Galway is the county with the third highest level of callouts to deal with rodents as the number of infestations has shot up by 94% percent this year.
Pest Control experts Rentokil have said that Galway accounts for 5.1% of callouts to deal with rodents like rats and mice, following only Dublin (29%), and Cork (10.41%).
After Galway the next worst affected counties are Kerry (5.25%) and Kildare (4.78%), which account for over one in ten infestations between them.
The company is warning homeowners and businesses to beware of rodents at this time of year, along with other pests common to the Winter such as cockroaches and fleas.
Richard Faulkner, Advanced Technical Field Consultant for Rentokil said “Rodents can be a serious issue for home and business owners, as they can spread diseases, damage property and contaminate food.
“They can also introduce disease carrying parasites like fleas, lice and ticks into a premises,” he said.
He added that while winter-time is when indoors infestations are most common, the company has noticed pests moving inside earlier in the year and in greater numbers.
“We believe that this could be due to extreme weather conditions as a result of climate change,” Richard Faulkner said.
Rentokil is advising people to keep an eye out for signs of rats and mice in their homes such as the presence of droppings, scratching from inside walls or under floorboards, and smear marks on walls.
There are a number of ways that people can try to avoid attracting rodents into their premises such as:
- Keep foodstuffs in metal or glass containers with tight fitting lids.
- Tidy inside the house and around the garden – less clutter means fewer places to hide.
- Put outdoor rubbish bags in metal bins with securely fitted lids to stop rodents feeding from contents.
- Clean up pet food and bird seed debris, and store pet food in robust containers with fitted lids, preferably above ground level.
- Keep gardens free from debris
