Roof rats invading homes in Midtown Exterminator says rat population booming Vector control does not prevent rat infestation
(Memphis 2/12/2009) Central Gardens is prime real estate with one unwanted neighbor: rats. The county has a program to take care of the problem, but homeowners are now wondering where their money is going.Exterminators say the problem with roof rats has grown over the last several years and neighbors are fed up.
"There are rats in my home, that's really disgusting," says Nora Boone who has been forced to sleep away from home because of a roof rat infestation. About a month ago, she woke up to the sound of scratching and chewing.
"They are tearing up my roof and making these horrible noises around 6:30 every single morning."
So, News Channel 3 took an expert up to the attic and sure enough, we found the signs of roof rats. The rodents will eat anything, wood, insulation, and even wires. They have been known to chew through wires and cause house fires. Exterminator Vince Kee says roof rats are over-running Midtown.
"The city used to have a rodent program that they baited sewer systems and different areas that they used to put baits. They quit doing that, they still charge us on our MLGW bill," says Kee.
Each MLGW customer in the county pays 75 cents every month for mosquito and rodent control. That means Shelby County is getting more than $3million each year to kill the pests, but it's debatable whether it's working. Vector control only traps rats on request and it won't trap any rodents inside a home. Kee says over the past few years, the rat population has boombed because he says there is no prevention plan.
"So the city has just let the rodents take over the city," he says.
That is an unsettling thought for Nora and her neighbors "Because rats are filthy animals. I paid a lot of money for my home and I'd like to enjoy my home."
Published: Oct 08, 2004 6:48 PM EST NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -
Nichols Robinson was bitten while playing outside his home about 70 miles south of Nashville on July 29.
The child was taken to a doctor, who determined he was suffering from a virus rather than a bite. However, that night the child was rushed to a hospital, where his symptoms included hypersalivation, sweating and neurological problems before he died, according to the medical examiner's report, completed Thursday.
"In about the last 30 or 40 years, I was only able to find about six deaths related to bites proving to be from a brown recluse spider," said Dr. Bruce Levy, the medical examiner.
The brown recluse is one of two common spiders in the United States — the other is the black widow — that are considered poisonous, the National Institutes of Health said. The bite can cause a rash, swelling and flu-like symptoms and in rare cases, kidney failure, seizures and coma.
The spider is most common in the South and central United States.
A 5-year-old boy's death was the result of a bite by a poisonous brown recluse spider, the state medical examiner ruled.
Bed Bugs Hide During Day, Wait For Your SlumberWEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- It hides during the day and bites while you sleep. A bed bug is a bloodsucking insect, no bigger than an apple seed. It's capable of laying up to 500 eggs in its lifetime. "Bed bugs are on the rise and we're seeing probably a 500 percent increase over three years ago," said Cindy Mannes of the National Pest Management Association. "We're seeing bed bugs in places from anything like five-star hotels to dormitories, to school lockers, to apartment buildings to residential homes."
So why has the number of these biting bugs ballooned across the country? Bed bug are great hitchhikers. They can catch a ride in your luggage, shoes and pant hems. "They're not only in the mattresses like people think -- they can be behind picture frames, chairs in the room, anything surrounding the bed itself," said Dean Vatteroni of All Season's Budget Pest Control. "Behind the framing are very hot spots for them. They can be tucked in there, the underside of the box spring. The tufts of the mattress here are very common spots to find them."
