WATCH: Who Let The Rats Out? Colony Of Domesticated Rodents Let Loose In Pietà
No, this isn’t a scene from Stuart Little but a very real sight that greeted a Pietà resident near his home recently.
To his shock, someone had released an entire colony of clearly domesticated white rats into the streets, and the rodents were making the most of their new conditions, scuttling around and digging through the trash.
The resident informed the Pietà local council, who called up leading Maltese pest exterminator Arnold Sciberras to sort out the problem. Using mouse traps, Sciberras managed to catch 23 of these rats and, rather than killing them, handed them over to somebody who owns a rat farm.
Sciberras said he suspects the rat’s owners let them go out of fear that animals could be infected with COVID-19 or because they were being reared as pet food, a product for which there has been a drop in demand in the wake of the pandemic.
However, he warned that releasing domesticated rats into the streets is grossly irresponsible.
“These poor animals will die a horrible death because they are not capable of surviving in the wild but if they do they will also do harm several ways,” he told Lovin Malta. “They still do the same damages a wild rat does, such as scaring people, gnawing rubbish and appliances. They actually do more damage as they are less scared of people.”
Arnold Sciberras with a pet rat
The rats are from the domestic albino and Siamese breed but belong to the same species (Rattus norvegicus) of the common local brown rat, meaning releasing them into the wild could also lead to genetic pollution.
Sciberras recounted that such inter-breeding had occurred among wild and domestic rabbits a number of years ago, harming the local wild rabbit population.
Arnold Sciberras' daughter with her pet rat Minnie
He urged people who want to get rid of their pet rats to get in touch with the Malta Rodent Society, which he himself is the president of, and it will find a new home for them.
Have you encountered any new pest-related problems since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Let us know in the comments section below
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