r/Glasgow Tools

It depends what the goal is tbh, fumigation likely wouldn't work as it would just result in the mass migration of all the rats from the building - they'd flee before any gas could kill them all and just end up infesting somewhere else or coming back once it was safe again.

Bulldozing is a bit of an extreme measure - but realistically.. I reckon they'd need to strip the buildings back to the bare bones and completely renovate them inside, ensuring that all manner of rat-proofing was done as they were being refurbished to destroy the maze they've created in the walls. That, in addition to traps, poisons, sonic deterrents and hopefully a few homeowners having some alley cat friends would probably see the majority of the problem sorted out - but then it becomes about upkeep.. And that's trickier. People in Glasgow are clatty bastards - my back court is a fucking disaster zone because people don't seem to be able to use a bin properly and we had a horrific fruit fly infestation over the warm summer as a result - completely avoidable if people used bins sensibly, but apparently that's asking too much. I'm surprised we didn't get rats - but there are a bunch of cats in my quadrant of tenements so maybe they're doing a good job of keeping the larger varmints at bay.

Chances are that you'd do all that work and people would still leave waste lying around that attracts rats and you'd find yourself sliding back towards square one as those deterrents you set up slowly become eroded away.

It needs the housing associations to step up their game and take proper care of the buildings they are the custodians of - but that costs money, and private housing associations - unlike council run housing associations - are businesses who's bosses expect profits. And bonuses too, probably. So they'd rather let buildings crumble and tenants live in rat infested hellholes because at the end of the day.. The money is still coming in, and they get to keep more of it.