Rattus rattus Roof Rats. (Photo: Hector Barajas, Adobe)
California’s Latest ‘Worst in the Nation’ Title: A Government-Created Rodent Plague
When politics replaces science, the result is higher costs, public health risks, and a statewide infestation
By Hector Barajas, August 26, 2025 3:15 am
Politicians love to remind the nation that California is the world’s fourth-largest economy and claim that others should follow the so-called “California Way.” But behind the slogans and press releases, the state has earned another reputation: ranking worst or among the worst in nearly every measure of quality of life, affordability, and business climate in 2024 and 2025.
According to recent studies and rankings, California stands at or near the bottom in:
- Raising a Family: Ranked 51st out of 50 states and Washington, D.C., by Consumer Affairs (2025).
- Child Poverty: One of the worst in the nation.
- Education: California’s percentage of students scoring proficient or better on reading and math: 34% in fourth grade, 29% in eighth grade.
- Quality of Life: Ranked 50th overall.
- Moving In: Named the worst state to move to (2024) by Consumer Affairs.
- Renting: Based on affordability crisis, tight rental market, and aging housing stock.
- Doing Business: Ranked the worst state for business for 10 consecutive years by Chief Executive magazine.
- Homelessness: #1 in the nation.
- Gas Prices & Taxes: Highest in the nation.
- Housing Costs: Highest in the nation.
- Unemployment: Highest in the nation. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 2025.
- Road Disrepair: Despite high taxes, infrastructure remains one of the worst in the nation.
- Regulations: Burdensome anti-business environment.
- Utility Bills: One of the highest in the nation.
And now, California can add one more distinction that no other state has: A Government-Created Rodent Plague.
A Government-Created Crisis
California’s rodent plague didn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of politicians who favor emotional stories over scientific facts. Instead of listening to experts, they listen to activists. The same activists who stage “die-ins” at supermarkets, break into farms to “liberate” chickens, and then go shopping for legislators willing to support their cause. The result is not cleaner, safer communities, but laws that make life more dangerous for families, workers, and farmers.
And let’s be clear: these aren’t the adorable rodents that stitch Cinderella’s ball gown or cook a French meal in Pixar’s Ratatouille. They are destructive, disease-spreading pests. According to National Geographic, two rats can multiply into 15,000 in just one year. That kind of exponential growth poses a serious threat to human health and the food supply.
Already, Californians have contracted plague in places like South Lake Tahoe, and our farmworkers and food supply are under siege.
Rodents chew through electrical wiring, cause house fires, spread diseases like hantavirus and salmonella, and are now tearing through almond orchards, destroying irrigation systems, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in crop damage.
The Almond Board of California estimates that infestations across more than 100,000 acres of orchards have caused up to $310 million in losses.
Farmers are sounding the alarm: “Never Seen Anything Like This.”
Yet at the very moment rodent populations are exploding, California politicians removed the most effective tools to control them. The Poison-Free Wildlife Act of 2024 banned the use of several key rodenticides, leaving pest control professionals to fight a plague with one hand tied behind their backs. This legislation went into effect on January 1, 2025.
What was championed as a “victory for wildlife” is becoming an economic and health issue.
Orkin and Terminix experts agree: the loss of these tools has made it nearly impossible to control infestations on a large scale. Mike VanFossen, the assistant vice provost at Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) at Stanford University, stated that “a population increase of rodents” has occurred statewide following the legislation passed months ago.
Rodent pest control is not about slogans, emotions, or political posturing. It is about protecting public health, securing our food supply, and safeguarding the livelihoods of farmers and workers. Yet California politicians chose to legislate under pressure from activists instead of science, stripping professionals of the tools they need to keep communities safe. The result is higher costs, greater risks, and a crisis that threatens families, farmworkers, and the state’s agricultural community.
What was celebrated as a “victory for wildlife” has become a disaster for Californians. And now, the Golden State can add a new entry to its long list of “worst in the nation” titles: a government-created rodent plague.
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If you want to reduce the rat population then stop increasing unnecessary restrictions on lead projectiles and the use of pellet guns in metropolitan no shooting zones. Offer free pellets and depredation permits. Train and certify youth in the safe use of firearms. End the small business monopoly on rat control. Share the homeland security glory!
The largest concentration of rats in California is at the State Capitol.
The photo only needs a podium to portray our current Guber’s administration.
No kidding.
Except it might be an insult to rats.
the Almond growers association should sue the members of the legislature who voted for this legislation, Gov Newsom, and the State of CA for destruction of private property/ lawful permitted business without due process or just compensation, resulting in losses in excess of $100 million and endangering public health. make THEM prove in court that these rat poisons were harming endangered wildlife species in larger number than the damage to public health from allowing rats to grow unabated. I am sure the new EPA director will file an amicus brief in your favor. the legislature doesn’t have science to back up their position, only lobbyists. just like they don’t have science to backup their laws requiring 12 year olds to sit in child safety seats – it’s all nonsense to enrich their lobbyist friends!
