A look at Bay Area's rise in rats as CA cracks down on poisons harmful to wildlife

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Gilbert Jaimez specializes in rodent-proofing homes - and right now he says he's busier than ever before.

"I have been just running up and down the freeways all day from San Ramon today to Martinez to Orinda, Oakland, everywhere there's rats," Jaimez said.

Jaimez owns Ratman Pest and Termite Control.

Jaimez said his approach is not to poison or trap first - but to figure out how mice and rats are getting into homes.

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"I've seen them dig through the lead flashings on tile roofs, they dig through 2x4's they dig through foundations if there's foundations that are shallow," Jaimez said. "All they need is a little small hole that can be that big and they can squeeze through a small hole."

When it comes to rodent control, the state is taking a tougher stance on rodenticides.

Lisa Owens Viani is the Director of the nonprofit called Raptors Are The Solution.

"It's important because our state was just allowing these poisons to be used without really evaluating them," Owens Viani said.

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Since 2020, Owens Viani and her nonprofit have worked with legislators to crack down on rat poisons that impact wildlife.

"It's designed to cause a rat or mouse to bleed to death but unfortunately it's also causing other animals to bleed to death. It builds up in the body of a rat or mouse and then a predator eats it like a hawk or an owl or something as large as a mountain lion, a bobcat," Owens Viani said.

Come January 2025, certain kinds of anti-coagulants, or blood-thinning poisons, will be placed under a moratorium while the state reevaluates them.

In the meantime, Jaimez and his crew are booked out until mid-November, and he's only expecting calls to grow once the rain comes.

"My guys are volunteering to work Saturdays because we have people willing to pay extra because they're so desperate," Jaimez said.