Melbourne has been in and out of lockdown for a solid 5 months now. They’ve been dealing with stage 3 restrictions since the 8th of July, which today brings them to the half-way point of a 6 week set of limitations.
With the city in lockdown, a plethora of restaurants have sadly had to close. This means city rodents that would have previously come out for a cheeky midnight snack have been forced to venture further out into the suburbs in search of food, or find other alternatives.
Melbourne’s slick city rats have been forced to expand to the suburbs, with lockdown restrictions seeing the closure of restaurants and cafes.
Recounts from pest control workers say that there has been a significant increase in the infestation of vermin since March.
“I had a client, he seen them (sic) coming through drains and coming out and roaming into the streets. Into the high-rises as well. They are going crazy.” said Protech Pest Control owner Muzi Tsolakis. “It’s pretty full-on for us at the moment, we’re so busy with this…Thank God we’re essential workers, otherwise we’re going to have the rats and mice taking over.” He stated.
When the humans are away the rats will play/dine out/do pilates:
“Rats have taken advantage of the lockdown of many Melbourne businesses, dining at empty restaurant tables, nesting in a closed pilates studio and some even leaving the city altogether.”https://t.co/lwbQ5pdg9I
— Nadia Daly (@nadiasdaly) July 27, 2020
As if this news wasn’t disturbing enough, experts have said that if the rats continue to starve in the predominantly vacated city, then they will soon turn to cannibalism to sustain themselves. Rats are creatures that need to eat every day in order to reproduce, as their reproductive rate is driven by their nourishment. So if you put two and two together… less food equals fewer babies and more death, resulting in the terrifying outcome of rats feasting on their rat friends.
“If they produce babies they can’t support, they kill them. Or one of their relatives comes in and kills them”, explains Professor Peter Banks, a rodent expert from the University of Sydney. “They will eat other rats that die, for sure… They will not let a meal of another rat go by” he told The Guardian back in May, when Sydney faced a similar problem.