The Almond growers are exempt from this law–just as all farmers and agricultural providers in the state are–meaning they can’t sue for the reason you cite since they actually still have access to these poisons and use them frequently (which funny, it seems by the admission of this article, these poisons aren’t working anyway).
Don’t forget abortion and transgender surgeries:
CALIFORNIA A S**T HOLE.
BARJAS FOR GOVERNOR!
While not rats, I had a sudden, large influx of mice in my house. They were everywhere, boldly racing around in the house. Snap traps did no good, sticky trays got a few. So, I ended up denying them food (they were eating pet food I hadn’t secured) and put a mass of rodenticide in out of the way places as well as sealing entry ways. After about two weeks they were all gone, except they died in walls. It smelled terrible, which led to a thick cloud of flies. I put up fly paper everywhere. After a while the smell went away, as did the flies. It was a horrible experience.
I would never be aware of the problems in California if it weren’t for the truthful and effective journalism of the California Globe.
I tell everyone whom I encounter that is interested in the affairs of California to read the Globe.
Thank you.
100% tomorrow!
It was the criminal Democrat thug mafia in the legislature who pushed the ridiculous Poison-Free Wildlife Act of 2024 along with Hair-gel Hitler Newsom who signed it into law. Democrats created this mess. Those are are able get around this Democrat created nightmare go across the California border to purchase effective rodenticides.
Not leaving pet food outdoors, not feeding wildlife, and hiring a professional “rat-proofer” to cover with strong wire mesh any ventilation or other openings to your house seems to be the way to go to prevent potential problems from rats and mice.
I hope the Albert Camus book recommendations don’t have to now expand from “The Fall” (to be applied to the Worst Governor Ever, Gavin Newsom, and we hope he is headed for one, to now also include Camus’ classic “The Plague” which Gruesome and his policies have potentially brought to California. As if we needed more trouble.
https://www.themeateater.com/conservation/wildlife-management/california-issues-warning-after-trapper-finds-pigs-with-slushie-blue-colored
I’m sure happy that this law wasn’t in effect in 2003 when we purchased a “fixer upper”, that we found to be rat infested. The exterminator put an end to them fast!
About nine years ago I discontinued use of bait stations around my house due to what it might be doing to the hawks and owls. Hawks and owls can eat several rodents a day. I started using traps instead outside my house, in the garage, and in the attic. I used a combination of snap traps and electronic traps. Some rodents are wise to snap traps, but the electronic ones will get them instead. This combination has worked great for me. The hawks hunt for rodents during the day, and owls at night, so I have 24 hour protection. 🙂 What was almost a daily occurrence, is now down to a couple rodents every six months.
So with a combination of wildlife, and traps, I have kept the rodents at bay with good success.
Living here in urban Sacramento we’ve seen a rodent invasion this summer. It’s probably attributable to the passage of this law along with our neighborhood being full of gardens with fruit trees and the proliferation of homeless encampments throughout the city thanks to Democrats. We’ve tried traps but the rodents seem to ignore them and there are no hawks or owls in the area that we’ve seen to hunt for rodents. We drove over the hill to Home Depot in Reno and bought bait stations that seem to be working.
In an urban area, where other animals are not eating the dead rodents, it doesn’t seem like it should be an issue.
Mice are very cautious on traps. I have it down, though. I put a few chips of walnuts outside the trap as a “treat”. I place them in a row leading to the trap. I have never seen any rodent resist the treats. Once they enjoy those, they move onto the traps. A lot of people use snap traps, and they may stay away from those. That’s where the electronic traps come in. Those rarely fail. Just be sure you take the dead rodent out quickly, so they don’t get the idea that they might be next. I also clean the traps with alcohol to sanitize them, and rid the traps of any odors that might cause the rats and mice to avoid the traps.
I also put traps outside the house inside a rural mailbox that you can get from Home Depot or Lowes. That way the traps don’t get rained on. Having them outside means I catch them before they enter the house.
Good luck!
The Bills sponsor was Laura Freidman. Yes, that Laura Friedman. The movie producer from New York who has very deep roots in the “Animal Rights” / eco crazies lobbyist organizations. One of her big sources of funding. Most of her “public money” is recycled through labor unions as fronts but its the grey money that’s the real indication of who her true backers are. Who the Pay To Play customers are.
Want to sue anyone. I start with suing her. Laura Freidman. I’d love to see what a lawsuit discovery process would turn up in who paid for the bill (it was a Pay to Play Bill). And who else she gets money from.
I’d push the public health angle really hard. Western US mice are the main source of some of the nastiest diseases in the world. Use Federal law to crush this stupid “animal rights” / eco-crazies law. Yet to meet an “animal rights” activist who was not a sad pathetic individual with deep “issues”. Which is very different from treating animals humanely.
The legislation is not the cause of the rodent infestations. Agriculture is EXEMPTED from these bills– they are not prohibited from using the poisons– please check your facts before spreading misinformation. the bills are based on science (data from CA Fish and Wildlife), not emotion. This writer needs to learn how to fact check.