Rats outnumber people two to one for the first time ever as lockdown triggers a surge in population.

The UK rat population is reckoned to exceed 150 million, more than twice the number of humans (68 million), say professional pest control operators www.pest.co.uk.

Quieter city and town centres during lockdown, with vacant restaurants and office buildings, and an abundance of food waste, are thought to have driven the surge. www.pest.co.uk reports a 25% increase in call-outs during 2020.

The Top Ten Cities and their Rat Population are:

 Dead or Alive?

In the No. 1 spot are rodenticide bait stations. Sold under The Big Cheese Bait & Kill banner, these are a regulatory requirement for safe application of rat and mouse bait.

Sales surged by over 30% in 2020, generating over £2 million of revenue for hardware and garden retailers.

Not far behind, under the Catch Alive banner, are The Big Cheese Cage Traps. Clocking up an impressive 70,000 unit sales in 2020, and with an RRP of £24.99, they win regular new retail listings nationally.

UK householders spend over £20 million a year on The Big Cheese products, with around a third going on the fast-acting and single-feed Ultra Power range which promises guaranteed results, or your money back.

To find out more about some great new products from The Big Cheese for effective control of rats – dead or alive – visit stvuk.com or click here to request a print catalogue.

Neophobia Overcome

For those of us who didn’t do ancient Greek at school, neophobia is a fear of things new. And it’s the evolutionary trait that makes brown rats hard to control and can lead to periodic explosive population growth.

In the quiet city and town centres of lockdown, growing rat numbers have become a problem that’s going largely unchecked. The new battery-powered Neo Zap Electronic Rat Killer from The Big Cheese is guaranteed to overcome rat neophobia and rid homes, restaurants, and commercial premises of infestations in three easy steps:

Patent-pending technology and highly palatable Neo Zap Bait delivers clean, effective control 24/7 without poisons or chemicals. A single AA battery set can deliver up to 50 kills, and the unit will automatically re-arm up to three times – there’s no need for a manual re-set.