Predictions of a (disgusting) rat plague in Melbourne

Predictions of an explosion in rat numbers in Melbourne’s CBD and inner-suburbs might have you running in the opposite direction this summer.

October’s unseasonable warm start is being blamed, with exterminators saying there could be more around with the 30 degree temperatures earlier this week.

GROSS.

Exopest exterminator Peter Ferguson (also known as Peter the Pied Piper) said Melbourne’s construction boom was also to blame.

‘With the heat and stuff like that, you’ll get a lot of rodents wanting to move out of places they normally harbourage,’ he said.

‘They do breed a bit more in the spring, but they do breed all year round.’

Caller Debbie says she saw ‘thousands’ of rats ‘having a picnic’ in Treasury Gardens. ‘They were running around the lake.’

? 3AW Breakfast (@RossAndJohn) October 8, 2015

Development and construction close to the city also forces rats above ground.

‘Rodents can fit through such small locations. A rat can fit through the hole of a 20 cent piece and a mouse can fit the through the hole of a 5 cent piece,’ he said.