Rat hunting in Malmö before Eurovision – ferrets are specially trained

The city of Malmö wants to clean up among the rats before international visitors come to the city for the big folk festival Eurovision. The method for this is something out of the ordinary – namely ferrets.
– Rats are nothing that is particularly attractive to a city, says Morgan Olofsson, responsible for Malmö’s property and street office.

Last year, over a million rats were caught in Sweden, according to figures from Anticimex. It is mainly the big cities that have problems with the animals, and Malmö is no exception.

– It is something we work very hard on in Malmö to combat the rat population. It is nothing that is particularly attractive for a city, says Morgan Olofsson, responsible for Malmö’s property and street office.

He believes that they put a lot of resources into fighting rats. Now it has been concluded that ferrets should be used to fight the rats, a method that has been tried abroad.

Mona Ghalayini, dog handler, leads the work with the ferrets.

– This is Taco the ferret and our new puppy colleague Charlie, she says on a direct link to Efter fem.

“Natural way for ferrets to hunt”

They are out at dusk on Malmö’s streets to catch the small rodents.

– Our task is to clear as much as possible in the area. It is a collaboration. The ferrets are put into the holes to put the rats out for the dogs, who catch them, says Mona Ghalayini.

The rats have already started running around. They come out at dawn when it is dark and when it starts to get dark. Therefore Mona Ghalayini is out on the town with the ferret and puppy at this time.

– It is a fairly natural way for ferrets to hunt. They are a natural enemy of the rats. Quite a few dogs probably have a natural instinct to catch rats too. Our dogs are also specially trained to seek out rats and catch them, she says.

How much they will succeed in reducing the rat population in Malmö before Eurovision remains to be seen. However, Mona Ghalayini does not expect that everyone will be gone by then.