Gary Blanchard of the Village of Santiago is all for the renovation of El Santiago Golf Course but, not when it comes with a rat infestation in his neighborhood.
El Santiago Golf Course has been going through a complete overhaul which started a little over six weeks ago. Truckloads of dirt are being hauled in and dumped on a daily basis and since then, Blanchard and his neighbors have been inundated with rats, sometimes as big as squirrels. He also has noticed the old sand from the traps being hauled and dumped under the power line towers directly across the street from his house.
“This is ridiculous,” Blanchard said. “Last week, I killed seven at my house alone. This morning I killed two more while one ran into a tunnel they have dug. I have had pest control companies come out. They have done everything they can do. I went to Sparr’s and bought the same stuff the farmer’s use. Nothing is working.”
Blanchard believes the rats are either in the dirt that is being brought in or in the old sand from the renovated traps. He noted that an eagle that can normally be seen on a power line by his house every morning has since moved down to where the dirt and sand is being piled up. That eagle knows there’s food in those dirt mounds, he said.
Some of the other residents on the Carolina Court cul-de-sac are experiencing the same invasion. Blanchard’s next door neighbor, Sally Childs, has had her entire lanai destroyed by the rats gnawing holes in the screening. She has spent more than $300 on everything from traps to poison to exterminators.
“My son spent an entire day rescreening my lanai on the bottom with heavy gauge wire. The rats crawled up the screen and are now eating holes towards the middle. It’s frustrating and out of control,” Childs said.
On average, it takes 44 days for poisonous bait to take effect in rats, a representative from a pest control company said.
“So, what do we do for 44 days?” Childs said. “We can’t live like this.”
In June 2015, there were reports of rats in people’s homes after the El Santiago Club Restaurant was demolished. You can read more about that HERE
