Sydney CBD going to the rats
The sightings of rats at two Sydney eateries recently is less a sign of poor kitchen hygiene and more to do with a construction boom forcing the city’s rat population to break cover.
There are an estimated one billion rats in Sydney and the construction of the light rail and other building works is forcing them out of hiding, according to rodent experts.
Budget Pest Control owner Anthony Bond told the Daily Mail that this summer had been particularly bad for rats.
“I’d say I am doing 40 per cent more rat jobs than what I did last year,” he said.
“Baiting can sometimes not work with rats around restaurants because they are quite happy with the food they are eating.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Associate Professor Mathew Crowther, from Sydney University’s School Of Life And Environmental Sciences, said rats “would be common” in the Westfield Pitt St mall where the latest sighting of a rat at Din Tai Fung restaurant in the shopping area hit the headlines.
“It’s right next to Hyde Park where there are a lot of rats,” he said. “Other restaurants could have them as well. Rats eat cockroaches, insects and anything they can find.
“With the heat and humidity there are more insects and so they will be out chasing them. But it seems they prefer Oportos and Chinese food at the moment.”
4th February 2019
