Vacationers traveling to the picturesque Lake Tahoe area to enjoy a last few moments of alpine warmth before the region's famous ski season kicks in have found their vacation rentals infested with rodents.
What's happening?
According to SF Gate, mice and rats have been running amok, taking over vacant homes and spreading across neighborhoods. The problem has become so bad that the wait for pest control has grown to several months and hardware stores have seemed to run out of mouse traps as soon as new shipments arrive.
"We're upping our orders on mouse traps, really anything to do with mice or rats," said Maurice Jacques, an assistant manager at North Shore Ace Hardware in Kings Beach. "We get trucks two times a week. By Saturday, we're all out. Some people come in and buy 15 traps at a time."
Though rodent populations have not been tracked in California, making data-driven comparisons difficult, locals have described the explosion in the rodent population as one of the worst they have ever seen.
The influx has given exterminators plenty of horror stories to share.
"I pulled like 70 rats out of this one house," said Sergio Arias, an eight-year veteran of the industry who started his own company this year, per SF Gate. "That's not even the worst I've seen. The worst was a vacant home. I think we pulled something like 150 rats out of this home. They're chewing through siding. They're chewing through the wood on people's homes to get into the walls."
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Why do rodent infestations matter?
Aside from the general gross-out factor of seeing mice and rats scurrying across floors, chewing their way into bags of food, and leaving their droppings where you least expect them, rodents also pose a serious risk because of their propensity for spreading disease.
The public health threat presented by rodents was brought into the spotlight in August, when a South Lake Tahoe man tested positive for plague. Often considered a disease of the Dark Ages, plague remains endemic in the Western United States thanks to a poorly handled outbreak in San Francisco around the turn of the 20th century, according to the book The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco.
Though plague has long been associated with rats, it is caused by a bacteria that is spread by flea bites. These fleas live on and are spread by rodents, including mice, rats, and squirrels.
"Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher-elevation areas of El Dorado county," said Kyle Fliflet, the county's acting director of public health, according to The Guardian. "It's important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking, and/or camping in areas where rodents are present."
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What's being done about it?
Pest control workers have been doing their best to tackle the seemingly never-ending list of rodent-infested homes. With many vacation rentals and second homes remaining empty during non-peak times of year, they can quickly become nests for the intruders.
"We have a lot of second homes up here that aren't getting the maintenance they need," Arias, the pest control company owner, said. "It's been creating breeding hubs. These mice start reproducing prolifically in these homes and they start affecting neighbors."
One of the best ways to combat growing rodent numbers is to make sure that homes are regularly maintained by pest control experts, especially during periods when they are unoccupied.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends patching up holes, inside your home and outside, to prevent rodents from entering and tightly sealing trash bins and food containers.
With many people looking forward to ski season, they can only hope the rodent infestation slows down as the cold weather takes hold. In the meantime, it continues to be a gold rush for pest control companies in El Dorado County.
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