Citrus loving roof rats call The Groves home

Roof rats have been a problem in east Phoenix for years, but now the citrus loving rodents are showing up in a Mesa neighborhood known as The Groves.

"Yeah, I've talked to the neighbors about it - we compare notes," said Susan Hunn, who recently noticed a tell-tale sign of roof rats around her property.

"Yeah, just the hollowed out oranges that you find sometimes," she said.

But she's not just sitting back, letting the rats take over.

We went along with her as she climbed a large grapefruit tree in her backyard to show us the roof rat trap she set up -- to keep the rats from taking over her neighborhood.

"We've had 'em up there a couple years - and we hadn't had any troubles with the roof rats since I put 'em up there," said Hunn.

This neighborhood is called The Groves for a reason.  Everywhere you look, there are citrus trees.  And it's the mature fruit that's attracting so many roof rats to this area.

"If the attics are open, they'll get in," said Dave Dickinson.

Dickinson worries the roof rats could cause some damage since they're known to chew on electrical wiring if they make their way inside people's homes.

For now, his dogs are helping to keep the rats away from his place.

"Oh, they just stand there staring at the wall all day long -- they're not even there and they're out there looking for 'em trying to get 'em..waiting for 'em to come out," he said.

The city of Mesa has no plans to go out and exterminate the roof rats -- they are just advising people to put out those poison traps and to also keep a handle on fruit grown on their trees.