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Rats! They're everywhere!
The rodent population has boomed thanks to the nesting and breeding spaces afforded to it during the pandemic. But what do we know — and what can be done — about rats, the most problematic of the mini-mammal gang? PETER FROST investigates

RECENTLY I have heard from many friends and acquaintances about plagues of rats and mice. It seems that uncared for gardens, particularly unkempt compost heaps, spare parcels of land and disused or empty buildings are providing perfect breeding conditions for rats, mice and other rodents.

Just how many rats and mice there are isn’t ever easy to quantify. Counting populations of any of our native mammals isn’t easy except in one exceptional case.

We do have fairly accurate figures for one of Britain’s most numerous mammals and certainly the most destructive: there are just under 70 million human beings living here — and that includes you and me.  
 
There are only just a few wild mammals that outnumber we humans and a dozen or so mammals get near that 70m human population figure.

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