[id34]

Growing up in AB, I really didn't conceptually understand what rats are like in other places. I can't think of another animal with that same ubiquitousness.

Having no exposure as a kid means I find them terribly terribly gross when I see them in other places - in a park in Mexico City a couple months ago I audibly jumped when I saw them rooting around in gardens. Probably something to be said about exposure therapy

[hbn]

I've lived in Saskatchewan my whole life where we don't have this law and I can't say I've seen a lot of rats in my life. Maybe if you work in unhygienic restaurant kitchens, or on a farm you might see them more. But in the city, it's not a thing I can ever remember encountering.

[bryanlarsen]

If you're in Saskatchewan and you see rats you call Alberta. They'll come by and get rid of them for you.

[tonyarkles]

I laughed so so hard when Ratatouille came out and had this little extra feature on the DVD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-2xD9ShhMZU

Also another SK HNer checking in!

[morkalork]

Been seeing them more frequently in Montreal, apparently the city banned some specific poisons used to control the population so we end up with fun videos like this: https://old.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/x5cnu6/sweet_old_...

[dboreham]

You'll see vast numbers of rats any night in downtown Seattle or San Francisco.

[gotaran]

I lived in both for more than a decade. I only remember seeing a mouse sized rat once in Seattle. Never saw one in SF.

I live in NYC now and see multiple on a daily basis. Exposure therapy helps, but barely. It still scares the shit out of me a few years in.

[nightowl_games]

I'm also from Saskatchewan, cheers

[herewulf]

    And it's a ho, hi
    Farmers bar your doors
    When you see the Jolly Roger
    on Regina's mighty shores

XD

[rikthevik]

-30 reporting in

[hbn]

There are dozens of us!

[dowager_dan99]

I saw you all at the last Stamps v. RR game, wearing watermelons on your heads!

[rts_cts]

I grew up in Alberta, too. Intellectually, I knew what a rat was but I'd never seen one in my life. After school, I moved down to California and was leaving work late one night (Sunnyvale, CA) and saw this crazy thing walking along the curb near my car. It was like a really small cat, or a huge mouse, or a short weasel with a long tail. There I was, all alone in the parking lot in the middle of the night shouting at this rat, "Hey! You're a RAT!"

The rat was not concerned by this.

[TheGrassyKnoll]

It was probably poisoned & couldn't give a damn about anything else.

[ChumpGPT]

>I can't think of another animal with that same ubiquitousness.

In Toronto, you have rats, Racoons, Canadian geese, and pigeons. An infestation almost everywhere downtown and throughout the city.

I've seen a rat in Toronto that I mistaken for a Raccoon, it was insane how big it was. A crowd of people waiting for the Subway started running for their lives as it ran toward them on the platform. There is a rat, Racoon, epidemic in Toronto. They are everywhere and I don't think there is an effort to try and control them. As a matter of fact, I think they may be protected by law since I have heard of people almost going to jail for trying to chase away Raccoons with a broom.

[Graziano_M]

I also grew up in Alberta, and I never even saw a raw in my life until I visited Europe in my 20s.

[throaway250]

MB has regular amounts of rats. My dad said he once saw one the size of a small cat in an old basement.