Pests

Inquiries about rats should be directed to Vej og Park on tel. 88 72 41 48.

You may be bothered by a variety of pests. Certain pests are controlled by the municipality (such as rats and raccoon dogs), while others are protected or controlled by the individual citizen.

How do I get rid of rats?

If you see rats or signs of rats, you must either report rats online or contact the rat catcher at +45 88 72 41 48.

If you report rats or signs of rats:

• on a weekday, the rat catcher comes the same day or the next weekday at the latest
• in the open, it can take up to seven days before the rat catcher inspects the property
• at the weekend, the rat catcher comes to visit next Monday.

Outside of normal opening hours, you can contact the call center on telephone no +45 88 72 47 87.

A visit to the rat trap is free, but it is your responsibility to report rats or signs of rats.

Get good advice for rat control at rotteangreb.dk

What do I do if I see a feral cat?

Sonderborg Municipality has a cooperation agreement with Cat Protection, which ensures that feral cats are captured according to the rules.

If you want feral cats captured and possibly re-released, contact Cat Protection at +45 38 88 12 00 in the period Monday to Thursday from 10 am to 15.00 pm or Friday from 10 am to 14.00 pm.

Can I put something up against rooks?

If you are bothered by rooks on your property, you can apply to the Danish Nature Agency Sønderjylland for permission to regulate the stock. The application should preferably be made around 1 April.

The municipality's regulation hunters assess each year where there is a need to regulate the number of roe deer on the municipal properties. This is done to limit the nuisance from the rook colonies to the surrounding residents.

How do I get rid of a marten?

If you experience unusual noise from / on your ceiling in the house, it can be a marten. However, it can also live in a rocky outcrop, a stone setting, dense shrubbery, sheds, outbuildings or the like. Although the marten is not harmful to health, it can do great damage, even if it keeps your rat population down.

When you need to have the marten removed, you can start by examining the house for holes (must not be larger than a chicken egg) where the marten can enter. Make sure that the marten is out and that it does not have young in the attic (usually from March to July) and close all holes at windshields or shoe troughs, along the ridge or at twigs with the most suitable material. Also a single roof tile that sits skewed, or a missing wire mesh in a ventilation duct can allow the marten to slip into the ceiling.

You can also catch the marten in a trap that you can buy in hunting shops. The trap is set up outdoors, preferably by a shrubbery or along a hedge. The bait that is placed in the trap can be a chicken egg with a small hole in it. Lay some eggs in different places near the house, so the marten can be more easily lured by the egg in the trap. If you catch the marten, you can drive it out into the woods, preferably by a rocky slope, and release it. You can also have it killed by the vet or by a hunter.

If you want to find out if you have a resident marten on site before acquiring a trap, you can start by laying the eggs. If the marten starts with the decoy feed and gets used to finding eggs in this particular place, it usually goes into the trap quite quickly when you set it up.

What should I do if I see a raccoon dog?

The raccoon dog is an invasive animal from Asia, which threatens parts of Danish nature.

In Sonderborg Municipality, raccoon dogs are regulated by volunteer hunters, and the effort is coordinated by Sonderborg Hunters Council by Jens Hangaard Nielsen, who is responsible for lending equipment for the regulation. If you see a raccoon dog, you can contact jens@hangaard.dk - mobile phone: +45 40 58 64 58

Can I do anything about seagulls?

 

Herring gulls can live up to 30 years, and they prefer to live in coastal areas where there is easy access to food. 
But the food base is dwindling, and the seagulls are moving further into built-up areas, where they fish food out of rubbish bins, steal from the plates at restaurants, and steal eggs and young from smaller birds. As the seagulls can live for many years, it takes a long time before the population is adapted to the food base.

From 2024, the municipality will regulate seagulls on its own buildings around Rådhustorvet in Sønderborg. 

What permits can I get from the Norwegian Nature Agency to regulate the herring gulls?
 

• From February 1 - April 15, herring gulls can be controlled with firearms and traps.
• From April 1 - July 31, eggs can be oiled or eggs and nests destroyed. 
• From 16 April – 31 August, young herring gulls can be controlled with firearms. 

You must apply for a permit to regulate herring gulls
 

What can you do if you are bothered by seagulls?
You can do various things yourself to prevent the seagulls from taking up residence on your property. But seagulls are clever, which is why they are hard to avoid.

• There must be no opportunities for food from e.g. bird feeders, open bins or containers.
• On flat roofs, you can prevent the seagulls from building nests, for example by letting a robot mower run around.
• You can mount bird spikes on ventilation and other flat returns so that the seagulls have nowhere to sit. But be aware that the seagulls are clever. They drop nesting material down between the bird's spikes until they can build a nest without getting the spikes in their stomachs.
• You can mount a scarecrow – a bird or something that spins. Sound is not a good idea in the city.

 

What should I do if I have problems with other pests?

If you have problems with eg insects, including bees and wasps, ants, silverfish, birds, moles, mice, boars, etc., you can contact a pest control company that can help you fight the pests. See which pests you need a permit to regulate / control.