The Swedish city of Malmö has had a rat problem for the past few years. Now, with the Eurovision Song Contest just around the corner, the experts have a fluffy solution up their sleeves.
Rat Reckoning
Some articles go so far as to report a full-blown rat invasion. Plague of rats1 roaming the streets, rats attacking dogs, people avoiding certain parts of the city to steer clear of an encounter, rats dealing drags out in the open. There have even be reports of rats damaging cars, with a victim having paid over $500 for repairs.
In 2023, the local government allocated more than 1 million dollars into solving the four legged problem. On the same article a politician mentions that it is no longer allowed to use poison as a method to get rid of the rats, but mechanical means should be used instead. This has only made matters worse according to other reports.
Eurovision Enters The Chat
Thing is, Malmö will be hosting the Eurovision Song Contest this spring, and rats are currently the public enemy number one, treating to spoil the image the city wants to present to the rest of the world. Luckily, due to the relatively large budget allocated to this matter, pest fighting experts have been thinking outside the box. Their next weapon? Specially trained dogs are coming to hunt (and haunt) the city’s rat population.
But dogs can’t sniff the rats out of their nests, so ferrels have become their best friends into driving the unwanted rodents out to the surface.
Now only one question remains: What will be the next animal to join the extermination team?
Yep, a group of rats is called a “plague”. Fitting.↩