International Falls officials are investigating a rodent concern.
Jerry Jensen, who serves as city housing inspector, said a homeowner contacted him a couple weeks ago after trapping five rats in his yard.
And while Jensen said he’s only heard from one homeowner about rats, city officials want to be proactive about the concern and brought staff with Guardian Pest Control to International Falls Saturday.
“If this is a problem, we want to try and stop it before it gets out of hand,” said Jensen. “If you do think it’s a rat, I would like a phone call so I can check it out and stay on top of it. Hopefully, we don’t get a lot of calls.”
He urged any homeowners who suspect rats are in their area to contact him at 283-2929.
Guardian staff Saturday set up traps and monitors in the area, located between Rainy River and Highway 11-71, and will return in one week to check the results. Jensen said he expects a report from Guardian Pest Control after that.
Guardian staff, said Jensen, told him that rats don’t travel far distances and usually stay within a 150-foot area.
And, he said homes where rats are found are not necessarily unclean or messy.
The resident that trapped the rats and reported it to Jensen lives in a very clean home, with no brush or garbage piles in the area, said Jensen.
Jensen said this is the first confirmed case of rats found in a residential area in the city. “Off and on for years I’ve had calls about rats, but I’ve never seen any,” said Jensen. “This is the first I’ve seen.”
Three of the rats trapped by the homeowner were not large, as far as rats go, said Jensen. They measured from five to six inches long with a long tail. The fourth rat trapped was “fairly big,” said Jensen, measuring from eight to 10 inches long.
Meanwhile, Jensen said he does not believe the appearance of rats is connected to a sewer treatment renovation in the city.
Tim “Chopper” McBride, executive director of the North Koochiching Area Sanitary District and Falls mayor, said treatment plant staff and city officials have been met several times on the issue and said the area the rats have been trapped in near a 5,000 gallon holding tank built in the 1990s.
“We have been watching and monitoring and looked everyday for rats, and we’ve not had evidence of rats there,” he said. He also noted that work is not currently being done near the holding tank.
Past procedures at the plant — when a probe cleaning device was used instead of the vacuum devise now used — have discovered rats and other animals.
“This is a strange situation and we’re not sure what is going into it,” said McBride. “It is being worked on and a process is ongoing. But we do not believe that the situation happening is a result of the sewer project.”
McBride added that the city is diligently working to solve the rat mystery and that the rat issue is “not pandemic, one bit.”
Jensen said he lives near the treatment plant and would be concerned if it was believed the sewer project was the source of the rats. “I don’t think they can get into sanitary sewers,” said Jensen.
However, he said storm sewers and brush piles may offer good nesting areas for rats.
