Pest control warning as super-rats resistant to B&Q killer chemicals are booming in numbers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The number of super-rats which are resistant to DIY pest control chemicals have exploded, experts have warned.The news comes amid fears people will have to 'learn to live with' rodents, after the the pests flocked to homes during lockdown in search of foods as social restrictions lowered their supply, said British Pest Control Association (BPCA) president Chris Cagienard.

While pest control visits in Scotland grew from 36,995 in 2020/21 to 45,918 last year, many of these were for wasps. But Chris, who is also managing director at Pest Solutions, said the company is one of many that are now actively sending rat samples to the Animal and Plant Health Agency for testing.The samples in question are of rats which could be showing signs of resistance to rodenticide chemicals that usually kill them.

Of the specimens that have been successfully tested over the past six months, only one was returned as non-resistant - while mice have learnt to adapt their behaviour to survive.Mr Cagienard said that "when our behaviour changes, rodents' behaviour changes" too.

He explained: "Rat populations in the UK are not reducing, they are climbing slowly anyway and that was happening before Covid and that continues to happen."It wasn't necessarily that there were more rats, there were just more rats within the houses.