“There’s probably something in there,” he says, kicking an overflowing trash can. “Rats are like little survival machines; wherever you get reliable access to food waste, they will keep coming back.”
Coates’ prey became more noticeable in London the longer England’s shutdown lasted.
What’s more, the animals are on the move.
Pest controllers say that as many restaurants and office buildings in the bustling city center of London remain empty, rats are being forced to move to more residential areas in search of food.
Families who spent more time at home – and ate all their meals there – led to an increase in garbage, attracting rats to suburban homes. Meanwhile, bird feeders – supplemented by winter – encourage rodents to dig in backyards.
“We had a case of an old lady feeding her beloved robins,” Coates told CNN. “By the time she called us, there were maybe 10 to 15 rats digging in the flower beds,” he adds.
Paul Claydon, another exterminator based on the edge of Epping Forest in the east of the capital, looked worse. He says he recently killed a colony that tried to dig into a rabbit hutch to eat an unsuspecting pet.
“It may be that we see and hear them more often, working under the cage at home in the office … but I’m afraid London could get a big surprise if it reopens,” Claydon said. “Especially if businesses and properties that are experiencing problems have not kept up with their pest control plans.”
Coates and Claydon have both left long careers in other fields to set up small businesses in a thriving sector.
Coates, a veteran of the Iraq war, established his outfit five years ago and has since written an e-book called ‘War and Plague: From Basra to Bedbugs’.
Claydon spent 25 years in IT at a financial services firm before starting his business two years ago. “I wanted something that was recession-proof, and it was relentlessly busy,” he says.
Claydon says he normally gets about ten rodent calls a week, but that was ‘easily 20 plus’ during closing.
The British Pest Control Association (BPCA), which represents 700 pest hunters across the country, said its members reported a 51% increase in rodent activity during the first exclusion, in the spring of 2020, and a 78% increase in November brought in after another lockdown. They have not yet calculated figures for this year, but told CNN that the observation is ongoing, which is a public health problem that many homeowners can deal with on their own.
“We may now see rats where we would not normally go because they are so desperate,” said Natalie Bungay, of the BPCA. “Rats can chew through very hard substances such as soft metals and bricks.”
As for the control of rats, London does not seem to have an overarching plan.
The mayor’s office told CNN the London council’s office was best placed to respond to questions on the subject. But they said they were not collecting data on the issue because it is the job of each of the 32 provinces in the capital.
However, a Richmond upon Thames spokesman told CNN he does not collect data on rats and does not offer pest control services.
In 2017, after a video of rats tossing out of a flower bed in the Harrow district went viral, the Conservatives in the Greater London Assembly (GLA) drafted a report finding that more than 100 complaints were made every day reported to the councils.
No one really knows how many rats there are in London, although some private surveys of exterminators claim they can count up to 20 million. According to the Office for National Statistics, there are probably more than the nine million people of the city, whose population growth is declining.
Rats, meanwhile, can multiply rapidly. Research by pest control firm Rentokil, cited in the GLA report, claims that just one hatchery can lead to the birth of about 1,250 in a year.
The size of rats is also increasing. Claydon claims that it is not uncommon these days for him to catch a rat up to 40 centimeters long. Many say he needs stronger traps and more poison to kill.
Bungay says the best pest control starts with prevention. This means that food waste outside the house is enclosed in appropriate rubbish bins, food is locked inside the house and all air vents are protected with steel mesh and cracks filled with steel and cement. The avid gardener should also be aware that compost heaps attract rats, she says.
Residents of London are also getting more used to seeing their new neighbors and are worried about their boldness.
“I actually saw one coming towards me while I was walking,” says Jen Johnson, who lives in the eastern part of Tower Hamlets.
“I saw another one rushing to an apartment and I screamed. I’ve been living in London for four years and have never seen anything like it,” she says. “They appear in places I used to consider picturesque. But now it’s like, oh there’s a giant rat. Oh great.”
Tower Hamlets, which does offer residents free help with pests, told CNN that “our pest control team received anecdotally fewer calls during the pandemic.” However, a spokesman for the congregation did not provide information to confirm the claim and said it did not contain figures on the number of rats killed.
The city of Westminster, the district of Harrow and the districts of Waltham Forest and Redbridge, both near Epping Forest, did not respond by the time of publication.
CNN’s Oscar Featherstone contributed to this report.