If you see something small and furry scurry across the street in the corner of your eye, it’s probably not your imagination — at least, not in downtown Vancouver.
According to pest control company Orkin Canada, the city’s rat population is growing. Fraser Valley branch manager Trine From said unseasonably high temperatures may be helping cultivate the community of critters.
“I was downtown last week and a rat nearly ran over my foot and that’s not normal, especially during the day,” From told Global News.
“Warm weather is a factor. Rats, when they’re inside, they will breed year-round, but now that we have the warmer weather, the ones outside are now going to be breeding year-round as well.”
In October, Orkin Canada named Vancouver the “rattiest” city in B.C., based on the number of residential and commercial treatments it applied. Vancouver was followed by Burnaby, Kelowna, Richmond and Victoria.
In addition to the record warm temperatures, From said people are still feeding urban wildlife — bread or seeds, perhaps — and the scavenging scourge is picking up leftovers that might have been intended for birds or other animals.
“Yeah we’re enjoying the wildlife that you’re feeding, you see it, it’s beautiful — but you’re also attracting mice and rats to those areas,” she explained.
“Mice and rats like to nest close to their food source, so we have nesting in those areas as well and the rodent population will definitely grow.”
According to rat researcher Dr. Kaylee Byers, however, it’s difficult to get a real read on the scale of the rat population in B.C.
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The assistant health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University and senior scientist at the Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society said there’s no system for tracking rat numbers, so much of the data available is anecdotal.
“Local context is so important when we’re trying to understand rat sightings. Certainly, we could have an area where there’s just a lot of food available to rats,” Byers explained.
“Generally outside of a busy train station, for example, we might have garbages that are accessible to rats. All rats need to survive really is food, water, and a place to burrow.”
Extra food left on the ground can bring a whole mischief — the word for a group of rats — together for a “rat party,” she added.
Last year, the B.C. government permanently banned the sale of and use of a class of rodenticide poisons known as second-generation anti-coagulants, with an exception for certain sectors deemed “essential services,” like food production or health-care facilities. The goal was to prevent unwanted environmental side effects, such as the deaths of owls and other predators that eat rats and mice.
To manage, control or rid one’s home of rats, From said “exclusion” is the number one tool. That means plugging or sealing any holes, gaps or cracks in the exterior of a building since rats can squeeze through any space larger than a quarter. She also advised trimming back trees or bushes, as rats are good climbers who can use them to get onto roofs or windows.
“Rats are very intelligent, it’s different than dealing with mice,” From said. “They’re what are called neophobes, they’re afraid of anything new being put into their environments. So if you set a trap in a rat’s environment, they’re not going to go to that trap because it’s new.”
In order to catch a rat, From recommended laying a trap down — unset — for about a week with treat baits. Once the rat is accustomed to snacking there, set the trap with the same bait, she suggested.
Byers said “unless we live on an island,” getting rid of rats may not be realistic.
“I think it comes down to cities needing to identify their goals. Are our goals to reduce rat populations? Are our goals to manage risks associated with rats? Those will have different management approaches, different priorities,” she said.
“That will allow us to think about the many ways we can manage rats in our cities, and how we can manage them in relation to other municipal programs, like housing or waste management.”
Byers said it’s important to consider how landlords can be held accountable for rat management on rental properties, to consider collective action on a city block, and what kind of policies and programs can be put in place at a community level.
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