After the flooding, Pierrefonds residents coping with unwanted rodent house guests
Critters seem to have settled into 1 resident's home after escaping area's flooded sewers
Pierrefonds resident Michael McGregor noticed he might have some unsolicited roommates a couple weeks ago when objects in his kitchen were being "moved around and things were coming out of my garbage."
Since the borough has a composting program, there wasn't much food in McGregor's pail, but the parchment paper soaked in oil he'd used to roast had been pulled out.
He thought it was mice, "but when I put out a large sticky trap out, it disappeared, so I knew I was dealing with a larger animal," McGregor told CBC Montreal's Daybreak Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, after he laid traps, McGregor says he caught two rats that were almost a foot long.
"I wasn't impressed," he said.
What to do if you have them, too
The rats' new frontier also includes three other homes in the des Sources Boulevard area, McGregor said. His home did not flood.
He doesn't think they came directly from the sewer because of a recently installed clap in his system. He suspects they came in through vents from his furnace or dryer.
McGregor thinks the critters settled into his Pierrefonds home after escaping the area's flooded sewers, a theory Montreal exterminator Steve Bilodeau agrees with.
"[The rats] are going to search for sources of food and they will find some. From what I understand, they've already found this gentleman's house," he said, referring to McGregor.
If you encounter a rat in your home, get away, Bilodeau said, adding rats don't typically attack humans but could jump at us if they feel threatened.
"Do not provoke it."
He said to follow McGregor's method and set traps, and to then dispose of the rodent in the garbage.
With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak