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Castle Gardens, Leicester


MrsM

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We overnighted here again last week as I needed to get the dog out of the heat and under the shade of a tree asap. Like last time we visited, the park and mooring were crawling with rats - bold as brass strolling round in daylight. I was woken by 2 of them thrashing around trying to get out of a lidless wheelie bin next to the boat. I reported this to CRT with accompanying photos as evidence. They seemed somewhat surprised. This mooring is notorious for rats and I can't believe it hasn't been reported numerous times. One of the other bins had a rat-sized hole towards the bottom. I don't mind rats if they keep their distance but not right next to my boat. Had visions of them coming on board in the night (had to keep windows open due to the heat). Is it unreasonable to suggest that CRT should be managing this visitor mooring better?

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c1_PXL_20220814_092630233.TS_exported_11067_     182b030fd0d_4.jpg

Edited by MrsM
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It’s not good is it? There’s rats everywhere, but not always so evident. They are only around because there’s food. If, and I mean it, the bins were emptied and cleaned in addition to the broken ones replaced Mr Ratty and friends would go elsewhere. Rats are not daft creatures. Who ever monitors the bin contract might be!

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If you think that's bad try Walsall basin. The canal approaching it has several restaurants on the North side, the grass between the canal and the restaurants was crawling  with the little beasties last time we were there (a year ago, so apologies to Walsall if it has improved since). PS this was early in the evening, in daylight.

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5 hours ago, jonesthenuke said:

If you think that's bad try Walsall basin. The canal approaching it has several restaurants on the North side, the grass between the canal and the restaurants was crawling  with the little beasties last time we were there (a year ago, so apologies to Walsall if it has improved since). PS this was early in the evening, in daylight.

Are they not a local delicacy?

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10 hours ago, MrsM said:

This mooring is notorious for rats and I can't believe it hasn't been reported numerous times.

I'm certainly amongst a number who have - some years ago now too. Nothing's changed, clearly. Perhaps public health would have a better target than CRT

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3 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I'm certainly amongst a number who have - some years ago now too. Nothing's changed, clearly. Perhaps public health would have a better target than CRT

Good idea. Think I will drop them a line.

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11 hours ago, MrsM said:

We overnighted here again last week as I needed to get the dog out of the heat and under the shade of a tree asap. Like last time we visited, the park and mooring were crawling with rats - bold as brass strolling round in daylight. I was woken by 2 of them thrashing around trying to get out of a lidless wheelie bin next to the boat. I reported this to CRT with accompanying photos as evidence. They seemed somewhat surprised. This mooring is notorious for rats and I can't believe it hasn't been reported numerous times. One of the other bins had a rat-sized hole towards the bottom. I don't mind rats if they keep their distance but not right next to my boat. Had visions of them coming on board in the night (had to keep windows open due to the heat). Is it unreasonable to suggest that CRT should be managing this visitor mooring better?

c1_PXL_20220814_085445904_     182b030fc31_2.jpg

c1_PXL_20220814_092630233.TS_exported_11067_     182b030fd0d_4.jpg

 

Better not tell my friends who are moored there tonight!

 

 

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10 hours ago, Nightwatch said:

It’s not good is it? There’s rats everywhere, but not always so evident. They are only around because there’s food. If, and I mean it, the bins were emptied and cleaned in addition to the broken ones replaced Mr Ratty and friends would go elsewhere. Rats are not daft creatures. Who ever monitors the bin contract might be!

Not wishing to be the bearer of bad news, but that is exactly right, on the canals you are never going to be that far away from the nearest rat, who will make his/her presence felt if you leave your rubbish bag in the cratch. Since the boat should be watertight I wouldn't think there are likely to be many ways in which the rat would get inside the boat (perhaps the scuppers into the gas locker, or cratch, but they're not known for having a taste for propane). It is precisely the reason that whenever your get canal water water on you, Weil's Disease should be a serious consideration.

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Plenty of rat eaten in Cambodia, tastes like strong chicken. There are stalls on the roads next to the paddy fields selling skewered BBQ rat.

