Bern tests rat-killing traps as it moves away from poison

Bern is testing traps in its sewers as an alternative to rat poison, which the city says harms animals and the environment, SRF reports. The devices are intended to kill rats without prolonged suffering.

Each trap uses bait and a trigger to release a compressed-air bolt. When a rat enters, the bolt delivers a fatal blow. The city monitors the sewers with cameras and places traps where rats have been spotted.

The trial has been running for just over a year, but the mechanism has been triggered only twice. Rats are cautious and tend to avoid unfamiliar objects, says Raphael Flückiger, the city’s head of infrastructure and drainage. He says it is too early to assess the trial.

The approach has drawn criticism from Tobias Sennhauser, a Bern city councillor and member of the animal welfare organisation Tier im Fokus. He says all non-violent options should be tried first. People should also be made more aware that food waste, including scraps flushed down toilets, can provide rats with a better habitat, he says.

The city distributes leaflets about the issue, but Flückiger says information alone is not enough. He argues that traps are also needed to prevent rat numbers from growing. In the past, rats in Bern were sometimes hunted by people who entered the sewers with rifles.