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Photo: Getty Image Bank Israel
Jerusalem infested with rats
Capital's residents exposed to rat infestation; rodents invade yards, even in plush neighborhoods
Jerusalem residents are struggling with a rat infestation across the city. The appearance of the repulsive rodents has become more dominant in the less-than-plush areas, such as the industrial zones and the marketplace. The municipality recommended they seal their homes.
Some assume that the reason for the infestation is the wide-scope road and infrastructure construction work performed by the municipality. The excavations cause the burrows to collapse, and the rats surface in order to search for other territories.
"The minute those burrows are ruined, the rats invade homes and yards, looking for new places to live," explained Zohar Liyor from the pest control company Ashmadon.
He also sees the economy as a reason: "In the past, most businesses used pest control companies on a permanent basis. These days, due to the tough economic situation, many business owners try to save on expenses, including pest control".
The first thing to do, he adds, is to maintain sanitation.
Even well-kept, reputable neighborhoods did not escape the epidemic. Nehama, a resident of Jerusalem's Yefe Nof neighborhood, said that she has been struggling with the rodents for over a year. She talked to her neighbors who also complained about it, indicating that the infestation is all over the neighborhood.
"It was a nightmare. For a year I wouldn’t dare open the windows, even in the summer. The smell of urine and feces was unbearable. They used to come into the house through the sewer, or the trees, windows, and the suspended cables. It took me a while to get rid of them and the damages were huge," she said.
Itzik Avraham from the marketplace's vendors committee has three traps and three different kinds of poison.
"You can see them at night roaming the yards, each one as big as a cat. I've been here for 40 years and never saw anything like it. The municipality has to do something about this, otherwise diseases will spread. It's scary".
Jerusalem Municipality: Seal your homes
Another vendor in the marketplace explained how he contends with the problem: "The second you see a rat, everyone defends his store with brooms to prevent the rat from entering, and eventually that's how they kill it. Just like in the good old days."
He added that he had approached to municipality on the issue several times. However, "the sanitation department sent people to spread poison, but after a short relief the rats were back again".
The main disease spread by rats is intestinal typhus. Once food makes contact with a rat, the chance for an infectious disease increases. In Israel there are thousands of reported cases a year. Usually the recommendation is to dispose of food that came in contact with a rat. Side affects are fever, shuddering, and vomiting.
The main difficulty in the war against rats is their high survival capabilities and the fact that they are shrewd rodents.
"A rat learns the paths and escape routes. A rat doesn't just run, it knows where it is going and is capable of passing this information to other generations to come so they can survive," Lior said.
The Jerusalem Municipality rejected the claims that the number of rats has increased and made it clear that before performing any infrastructure works the sanitation department is careful to use pest control, but only in public areas, not in houses and private yards.
Zion Shitrit, head of the municipality's sanitation department claimed that "vendors in the marketplace should make sure that the sewer manholes are covered, and residents should seal their homes and keep everything clean".
"If anyone thinks that we can ignore rats, he simply doesn't understand a thing. The rat will always be the human's companion," he added.
