Rat ‘invasion’ in Auckland as pest control experts report a surge in calls

Call-outs for rats have doubled in the past year for an Auckland pest control company (file photo).

Call-outs for rats have doubled in the past year for an Auckland pest control company (file photo).
Rat numbers are rising fast across Auckland due to this year’s hot summer, experts say.

ACES Pest Control director Owen Stobart said pest control Auckland rats was under an invasion and his firm was responding to almost 10 incidents a day.

Stobart spoke out after residents of West Auckland’s Titirangi Village this week complained they were being over-run by “rats as big as cats”.

All day long people are calling me regarding rats, it’s double the demand we had last year, he said.

ACES Pest Control received three to four call-outs a day, with 50 percent of them for rats.

Grey Lynn resident Morgan Robertson said he had witnessed a plague of rats in his community.

You can walk along the boardwalk at Cox’s Bay Reserve and they are out in broad daylight every day, he said.

The city has a massive rodent infestation.

However, Waitemata Local Board chairwomen Pippa Coom said she had received no reports of rats at Cox’s Bay Reserve. ?

Stobart said rat populations usually swelled after a long, hot summer.

“It provides them with the conditions they need to produce lots of litters,” he said.

“Now we’re getting some cold snaps, they’re all getting cold and they’re wanting to get inside.”

Warmer temperatures were also linked to a rise in wasp numbers last month.

Stobart said Grey Lynn had a long-established rat population.

They’ve been there for maybe 100 years and have become more numerous because of the good weather.

RIPU BHATIA • AUCKLAND REPORTER