B.C. doesn’t have the ‘rattiest’ city in Canada, but it owns the dubious distinction of taking five of the top 10 spots on the list produced annually by Orkin Canada.
The pest controller ranks cities based on the number of commercial and residential rodent treatments for both rats and mice carried out from Aug. 1, 2021 through July 31.
Toronto is the rattiest in the country, but Vancouver is second, Burnaby is third, Kelowna fourth, Victoria seventh and Richmond eighth. The full list is here.
Orkin said that the pandemic and ensuing lockdown really put rats through the wringer.
Some moved into residential neighbourhoods during the pandemic. The lack of humans in city areas also created some scarcity issues, which Orkin said came out through signs of aggression that included, street fighting and territoriality between rats.
“With more available food, there will be exponential population growth. Food availability favours population growth since there will be less competition for food, which also will result in high reproductive potential, high survival and healthy thriving populations,” Alice Sinia, Ph.D. entomologist with Orkin Canada, said in a press release.
Orkin Canada experts report that with food more abundantly available in commercial areas, some of the aggressive behaviours among rats and mice that were noted during the lockdowns, such as cannibalism, “street fights” and territorialism, will likely lessen. However, with population growth, there will also be increased activities and sightings.
Here is the full list:
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Burnaby
- Kelowna
- Mississauga
- Calgary (mice only)
- Victoria
- Richmond
- Edmonton (mice only)
- St. John’s