Ferrets were known as a means of hunting rabbits. But to exasperate, a little less.
This is, however, the experiment attempted for several months in half a dozen French towns to get rid of invasive rodents.
In Toulouse, La Rochelle, Limoges, Montreuil, Vincennes and now Marseille, ferrets, natural predators, are now used to chase rats into their burrows.
“When there is really a big infestation, it is very conclusive. In Toulouse, we caught 63 rats in half an hour, ”breeder Alexandre Raynal recently confided to the media France Live.
From antiquity to today
The method is not so new, actually. In ancient times, the Romans used ferrets on ships to protect their grain cargoes from pests. But it seems to be regaining favor with the authorities, who are looking for alternatives to rat poison and other poisons that are more violent, more chemical and likely to be ingested by other species.
The principle is simple. Ferrets – or rather ferrets, as the females are smaller than the males – are sent into the underground galleries where they track down the rats by scent.
The rodents will instinctively run away from the small predator and come out into the open air, where they will be caught by nets installed around the perimeter.
The animals are then placed in large opaque plastic tanks to “limit their stress”, then euthanized with carbon dioxide, which “avoids animal suffering”, adds the breeder on France Live. The operation is repeated 48 hours later.
In France, the town halls concerned boast of exterminating “100% ecological”. “This helps to use as few chemicals as possible. We need more virtuous techniques for the environment and tend towards that, ”argued Aïcha Guedjali, municipal councilor responsible for pests in Marseille, on France Info, in early November.
Virtuous, indeed. And no doubt good for “political capital”. But to what extent is this beautiful “com” operation effective?
“Effective, I don’t know”
Author of the book Rats (Editions Delachaux Niestlé), Julie Delfour has reservations.
“The argument that it’s more natural or less toxic to other animals, I find that interesting. It’s probably going a little better,” agrees the science popularization expert.
“But to say that it’s effective, I don’t know… The ferret technique is only a one-off technique. People who use them to hunt leave once it’s over. If the conditions are good on this territory, the rats will come back to settle. So it can only be temporary. »
According to Mme Delfour, rat extermination with a ferret should rather be seen as a “complementary” process, adding to other, less virtuous processes.
However, she emphasizes that total eradication is illusory and, above all, “undesirable”. On the one hand because rat populations tend to self-regulate, which contradicts the myth of uncontrolled proliferation, and on the other hand because they have their uses in the urban ecosystem.
“They have a role of garbage collector by ‟cleaning” the cities of all the waste that we put there. And they prevent the spread of diseases, even if they can also be vectors for some. In short, it does not only have bad sides ”, pleads Mme Delfour.
Doubts for Montreal
Could the use of ferrets be considered in Quebec, and more particularly in Montreal, where there is an increase in rat populations (possibly linked to a new municipal by-law that prohibits rodenticides outside)?
Michel Gendreau, boss of Extermination MG, seems surprised when we talk to him about this ancestral method. He admits to having never heard of it, but really does not seem very convinced.
“Considering that there are approximately 6 million rats in the sewers of Montreal, I doubt that the technique will be effective. It might work better in a more localized environment like a home, he says. And then the ferrets, they have to be trained. They have to be kept somewhere. It is complicated. »
Ultimately, the best solution may be found in New Zealand.
According to what The Guardian, children at a primary school in Halfmoon Bay were recently encouraged to take part in a rat-hunting contest. The 40 students are said to have trapped 600 rodents in 100 days. The feat goes to a 5-year-old boy, who would have caught 60 on his own. Prizes would have been distributed at the end of the competition. Sensitive hearts, don’t watch the New Zealand TV report on this…