City jumps on the problem by educating residents

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

BIRMINGHAM — After learning about various rat sightings on Bird Avenue, Birmingham resident Patricia Babich wants to be sure the pesky rodents don’t journey over to her home on Edgewood.

Babich, a local hairdresser, said she found out about the problem from a client who recently received a flier from the city about rodent control.

“If they’re handing out fliers, I think that’s a good indication that there might be a rat problem,” she said.

Babich went to the city to get copies of the flier to pass out to her neighbors on Edgewood, as well as to people on Cedar Drive.

“My main concern is that the people are notified. We don’t want to wait until we see them (rats), because in the flier, it says rats will travel 300 feet to find their food and water,” she said.

Roger Reynolds, owner of Neighborhood Hardware, said rat control products have been flying off the shelves at his store.

“In the last three weeks or so, at least a dozen to 15 people have brought up the subject and asked what to do to control them because they’ve seen them. I told them the only surefire answer to controlling rodents is to use good old-fashioned rat traps,” he said.

Building Official Bruce Johnson confirmed that there have been recent rat sightings in Birmingham, but said it hasn’t been anything out of the ordinary.

“A lot of people are surprised when they see one because they don’t particularly see them a lot, so they get concerned. … From what I see right now, there isn’t any cause for alarm. We do get a certain number of complaints each year, and we really haven’t seen any increase in the area,” he said.

Every season, Johnson said, certain areas in the city pop up with more sightings than others. He said people have recently called in to report rat sightings in a couple different areas in the city, including Bird Avenue.

“In this particular area, there was a home that was condemned after a (rat) complaint came in, because it did have evidence of rodent activity. The home was in foreclosure, and we called Elite and had them take care of it. We’ll bill the owners for that,” he said.

In all reported rat sightings, Johnson said, the city’s code enforcement team goes out to check the areas and pass out Elite fliers and general rodent control information packets.

“We’ve passed out the information and the residents have done exactly what they should do, by calling Elite Pest Management and having them come out there. That almost always takes care of them,” he said.

The city has taken a proactive approach to controlling pests since the complaints started a few years ago, Johnson said.

After reports of a high number of rat sightings in some cities between the middle and end of the summer in 2006, city leaders in Birmingham, Berkley, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Madison Heights, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge and Royal Oak banded together to offer pest control at a discount. To help curtail the rodent problem before it gets out of hand, Elite Pest Management, of Roseville, is offering residents of the above municipalities a discount of more than 30 percent off the initial inspection and baiting services performed, as well as discounts on subsequent services.

To further educate residents, Birmingham has set up a Web site dedicated to general rodent control information. Visit www.bhamgov.org, click on the “Residents” tab, then the “Animal Control” section, and finally “Rodent Control Services and Information.”

Elite Pest Management has also set up a Web site to inform residents about rat abatement. Visit www.drrodent.com for more information.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1060.