EXCLUSIVE: In a bid to help solve Brum’s rodent crisis, the Daily Star has hung out with the Pied Piper of Birmingham who showed us the massive rifle that’s so good at killing rats it rendered our services redundant
The Daily Star learns the ropes from the busiest bloke in the city, as a hiatus in the war arrives (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
The Rat Man of Birmingham is looking forward to a little break.
Since the bin strikes started on March 11, William Timms has been the busiest man in the West Midlands, taking only one day off in 10 weeks.
“In two and a half months I’ve had one day off and I’ve finally got another one tomorrow,” the owner of WJ Pest Solutions said between gags and retches. “I’ve been called everything, the Rat Catcher, the Pied Piper, it’s unbelievable,” he said. ‘Unbelievable’ is a word he uses often, but given the circumstances maybe it’s warranted.
We were on Colville Road, close to Birmingham’s Balti Triangle, home to what WIlliam believed was the final pile of rotting refuse. “This time of year I’m normally doing about four or five rodent jobs a day. This year I’m averaging eight or nine a day.”
William Timms is Birmingham’s rat man(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
The day of our visit was a little different, however, with William telling us he had seen about 15 bin trucks that morning, finally setting about tackling the city’s dirty dilemma. The trucks were unmarked, and smaller than the normal Birmingham City Council ones, but still, by the time we arrived the infamous rubbish mountains were largely gone.
“Birmingham’s always had an issue with rats, but the way the bins are on strike now there have been some piles that have been left for four or five weeks,” William said.
“Rats have started to nest inside them instead of going back down to the sewers or into peoples’ sheds; come night time they’re just crawling all over. It’s a major health hazard.”
William and the Star were left gagging by the grim scene at the last bin pile in Brum(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
There were nappies and sanitary towels, plastic cups and a sofa, and even a large mass of poo that made William’s eyes water. We had headed down to try and help the city with its rodent problem, even putting out an appeal for people to tell us about their massive rats. But by the time we got there, there were none to be seen.
“This here is five or six weeks now,” said Nadeem, who worked across the road in restaurant Lahore Village. “School is opening on Monday, all the small kids, I think there’s a rubbish block on the end of the road too. Last time we couldn’t even park the car here, people had to walk in the road.”
The restaurant had its own refuse area in a fenced-off enclosure but commercial bins on wheels were also present at the pile, often without bungs in the bottom, making it easy for the rats to crawl up inside and make a nest. Still, the critters proved elusive to our steely gaze.
William got deep into the bins, hunting with the Daily Star (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
William claimed to have killed ‘a couple of thousand’ of the rodents since the strikes began, with poison his most lethal weapon. Still, there’s more than one way to kill a rat.
He said: “Rats have neophobia, which means they’re scared of new objects. It means I have to come back seven to 10 days after I’ve laid the bait. Sometimes I stick snappers down, they’re quite good but every time I put one down, some bugger nicks it.
“I’ve caught about 50 rats on snap traps, and I’ve shot about 60 more.”
The gun in question, a SMK SYN XS78, was as powerful as an air rifle can be in the UK and would kill a person if it hit them in the right place. It looked the part, a massive sniper rifle with a big scope and long barrel, and as far as we were concerned, had left rats on the endangered species list.
William has a big gun which is more than capable of killing a rat with a headshot (Image: Humphrey Nemar)
“I have to tell the police if I’m using it,” he said. “I have to say I’m going to be on this street at a certain time.”
He’s fallen foul of it before. “Next thing I know I’m being pinned down by armed response.”
The gun was striking, but poison still remained his best friend.
He said poisoning has knock on effects. “They go back to their nests and die and then the alive ones eat the dead, and secondary poisoning takes over.”
William admitted rat numbers had started to fall since the bins had begun being cleared. He did however claim that getting rid of the trash mountains was creating new problems.
The rat population was unharmed during our visit but William has claimed many victims(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
The removal of a heap on Cheddar Road, for instance, saw William called in because the newly-homeless rodents had taken refuge in a man’s car and chewed through the electrics. “When the black sacks are cleared, the rats are going to find somewhere else.”
Now the next part of the battle begins: clearing up the insurgence by sniffing out and snuffing out rodents that have taken shelter in nearby properties.
Still, for now, there’s a short truce in the war.
“I’m hoping [for a few days]. I’ve got tomorrow off,” he added.
With the strikes still ongoing at the time of writing, he doesn’t think the peace will last for long. The trash piles? “They’ll return, mate, they’ll return.”