Alberta’s rat-free status restored, inspection finds

CALGARY – Alberta is officially rat-free again, after a scare in north Calgary proved to be a rogue rodent.

Inspectors found no evidence Tuesday that more than one rat had infiltrated the northeast neighbourhood.

As well, a second animal caught and thought to be a baby rat was actually a mouse, according to provincial inspector Phil Merrill.

"It was misidentified," said Merrill, who is based in Lethbridge. "It was a large mouse."

Still, the threat to the province’s reputation was significant enough to draw a comment from Premier Ed Stelmach.

The premier said it’s important the province remain rat-free, because the claim boosts Alberta’s agricultural reputation internationally.

"You won’t have any rat feces in the food that we produce, no contamination," he said of the message taken to Japan, China and Europe. "Accumulated, it positions Alberta very well.

"I have great confidence in our pest control people because they have years of experience and they’ll get every rat that there is the province."

The provincial inspector spent Tuesday with city animal and bylaw services staff checking the neighbourhood where a Norway rat was trapped by a resident.

Crews put out 24 traps and bait stations Monday in a five-property radius from where the rat was discovered, and also cleared away dirt and weeds from around four or five burrows that were uncovered.

"We found what we were hoping to find," Merrill said.

"We only found one rat. The nest where the rat was, we checked very closely. There were no other signs of a rat," said Merrill.

"I’m fairly confident it was a single rat that hopped on a boat or truck looking for a place to sleep and eat."

Alberta patrols its border with Saskatchewan in an effort to keep the destructive and disease-carrying rodents out of the province.

While the odd rat might hitch a ride into the city, animal and bylaw services head Bill Bruce said they act quickly whenever one is brought to their attention.

"We’ll keep monitoring for a few more weeks, leave the bait stations out, to be sure," Bruce said.

Staff are also following up on about 70 calls reporting possible rat sightings since the news broke. Although they’ve "gone through a large chunk," only muskrats, squirrels and pocket gophers have been picked up.

The city hasn’t disclosed the neighbourhood where the rat was trapped, but media reports have identified it as Coventry Hills.

Mark Scholz, president of the Northern Hills community association, says they’ve haven’t heard any concerns from the neighbourhoods they represent.

"I think it’s indicative of the fact it is somewhat blown out of proportion, the actual effect on the community," he said, adding they have also not been made aware of exactly where the rat was found.

City bylaw officers should be commended for their quick response, Scholz said.

The capture of a rat in Calgary put the province’s claim to rat-free status into the headlines.

Alberta spends about $500,000 a year to keep the rats out.

A single breeding pair can produce 15,000 descendants in just a year.