Brussels is considering using ferrets to get its rat problem under control. The city council has allocated €65,000 for tackling rats this year, a 20% increase from last year. The money will be used to buy smart rat traps, but alternative methods are being considered for next year.
Kanton Brussel
Brussels considers bringing in ferrets to manage rat population
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The city will follow the example of municipalities such as Beersel and Merchtem, which are already using digital rat traps.
“A smart rat trap is a box in which rats are lured with food. They are then submerged in a special liquid and die painlessly,” said Andreas De Kerpel, spokesperson for Anas Ben Abdelmoumen, the city councillor in charge of public cleanliness.
The traps can also keep track of how many rats have been caught in a particular location. This makes it possible to identify areas with high rat populations, allowing policies to be adjusted on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis.
Natural predators
But during a meeting of the city’s rat task force, a more eye-catching method was put forward: ferrets. The method is used by the housing associations Brusselse Woning and Lakense Haard. The city is considering hiring a professional rat catcher who uses trained ferrets.
Rats are natural prey for ferrets. Ferrets can crawl into small holes and track down the rats, chasing them out of their hiding places and into traps. For now, it is just an idea, but the proposal will be included in the budget discussions for 2026.
Since January, Brussels’ rat exterminators have carried out around 600 “rat extermination operations” in public and private areas, a free service for residents. Reports can be made online , by telephone or by email.
De Kerpel calls for preventive measures against the city’s rat population: “Do not leave food scraps lying around,” he says. “Put your rubbish in a separate, closed container. Rats will go anywhere they can find food and shelter.”