Millions of 'starving giant rats' could 'invade UK homes this Christmas'
25 November 2020, 11:39
British homes could be invaded by the rodents this Christmas, as lockdown has meant they've struggled to find food.
Brits have been braced for some unwelcome visitors this Christmas, as giant rats look set to invade homes in the search for sustenance.
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Millions of rats, some measuring longer than a foot long, have been left desperate for food after lockdown has meant they've been unable to find scraps from the street, restaurants and pubs.
Natalie Bungay, technical officer for the British Pest Control Association, warned, according to the Mirror: "As temperatures begin to drop and food becomes scarce, rats will begin looking for shelter and scraps in more urban locations.
"And as autumn and winter push on, rats start to head indoors."
She also warned that mice will be entering UK homes more than usual, too, adding: "Rats and mice do not hibernate and are a problem all year round," she said.
"House mice are already living in and around wherever we are.
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"But as the weather gets colder, field mice currently surviving outdoors will look for warmer places to nest and begin to move indoors too.
"They are highly adaptable and won't hesitate to take advantage of a warm place to nest during the winter months."
During the Spring lockdown, the BPCA reported a 51 per cent increase in rodents entering homes.
Peter Higgs, managing director of PGH Pest Control & Prevention, based in Cranleigh, Surrey, added: "They are coming into homes - that's exactly what's happening.
"All of the waste that was produced by people eating food out, and from establishments doing the cooking - that's gone.
"When they are hungry they will eat each other. They will use a hierarchy in cities - the big rats will eat the smaller ones.
"They will come in using the drainage system - they eat faeces.
"They transmit diseases. A professional should be called to deal with the problem."We don't want people trying to sort it out themselves and using their own poison and contracting something - they need to stay away.
"It's really important they get an expert in."
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