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From wasp activity to a rat infestation, King Charles has had to deal with several problems on his beloved royal estates. According to a new report, his 20,000-acre Sandringham estate is now facing a major rat problem, with nearly 300 homes affected. The Norfolk estate, home to around 500 people, has residents complaining about vermin. Interestingly, the issue may partly stem from the late Queen Elizabeth's ban on cats on the estate.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the 'vermin infestation' prompted a resident to raise the issue at Sandringham's parish council meeting. The estate's manager, Rob Timmins, clarified that the responsibility for pest control lay with the "occupier, not the property owner." An obvious solution to curb the issue would be to keep pet cats at home. However, the late Queen had once banned cats, reportedly to protect local wildlife and because of her alleged allergies, which have complicated matters. A tenant scoffed, "There are always rodents in an agricultural area like this, but most people can keep the numbers under control by having a cat."
They explained, "Here that's [owning cats] not permissible, so it means that they [mice] are free to multiply. Traps can only be used indoors and on their own aren't really effective, and poison bait stations can't be used outside because they are potentially dangerous to other wildlife such as hedgehogs, so we're a bit stuck." Back in 2022, a Country Life report claimed that the late Queen was allergic to cats, but the main reason for banning the animals was to protect young game birds such as pheasants and partridges.
The Queen had good reason to protect wildlife and endangered birds, as in 2023, The Guardian reported 18 cases in 20 years involving the alleged misuse of poisons and the shooting and disappearance of some of the UK's rarest birds of prey in Sandringham. One of the alleged incidents involved the mysterious loss of a critically endangered species, the last breeding female Montagu's harrier in Eastern England. Many other cases were detailed in internal documents released under Freedom of Information legislation.
Unsurprisingly, this is not Charles's first challenge in the Sandringham estate. Last August, The Sun reported that residents experienced a surge in wasp activity, prompting the monarch to issue a safety warning. A notice outside the estate cautioned, "Please be aware that wasp activity is currently high in this area." To reduce the infestation, rubbish bins and dumpsters were sealed or draped with cloth to deter swarms, while plastic wasp traps were installed to capture the insects before relocating them elsewhere. The estate had also reportedly called in pest control to remove three wasp nests discovered at the Royal Stud.
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