Post by rmarks1 on Jul 25, 2019 0:00:13 GMT -5
It was one of the most absurd stories of California’s lunacy. In the midst of one of the worst droughts in the state’s history, state and federal wildlife officials were depleting a large reservoir in the Sierra foothills to save (by increasing river flows) a handful of hatchery-born fish that had virtually zero chance of making it to the Pacific Ocean alive. At a water-board meeting I attended, local farmers and residents were incredulous at officials’ refusal to prioritize humans over critters.
This week’s news gives that story a run for its money. California’s rat population has been exploding because of post-drought environmental reasons, the spread of filth caused by the growing homeless population, and the refusal of some cities to deal with the problem. If you ignore disease-carrying rats, it won’t take long to have more disease-carrying rats. A recent survey of pest-control companies found virtually all of them reporting dramatic increases in rat infestations.
“The state is seeing a troubling resurgence of rodents, which can carry a wide array of diseases that have been around since the Middle Ages,” the Sacramento Bee reported. “The metropolis of Los Angeles County, for one, has seen skyrocketing cases of one such disease, typhus.” In fact, the rat infestation had gotten so bad that rats had forced the California EPA to shut down its playground out of fear that workers’ kids would contract diseases.
This week’s news gives that story a run for its money. California’s rat population has been exploding because of post-drought environmental reasons, the spread of filth caused by the growing homeless population, and the refusal of some cities to deal with the problem. If you ignore disease-carrying rats, it won’t take long to have more disease-carrying rats. A recent survey of pest-control companies found virtually all of them reporting dramatic increases in rat infestations.
“The state is seeing a troubling resurgence of rodents, which can carry a wide array of diseases that have been around since the Middle Ages,” the Sacramento Bee reported. “The metropolis of Los Angeles County, for one, has seen skyrocketing cases of one such disease, typhus.” In fact, the rat infestation had gotten so bad that rats had forced the California EPA to shut down its playground out of fear that workers’ kids would contract diseases.
The agency had first planned to step up the use of pesticides, but after environmental groups objected, the director promised to find ecologically safer alternatives. This is ironic, as the Bee noted, because the building also houses the state Department of Pesticide Regulation. So even when the bureaucrats’ own offspring are in potential danger, the demands of the environmental lobby always take precedence over the concerns of regular citizens.
Bob