Parched rodents gnaw at landlord

By ANNE GIBSON

Mystery leaks at water pipes in the ceiling of a Mt Wellington house are driving the landlord spare.

John Hatton of Kohimarama said he was puzzled to find water leaking from the mains pipe in the roof of his brick-and-tile renter.

Five times in the past few weeks, tenants have called him to the solidly built house to repair leaks in the plastic pipes but when the mains pipe in the ceiling burst, causing extensive water damage, he really began to fret.

"It was devastating - it was as if someone had climbed into the roof and turned a garden hose on. You can imagine the damage," Mr Hatton said.

When he made a close inspection of the damaged pipes, he noticed marks which indicated that the pipes had been chewed through.

Rats, he thought. His suspicions were confirmed when a Placemakers staffer told him rat poison caused an insatiable thirst.

No Rats & Mice Bait poison from Christchurch-based Kiwicare Corp had indeed been laid in the ceiling of the house just before the recurrent water problem, so Mr Hatton called Kiwicare's customer services chief, Clive Ashman, to make his concerns known. He was told the problem was extremely rare.

"I am not saying this rat poison is the problem," Mr Hatton said, "but I really must find an answer to avoid the same problem again."

He wrapped the pipes in wire mesh to protect them, but the rodents gnawed through the one tiny piece Mr Hatton missed.

Once again, water poured into the house and once again large teeth marks were left in the damaged pipe.

Kiwicare's Mr Ashman said he had heard of only one other case like this in 13 years and although he had no doubt rats were causing the problem, he doubted this was due to the poison. He said more information was needed before a definite link could be made.

"It must be rats chewing through the pipes because mice wouldn't be able to get through them," Mr Ashman said.

"But I'd hate to think how long it would take them. Rats are chewing animals but that's a heck of a job - almost a mission-impossible task."

A rat's body would become "desiccated' within five to 10 days after digesting Kiwicare's poison, he said, but most rats would leave a roof cavity to die.

Mr Hatton is thinking of replacing his plastic pipes with copper. In the meantime, he has placed bowls of water in the roof so any dying rats will leave his pipes in peace.

A Google internet search revealed an association between rats and damaged plastic water pipes.

"Recently I saw a piece that appeared to have been eaten into by a rodent," wrote Irish plumber David Bonny. "I don't think plastic pipe is a favoured meal of the rat and I dare say that, given a feed of rat poison, even a plumber might gnaw into a plastic water pipe to quench his thirst."