The effort will continue until the population is controlled, he said. More traps were set in the playground Tuesday night, after the playground was closed. Schroeder, who has been in the pest control business for 23 years, said KidsPlace represents probably the biggest rat infestation he has seen, except in farm feed barns, where rats find food especially abundant. The playground has been overrun by rats largely because so much food is dropped by visitors, and the rats find good burrowing places under the playground equipment. Corpus Christi Park and Recreation Department Director Tony Cisneros said food and drinks at the playground soon will be banned because of the rat problem.
Rats also like the wooden mulch that cushions the playground floor.
The Junior League of Corpus Christi, which built KidsPlace in 1991, has led a donation drive to raise money to replace the mulch with a rubber surface this summer. Pest control workers were stunned to see how quickly the rats descended on the traps Monday night. Schroeder and Herndon started setting out traps at 9 p.m. They had not yet set all the traps when some started snapping shut. At one point, Herndon set down a jar of peanut butter he was using for bait and walked away.