00:02Taipei City Government's disinfection team demonstrates how they lay out poison in the city's corners.
00:08The team says they always first inspect and instruct locals to clean up the area,
00:13but resort to poison if rats keep coming back.
00:16The poison is stored in a black box they say is only accessible to rats.
00:30It is a tool that says they don't move, then we should go back to the area or take it
00:37off.
00:38The water is open and we will also get the poison.
00:42Debate has been heating up in recent weeks over rats in northern Taiwan.
00:47Some say it's an exaggerated problem, while others accuse officials of downplaying the issue.
00:52In this neighborhood in Taipei, where there's a street market and a university,
00:57some locals say rats have always been around.
01:00And people have tried different ways to keep the population down.
01:03老鼠啊
01:05老鼠我們是偶偶一定有啦
01:07但是我們這裡
01:08我們房屋做得很好
01:10包括像我們大家
01:13每個月都在清掃
01:15這個沒有
01:17有機會給它
01:18有老鼠在這邊出東西
01:20我們這邊
01:21我們每個月cause vele消毒一次
01:24那水過的蓋子都打開
01:26你們都消毒了
01:27早上比較少老鼠比較少
01:31我這邊是覺得我還好
01:32Because it's from 3 o'clock to 11 o'clock.
01:36But in the middle, I didn't see anything like that.
01:39There's a lot of fish in there.
01:41But others say rats have been seeing in the bushes
01:43at this local park, and it's been a problem for months.
01:47Because I live here in a day, so there's a lot of fish in there.
01:51Like when I come here, I always have.
01:53Because there's a lot of fish in there.
01:56From this year 3, 4 months, it's been a lot of times.
02:00It's not the last year, it's been 2 or 3 months.
02:04It's crazy.
02:05Online, videos of rat sightings have been shared widely.
02:09So far, rats are dealt with only when locals send in complaints,
02:13and there's no established system for tracking rat populations in the country.
02:18But biologist Lin Dali says there is a scientific way,
02:21by dividing the city into even grid cells
02:24and sampling them over weeks or months.
02:53Lin Dali says rats are a problem.
02:55Every city and county faces.
02:57And local neighborhoods should maintain strict hygiene standards
03:01to effectively deter rodents.
03:03Whether or not this latest infestation marks a growing problem,
03:07it's an issue that will require continued vigilance citywide.
03:11John Tsu in our Ringling for Taiwan Plus.
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