2, 2018 6:06 am
Subject: Re: Cat Shelters attracting rats in the city

Hi Dona,

Thank you SO much for taking my email seriously and responding to fast.

I wish I could say the rats were confined to a building but they literally run down the sidewalks in this poorer section of the city.

When we set up a shelter area it’s unavoidable to be near a building that contains them. They eventually smell the cat food (wet and dry) that’s placed every morning before dawn. Admittedly very smart, they waste no time in setting up households under and around the shelters. When cats eat they always drop food around the dishes so even if they eat it all, there’s always a snack for the rodents. And if the cats leave some, the rats finish it off.

Some shelter communities have over a dozen cats that feed and reside in the area, if not in the shelters. This is a very urban area (built during Kodak's reign of Rochester). At least half of them are lost or abandoned pets who know no other way of eating other than human caretakers. I know MY cats wouldn’t want to attack a full grown rat, and neither do most of them.

BTW: I do try to locate owners when new ones appear. Unfortunately, residents there are often lacking in compassion and once a cute kitten grows up enough to spray or scratch their furniture, outside it goes, not neutered and unwanted.

Even though it seems to be a losing battle, can you tell me the best way to exterminate rats without poisoning the feral population who may be willing to kill and eat a rat?

The city officials have done nothing to address the situation and consider the cats an addition to the problem.

Ignorance at it’s finest.

Again, thank you for corresponding with me. I hope the video links I provided gave you some idea of the fight we are in.

Attached are just a handful that, over the years, that Janine has rescued. TNR’d, and adopted out. Just a handful.

Sheryl Beauchemin

Graphic Artist

On Apr 1, 2018, at 6:02 PM, Dona Cosgrove Baker <feralcatcenter@aol.com> wrote:

Hello,

We have not encountered a problem such as this except for the police headquarters downtown LA where the rat population is way to large for any feral cat to take on. They are literally running across the desks. We brought 8 feral cats to the building and offices, but they had to use rat control processes for the ones that had burrowed into the side of the hill. With the two, they eventually got it  under control. Now sure what you mean about the food droppings or how the cats are being fed.

If there are way more rodents than the cats can handle, then proceed with an extermination program and afterwards the cats should be able to handle the situation.

Keep me posted,
Dona Cosgrove Baker
President and founder
www.feralcatcaretakers.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Beauchemin, Sheryl <sbeauchemin@
To: info <info@feralcatcaretakers.org>
Sent: Fri, Mar 30, 2018 9:08 am
Subject: Cat Shelters attracting rats in the city

Hello, I work with a wonderful woman who’s been feeding, TNR and adopting out Rochester, NY city cats for about 20 years.

At the present she has 19 shelter areas that she visits each day before going to work at Rochester General Hospital.

http://www.janinethebeanrescue.org

Janine’s been facing a problem that I haven’t found anywhere else and was hoping you may have encountered it and suggest a solution.

Her “daily route" encompasses a poverty stricken neighborhood with many empty homes and derelict buildings. Rats are commonplace.

Her colonies are in empty city lots or abandoned home porches. They may have over a dozen feline visitors and are made up of several shelters placed on wood pallets or planks.

Unfortunately, the food dropped by the cats and the daily unfrozen water attracts rats who burrow under the planks and pallets. We see smaller dead rats caught by the cats but it’s a losing battle.

Not only do they smell foul, they kick up dirt and debris and destroy insulated shelters.

The city of Rochester has accused the shelters of creating a rat problem when the real problem is the city’s neglect of the empty buildings and garbage strewn lots.

Janine is well know in the city for her rescue mission and she was on the local news when facing off with the city about the rat population.

http://www.newyorkupstate.com/rochester/2016/08/rochesters_cat_lady_after_20_years_of_feeding_strays_city_hall_cracks_down.html

Because the shelters are on city or private unoccupied land, they are often destroyed when the land is sold and a new one has to be established close by. None of them are safe from removal so no permanent structure can be built.

We have tried mint, mothballs, vinegar, and the contras soft bait stations. Nothing works.

We cannot be the only caregivers facing this problem. I read about raccoons and skunks, and yes, we also deal with them, but none are destructive as city rats.

Sheryl Beauchemin

Graphic Artist