Terry Giager and his neighbors are preparing for a real-life rat race.

They have weapons: peanut butter, D-batteries and shoebox-sized traps.

The upcoming demolition of Avondale Mall is expected to send any resident rats scurrying in search of new, quieter digs.

Avonwood, an Avondale Estates neighborhood of tidy brick ranches next to the mall, expects to be the front line.

Homeowners have found a sympathetic ear at City Hall.

"Whenever you tear a building down, the roaches and rats will run," City Manager Ron Rabun said. "You knock it down, and here they come."

Avonwood has battled rats for years, said Terry Giager, a former community association president, and homeowners blame the giant, empty building to the south. The 360,900-square-foot mall closed five years ago.

Neighbors suspect rats live in the mall, then roam north to scavenge in their yards from trash, bird feeders and leftovers in dog bowls. They often invade homes.

Giager has volunteered his time as the rat go-to guy. He removed 17 rats under one woman's house, he said, then helped her rat-proof the place.

Now the neighborhood worries that rats of "Willard" proportions will stampede north toward their homes. There's no major road between the neighborhood and the mall to stop them.

So just before the start of demolition, Rabun wrote to DeKalb County officials and contractors, telling them Avondale didn't want a "mass movement of rodents" heading its way. He asked for "rodent mitigation."

Wal-Mart, which is tearing down the mall to build a new SuperCenter, agreed to address the small city's complaint.

Even before the Feb. 12 groundbreaking, the retail giant had called a pest service. Traps were set, and the pest control company will keep an eye on things, a Wal-Mart spokesman said.

Avonwood residents say they're not taking any chances.

Avonwood has invited the local Ace Hardware to a community meeting Thursday. The store will show off some rat traps