"Rats are useful, we don't want to eradicate them but to regulate them"

Traps, chemicals... and now a ferret.

On her social networks, Aïcha Guedjali made an announcement that clashes.

Taking the path already taken by her counterparts in Toulouse and Vitry-sur-Seine, the left-wing municipal councilor responsible for insalubrity and pests in Marseille has decided to call on Prune, who, as her name does not indicate , is a ferret bred in the Gers to hunt rats.

On this occasion, Aïcha Guedjali returns for 20 Minutes Marseille to this real scourge which affects the second city of France, and the strategy put in place by the municipality to deal with it. 

The @marseille is committed to a natural method of ecological predation with the use of ferrets to hunt rats outdoors.

Alexandre, a breeder in the Gers, introduced us to Prune, one of his ferrets with whom he has a real affectionate relationship@GEcolocitoyen pic.twitter.com/ixPcGjax7c

— aicha guedjali (@aichaguedjali) October 21, 2022

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What is the situation regarding the proliferation of rats in Marseille? 

It's still just as complicated and it's still the same.

It is estimated that there are between one and one and a half rats per inhabitant.

The services do what they can and that gives them a lot of work.

But the city is changing.

There's a lot of work going on, and that gets the pests out.

In this city, we also have a problem with waste management.

And you know the problem in Marseille of incivility.

And it's obvious that rats would rather feed on the garbage lying around the garbage cans than eat our bait.

We have also noticed that the buried containers were more efficient in the fight against rats, because they did not have access to the waste.

When agents intervene, they also sometimes realize that people are feeding the rats... 

What are you doing to combat this phenomenon? 

We have a protocol that we apply in all public buildings where we are notified of an intrusion, such as nurseries and schools.

At that time, we carry out a weekly monitoring of our traps.

And after 35 days, we know if the outbreak is eradicated or not.

But we have a problem for parks and gardens.

We don't want to put chemicals in the public space. 

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