Didn't someone once make Ratatouille with one?;)

 

We'll likely be mooring at Castle Gardens soon so we'll see if the rat situation there is worse than anywhere else

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My local.council no longer takes action  about rats on private property, confining itself to providing advice.   You are now expected to buy your own rat poison bait and traps. A couple of decades ago when we had rats in the garden as a consequence of the demolition of the house backing onto our garden, the council did provide poison bait, which did prove sucessful.

Edited by Ronaldo47
typos
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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Plenty of rat eaten in Cambodia, tastes like strong chicken. There are stalls on the roads next to the paddy fields selling skewered BBQ rat.

When I first left school I worked in the zoological  lab at a London  university,  we had a couple of hundred Japanese Hooded  rats,  One day as a jape I made rat stew for some friends of mine, all went well until they asked what the meat was at least one was violently sick. They didn't see the funny side, I did

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10 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

My local.council no longer takes action  about rats on private property, confining itself to providing advice.   You are now expected to buy your own rat poison bait and traps. A couple of decades ago when we had rats in the garden as a consequence of the demolition of the house backing onto our garden, the council did provide poison bait, which did prove sucessful.

To be honest, the most effective method of rat control is to make sure that any food sources (bins) are sealed; rat poison, sadly, doesn't only work on rats. I suppose that one could consider that they are providing a 'service' in clearing up the crap that people leave behind. The alternative is to leave the rotting food for the flies to get to, followed by the maggots, and believe me maggots get everywhere (DAMHIK :sick:)

4 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

We sat on the boat in Birmingham watching rats pop out of the hedge and pick up scraps dropped by people walking past, this was just by Old Turn junction.

Yup, plenty of rats there, they don't even scuttle off when you approach. The one's I've seen just look at you with a,"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it?..." look (perhaps some anthropomorphising there;)).

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27 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

anthropomorphising

One of those words that's easier to type than pronounce. As a kid, I used to hate how the wonderful world of Disney did this. Don't kill me but national treasure David Attenborough also has previous for this. 

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At a local  police station open day some 30 years sgo, a police diver explained that, due to  the risk of getting Weil's disease, police divers always had to wear dry suits when going into rivers snd ponds. 

Edited by Ronaldo47
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I completely understand and accept that we are never going to be far from rats on the waterways and that leptospirosis is a risk associated with that. What has made me cross, however, is the state of the bins on the pontoon - 1 with a rat-sized hole in it and 1 without a lid. These provide for easy pickings for the resident rat population and should be maintained better. I have heard back from CRT that the issue will be looked into. Please can anyone mooring there for the rest of the season report back? I'm quite happy to badger CRT until something is done to improve the situation. 

Edited by MrsM
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7 hours ago, MrsM said:

I completely understand and accept that we are never going to be far from rats on the waterways and that leptospirosis is a risk associated with that. What has made me cross, however, is the state of the bins on the pontoon - 1 with a rat-sized hole in it and 1 without a lid. These provide for easy pickings for the resident rat population and should be maintained better. I have heard back from CRT that the issue will be looked into. Please can anyone mooring there for the rest of the season report back? I'm quite happy to badger CRT until something is done to improve the situation. 

 

Unless the waste removal there is managed by others, perhaps the city council, and they can be persuaded to raise their game, I suspect that the rodent problem will be resolved by removing the bins. 

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32 minutes ago, alias said:

 

Unless the waste removal there is managed by others, perhaps the city council, and they can be persuaded to raise their game, I suspect that the rodent problem will be resolved by removing the bins. 

 

26 minutes ago, MrsM said:

I fear you may well be right.

Having not been there since 2017, are the bins actually on the pontoon? To me it would make a bit more sense if they were away from the moored boats a bit. My home mooring at Halesowen has a lot of rats in the vicinity but all you hear is them rustling through the undergrowth.

 

I should be at Castle Moorings in the next couple of days or so, I'll see how it is.

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