"Do not feed the wildlife" signs are being placed by city staff in areas where residents have spotted large rat populations.
This is only one of the measures the city is taking to address recent complaints about rats in Burnaby.
At Monday night's council meeting, Burnaby council approved the plans city staff has put into motion. They also agreed to send a copy of a staff report about those plans to Craig Wilson, who first brought the problem to the city's attention in June.
"I've noticed it for about five years, but for the past two, it's been an epidemic," Wilson, who lives in South Burnaby, told the NOW last month.
"It's gotten to the point in that area that if I hear a woman scream, I don't even look up anymore," he said, adding he knows she's seen a rat.
He has spotted rats, often as many as four or five in a single walk through his neighbourhood, in five specific areas.
These were located along the Molson trail and near the SkyTrain line, along Beresford Street at Gilley, MacPherson and Dow avenues, Metrotown SkyTrain station and Central Park.
City staff inspected the areas and determined wildlife feeding at Beresford Street and Dow Avenue was the primary problem spot, the report stated.
"According to the resident manager at an apartment complex in the Dow and Beresford area, the regular feeding of wildlife by a local resident has recently been ceased," the report added.
The city is working with the British Columbia Transit Company Ltd., which is responsible for maintaining the Molson trail, to deal with the problem in that area. City staff report that the company has hired a pest control firm to address the issue.
The city is also speaking with B.C. Hydro and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company about removing vegetation and maintaining their right-of-way near the Molson trail.
The Fraser Health Authority has also been consulted about how best to handle pest control at multi-family facilities in the area.
City staff plan to bring forward a revision to Burnaby's street and traffic bylaw, to prohibit wildlife feeding on public lands, the report stated. The city is also working with the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. to educate residents about how to properly feed wildlife on private properties.
There was no mention in the report, or at the meeting, about how other problem areas in the city will be handled.
Darryl Mack has contacted the city about the wildlife problem in his North Burnaby neighbourhood but has not yet received a response. Mack spoke with the NOW last month about the rats, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and pigeons coming into his backyard because they are attracted to his neighbour's feeders.
"The thing that really infuriates me is there's no bylaw, nothing in place," he said in a phone interview earlier this week. "We're flabbergasted at this situation."
He's wrapped his garbage toters in bungee cords, he said, to keep the wildlife out.
Yolanda Brooks, spokesperson for the Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C., which is based in Burnaby, said the association advises those who wish to feed the birds do so responsibly.
"It does have an effect on the environment," she said. "Any food will attract animals that are skulking around, that you don't necessarily want."
Birdseed needs to be cleaned up regularly, and it is important to have something to collect overspill, Brooks said. Changing the location of feeders can help, as well. Birds don't need feeders as much during the summer and early fall, she pointed out, as there are plenty of food sources around during those times.
"If you have to take the bird feeders down during the summer and early fall, it wouldn't be a disaster," she said.
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