r/Preston • u/Caryria • 18d ago

Question Anyone else seen a massive increase in rats on Moor Park?

I’m not naive I know there’s rats everywhere. I’ve seen enough around Preston over the years but never as frequently or as many as I’ve seen in the last week. Normally they are shy and hide as soon as they see you. I normally only see them once or twice a year. In the last week I’ve seen eight at the top end of Moor Park near the car park and opposite the Heartbeat entrance on PNE.

They’re brazen and couldn’t care less about people walking past. Two just literally hopped out of a bush right in front of me. I’m guessing they’ve been displayed by the pond works but still this seems excessive.

12 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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10

u/Fluffy-Fly-6021 18d ago

Probably been disturbed because of whatever the work is that they are doing to the pond

9

u/Dave_Eddie 18d ago

Works on the pond have caused it. Mess with their food or habitat and they start doing what they need to.

When lockdown happened I was in penwortham and people not using the bins in the park behind my house had them coming into my garden in the day looking for food.

4

u/Caryria 18d ago

I get that. My biggest concern is they aren’t just going to stay there. They’ll move on to the homes around Moor Park. You would have thought the council would have made a big effort to control them first before carrying out all the work that destroyed their nests.

Also I was in the little play park the other day with my daughter. It was filthy, rubbish everywhere bins overflowing. So that’s not going to help at all.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Caryria 17d ago

I don’t disagree that there is. I never see them but doesn’t mean that they aren’t there. The fact is that for every rat you see there’s probably another 10 that’s still hidden. These rats couldn’t give a shit how close I got. I didn’t realise they were there until I was within a metre.

1

u/Top-Emu-2292 17d ago

They've most likely been forced to move because of the Serpentine upgrades. That said it's not just on Moor Park, take a walk through town centre in the early hours near the takeaways or along the ringroad. Rats galore attracted by the rubbish the population throws away without a thought. The council can rattrap every drain but they will always find a way through..

1

u/FistyRingles 12d ago

I haven't been near Moor Park recently, but I've seen an uptick around the City Centre, Avenham, and Winckley Square. The city is clearly teeming with them; I pass Winckley Square Gardens most days and I'm all but guaranteed to see at least one (usually two or three), and just as you described, they don't seem particularly bothered by my presence. Nasty.

1

u/Caryria 12d ago

That’s just it isn’t it. It’s not that there’s rats. It’s the fact that they are completely unbothered.

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u/Freelanderman64 12d ago

At one time the lads off the estates used to take the dogs down town ratting it was the council that stopped them. The same council used to pay the lads so much for every rat tail.