Mickey’s Got Lots of Pals in Town

Congratulations, Los Angeles. You have the dubious distinction of placing second among American cities in sales of mice killer for 1995, according to the d-CON company.

Not surprised that L.A. is lousy with mice, second only to New York City? After all, what self-respecting metropolis doesn’t have some vermin here and there?

But wait--the year before L.A. didn’t even crack the Top 10.

So what gives? Has L.A. suddenly become overrun with the little furry guys?

Maybe.

Ray Honda, an L.A. county senior health inspector, hasn’t seen the dramatic jump that d-CON claims.

“There’s no way to take a census of mice and rats,” Honda says. “All I can go on is the number of complaints we receive (which usually favor rats over mice), and that might have increased slightly, but not to any great degree.”

He theorizes that d-CON’s sales boom might have more to do with the economy; in bad economic times people try to eradicate the little critters on their own.

But Jim Poindexter, branch manager of Western Exterminator Co., said he has seen a significant increase in calls about rat and mice infestation in the Los Angeles area in the past few years.

“A lot of it has to do with new construction, especially the digging for Metro Rail,” he says. “And the rains have something to do with it, too.”

In both cases, the animals are driven indoors, where, like humans, they search for food, warmth and possibly even cable.

Awareness of the rodent-borne hantavirus may have also contributed to d-CON’s increased sales, says wildlife specialist Richard Poche, whose Genesis Laboratories Inc. in Fort Collins, Colo., tests some of d-CON’s products.

“When there’s a lot of publicity over something like this,” he says, “I think people tend to take a little precaution and become proactive.”

And what of the old-fashioned way of getting rid of mice--cats?

“They’re basically lazy,” Poche says. “It depends on the cat. Some would just as soon go for the Little Friskies.”