THEY're a menace to mankind. They cause damage, disease and destruction. And in Bolton, there are as many of them as there are people.

Just think: There are probably 265,000 rats in Bolton. And the people from Pike Nook Pest Control Depot on High Street believe you are never more than 15 feet away from one.

But don't let these facts scare you, Bolton council's pest control manager, Geoff Evans, would like to stress.

He is in charge of two skilled men whose purpose in life is to bait 16,000 manholes around the town as a preventative measure.

Then there are five more "pest busters" who are each responsible for an area of Bolton.

They will come to your house if you've spotted a rat, free of charge. They also get called out to commercial premises and work on contract for large organisations to prevent rat infestations.

So -- join the rat race...

In 1999 and 2000 these men were called out to deal with rats 2,566 times.

Their boss Geoff has been in this business for 25 years.

He started as an "operator" himself and, on return from his first day at work, found his wife standing in the garage.

"You're not going into the house to get changed," she told him.

And when Geoff asked whether his tea was ready yet, she replied: "I didn't think you wanted any after doing your job."

He said sachets of poison are used to kill rats. They are put down until they stop disappearing -- meaning the rat is dead.

Hospital

It takes three to four days before a rat dies from the poison.

The reason behind this, Geoff jokes, is that if you want to put it in your wife's tea, it will give her a chance to get to hospital.

In truth, you would have to eat stacks of it before it would kill you, he explains. His may be an unglamorous job, but when the council advertised their latest vacancy for a pest control operator, no fewer than 128 people applied. One applicant even brought in a portfolio of photographs of his job successes.

The work involves spotting tell-tale signs including gnawing, foot prints in snow, droppings -- and, most surprisingly, greasy "belly marks" left on boxes and so on.

Yet they don't often see "the real thing" -- not alive, anyway.

And the officers know there are some odd rats in Bolton, such as the one who would only eat apples. In the end, he (or she?) came to a sticky end when the operator scooped the inside of an apple and filled it with poison. Ralph's stories will make you shudder RALPH Winstanley, a 64-year-old pest control operator, admits: "You start to think like a rat after a while."

During his 15-year career, he has accumulated a nice line in rat stories.

There's the one about the blind person who didn't know she had rats until her carer found one, dead, in the kitchen.

The resident had a heart condition and was on tablets -- which the rat ate.

"The tablets killed the rat before I got there!" says Ralph.

Then there's the gruesome tale about a "dysfunctional" man who lived in one room.

Ralph thought the pillow on the man's bed was made from leather -- but it turned out rats had left greasy belly marks after dipping into the chip pan.

When Ralph pointed this out, the man said: "The pan will be all right if I heat it up, won't it?"

On a next visit, Ralph spotted a dead rat on top of the TV, amidst the clutter. The man had never noticed the body.

And there was once a case of "rat bites little boy" when a rat dropped into a child's cot. He thought it was a soft toy -- causing the rodent to bite through his little finger.

The problem was an air brick which had been smashed when pipes were laid, but the hole was never covered up and gave the rodents easy access.

"Cowboy builders," says Ralph, shaking his head. Why rodents are able to win the rat race ANYTHING from broken drains to an open door could be an invite for a rat -- whose favourite place in the home is underneath airing cupboards or wooden floors.

Pest control officer Ralph Winstanley is an expert on these creatures' habits and characteristics.

"They need easy access, nesting material and access to food and water," he says.

"They are good mothers -- before she attempts to breed she needs at least all these three things. Interestingly, as Ralph points out: "They can only see four inches in front of them -- after that all they see is light and dark."

He added: "I've had a lot of jobs, but this is the most interesting one. Every day, there's a challenge. We keep winning battles, but we never win the war."

Even in his previous jobs -- say, in warehouses -- he has always been the one to deal with any rats.

"I used to sit on top of the stairs with a rifle," he laughs.

Times have changed, though. He's the rat poisoner now. Brown rat facts Also known as Norway rat, Common rat, Wharf rat and Sewer rat.

Adult weight: 300 grams. Length: 200-250mm. Length of tail: 150-200mm.

Rats can squeeze through a half inch opening.

They have harsh and shaggy fur, brown and black on upper head and body, grey or off-white underneath.

Rats have small eyes, poor eyesight and are colour blind. Their snout is blunt and they have an excellent sense of smell and taste.

They live outdoors, indoors and in sewers. They nest in burrows, can climb but are not agile and they're very good swimmers.

Rats will avoid unfamiliar objects, e.g. bait trays, placed on runs, for some days.

They have omnivorous feeding habits, eat up to 30 grams of food per day, drink water or eat food with a high water content.

Some rats have been known to develop thick coats of fur after burrowing into freezers and feeding off frozen meat.

Rats can transmit food poisoning, Weil's disease, Murine Typhus, Rat Bite Fever, Trichinosis, Leptospirosis and other diseases.

Their lifespan is nine to 18 months. They sexually mature at two to three months and have eight to 10 babies per litter, and up to seven litters per year.

Just one pair of rats can produce a colony of 2,000 rats in only a year.