“Rat problem gnaws at Orange County homeowners “

An article written by Alejandra Molina published July 2006 and updated and published August 2013 was part of an interview with Orange County Vector Control Inspector Caroline Reisinger. Caroline works in the Rancho Santa Margarita and canyon areas in that area according to the article.
Under the title for this article Molina wrote” Pest experts say rats won’t disappear but can be kept at bay with the proper tricks”. That kind of set me off. I don’t know what pest experts in Lake Elsinore he talked too but the professionals in our field don’t use ‘tricks”! You see tricks are not permanent solutions to rat control problem.
Tricks used to control rats are the main reason that Orange County Vector Control is reporting up to a 300% increase in rat service calls. A small and affluent community like Laguna Niguel averaged over 878 calls per year according to a 7 year study done by OCVCD, the highest average in Orange County. Tricks used for rat control could be the reason that flea-borne typhus, fleas that rats carry, is spreading throughout Orange County. It’s the reason that the Grand Jury in Orange County, that’s right ‘THE GRAND JURY”, held interviews with Orange County Vector Control, Orange County Fire Authority and Orange County Public Faculties and Resource Department in an attempt to come up with a county wide rat control plan.
I am sure if you would talk to Caroline, the OCVCD inspector, she’d tell you that her inspection that this report was written on wasn’t as complete as it could have been. It was done completely from the ground and didn’t include a roof inspection. She did tell us that the roof rat is the main problem in Orange County. They got that name for a reason, they get on the roof. Not inspecting that area by county employees is an insurance issue the county won’t take on but it does leave a vital area uninspected.
Caroline also gave some advice that was not good. She said use steel wool to plug holes. Never, never, never use steel wool to plug holes. Number one that is not a permanent seal, number too steel wool will begin to turn to rust with slightest moisture from the air. This breaks down its ability to seal a hole plus as it turns to rust in will run down your walls and leave a rust stain.

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