By XAVIER SMERDON
WYNDHAM is in the midst of a rat infestation with some residents being forced to move out of their homes as the vermin take over.
Dave Crosbee from Deadly Dave Serious Pest Control said he had been inundated with calls from the Wyndham area to try and remove rats from properties.
“Without a shadow of a doubt it is getting worse,” Mr Crosbee told Star.
“I’m getting four or five call-outs every day from every area like Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Point Cook and Tarneit.”
Mr Crosbee said he was even getting reports that residents from some new housing estates were taking the drastic step of moving out of their homes because of rats.
“It’s a big issue, definitely in the western suburbs and it’s only going to get worse as the weather cools down,” he said.
“Since January last year we have had more mice and rats in Wyndham.”
Mr Crosbee said one of his customers in Werribee had chickens in the backyard and rats had eaten through 25 kilograms of chicken feed in a matter of days.
Werribee resident Victor said he was at his wits end trying to remove rats from his property.
“It’s really out of hand at the moment,” Victor said.
“I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never seen it like this before, it’s unbelievable.
“It’s not like they are even hiding anywhere. At night you can see them running across the highway.”
The resident told Star he had spent about $100 on rat traps and bait but was still unable to remove all the rodents from his house.
“They’re in my roof and I can’t get in there so it’s getting to the point where I’m going to take the roof off because I’m over it,” he said.
“I can only do what I can do but if my neighbours aren’t doing anything then they’re just going to come back.”
Victor said he had contacted Wyndham Council about the problem but had found no solution.
“They (the council) could be doing a lot more,” he said.
“There should be a rebate on your rates if you need to buy the traps or they should offer vouchers just like they do for the tip.”
