Residents of a neighbourhood in Wendover want something done about the number of rats that have taken up residence in the area.
On Tuesday, July 15, resident Christine Finlay appeared before Alfred and Plantagenet township council to request measures be considered to rid the area of unwanted rodents.
“Last year, there were 11 rats killed in Wendover on Trillium Circle,” Finlay said.
“This year, we’re at 26 rats that have been killed. We know if there’s 26, there’s way more,” she continued.
Finlay told council she had researched what the City of Ottawa has done to reduce rat problems in its neighbourhoods.
She said the city has been able to decrease the number of complaints about rats from to 512 in 2024 from 845 in 2023.
Finlay said Ottawa’s approach, which she believes could help resolve the rat problem in Wendover, has included education to residents about keeping their yards clean, installing lids that make trash cans in parks less accessible to rats, inspection of restaurants, and placing bait inside sewers if there is an issue with rats nearby.
She said numerous residents had contacted the township about rats in Wendover but were initially told the municipality was not responsible for them. Finlay said that with all of the new construction happening in Wendover, their usual habitat in unpopulated areas may have been disrupted. She said that in addition to Trillium Circle, rats have also been reported by residents of nearby Denis Street.
Finlay said she understands a solution to the problem is not available right away but wants the township to do something to assist the neighbourhood. She emphasized that the neighbours want to work together with the township.
She said the township could possibly be involved through bylaw enforcement or possibly requiring measures at construction sites to restrict rats from spreading around the village.
Finlay also expressed concern about diseases that rats may carry, which can spread to humans.
“Some of them are fatal,” she remarked.
Those diseases include leptospirosis, hantavirus, rat-bite fever, plague, and salmonellosis.
Finlay noted that children play on the grass where rats also leave feces.
Councillor Antoni Viau, who represents Wendover and also lives in the village, confirmed there are rats roaming about in the community.
“There’s also rats on Principale. I’ve caught probably a dozen at my place,” he said.
“More education is probably one thing we should start by doing,” he suggested.
Viau said he never had rats on his property until chickens started to be kept on another property. He guessed that fresh eggs and bird feeders are contributing causes.
“I don’t believe birds need to be fed in the summer,” he said.
Both Finlay and Viau said rats have been eating garden vegetables around the village.
Mayor Yves Laviolette said the township will see if anything can be done to alleviate the rat problem in Wendover.
“If it’s education, I’m happy to start with that,” Finlay said.
