Pests under control at Cape Breton Regional Hospital

Traps still in place around property

SYDNEY There's been no sign of rodents around the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in recent weeks an indication that stepped up pest control efforts over the summer worked.

Cape Breton Post file photo

Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney.

"There have been no new sightings of rodents on the hospital property," said Lynn Gilbert, spokeswoman with the Cape Breton District Health Authority.

In mid-August, the regional hospital had to step up its pest control efforts from monthly to daily to deal with a higher-than-normal number of rodents including rats and raccoons around the property. At the time the increase was attributed, in part, to a hole that was discovered in the hospitals compactor that was providing a food source to the rodents. A difficult winter that had left animals scrambling for food was also identified as a factor.

Since then, Gilbert said a number of steps have been taken to deal with the problem.

"The old garbage compactor was removed and it was replaced with a new self-contained compactor and before the new compactor was put in place an environmental clean was done of that area too, so it's really nice and clean and very tidy there," she said.

Additional traps were also placed around the property.

"We do still have traps set around the property, which we're going to leave in place until the winter," noted Gilbert.

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Pests under control at Cape Breton Regional Hospital