Rat Control in Shively, Kentucky

Shively incorporated in 1938, in part to keep Louisville from annexing and taxing the distilleries just outside it. Several distilleries ran here after Prohibition. Brown-Forman's plant is still operating, the old Stitzel-Weller distillery is now a Bulleit visitor stop, and Michter's opened a distillery here in 2015. In the 1950s Shively was the fastest-growing city in Kentucky, and much of its housing dates from then.

1950s houses

Shively's post-war houses are mostly small brick and frame homes on crawl spaces or basements, many with a detached garage or shed out back. After seventy years, vent screens rust, garage doors sag and gaps open around utility lines. Rats get under the house through those and through burrows dug beside the foundation. See crawl space and basement rats.

Along Dixie Highway

Dixie Highway is lined with restaurants, gas stations and shops, and the dumpsters behind them feed rats. Homes on the streets right behind the highway see more activity. Businesses usually need a commercial plan. Homeowners should watch for burrows under sheds and along fences.

• Replace rusted crawl space vent screens with hardware cloth
• Keep the garbage cart lid closed
• Look for burrows beside the slab and the shed

Around Shively: Dixie Highway · St. Helen's Church · Stitzel-Weller · Brown-Forman

Also serving Old Louisville, The Highlands, Germantown, Crescent Hill and Clifton, St. Matthews, Jeffersontown, Middletown, Prospect, Okolona, Pleasure Ridge Park and Valley Station.