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Construction contributing to rodent sightings
Construction projects and weather variations might be contributing to increased rodent sightings in downtown Longview, a city official said. Environmental Health Manager Geoff Heinicke, however, believes the city’s rodent population has not grown in recent months, despite a feral cat containment program that began about a year ago.
A feral cat is an unowned and untamed cat; some feral cats are born in the wild, while others are abandoned or lost pets that have become wild.
“The renovation of Fredonia Street is probably contributing to the increased visibility of rodents in the downtown area,” Heinicke said. “Any time old streets like that are torn up, it destroys the underground nests of a certain number of rats and mice.”
Alternating periods of warm and cold weather also contribute to more rodent sightings, as the animals tend to seek different kinds of nesting areas depending on temperature, he said. Temperatures in Longview have varied from the 30s to the 70s in the past few weeks.
Have you noticed more rodents in the area?
Comments
By PC
January 8, 2009 8:50 PM | Link to this
Why a feral cat containment program instead of a trap/neuter/tag/release program? I’d much rather have a small and non-reproducing cat population in downtown longview than rodents or pesticides to get rid of them.