For Some, 2010 Has Been the Year of the Rat and Mouse

The creatures are stirring and mostly they're mice.  As a result the local Ace Hardware store is double-ordering pest control devices to help Benicians combat a larger than normal infestation of furry rodents.

While some folks in town aren't seeing much of an increase others can't seem to keep the critters out.

There is no official agreement that there is an increase in rodent population.  Wildlife biologist Thea Nothaft at the Solano County Department of Agriculture said farmers haven't reported an increase in the numbers of rodents. She did say if the predators start to disappear then the rodent populations will rise.

While no one seems to know why the pest population is up this year, there are many theories. Employees at the hardware store hypothized it has to do with construction projects in Vallejo destroying habitat, while others think it's a combination of a lot of water and food in the fields.

Whatever the cause, Albert Tavares of Clark Pest Control in Vallejo doesn't care. "Normally rodent activity tapers off in late spring and picks up again in the fall," he said. "This year the techs have been going through snap traps like crazy all summer."

Travares thought the increase in rodents might be weather-related. "We've experienced a cooler summer so that may have an affect," he said.

The Ace store is selling more traps than poison. Owner Gene Pedrotti warns that a poisoned rat or mouse is thirsty and can chew through plastic waterlines like those that supply water for icemakers. If a rodent does chew through the line and the leak is not very noticeable, then it could cause severe damage to the subfloor.

That's the  reason Pedrotti and his staff recommend using a live trap or a kill trap.

Biologists encourage people to use either live traps and release let the critters in nearby fields and open space or to use humane kill traps.  When poison is used, sometimes the rodents are eaten by natural predators that ingest the poison and are killed themselves.

For Travares there is a silver lining to the pest invasion, "All I really know is it's good for business," he said.