[steve_adams_86]

Fascinating. Not far from Alberta, here in Victoria BC I see rats on a very regular basis. They're all over the place. I used to live in a neighbourhood called Fernwood and had serious issues with rats infiltrating all parts of my home and shed. They'd create nests in strange places out of any kind of fibre they could find. I must have seen one per month at least while walking or riding my bike around, skittering across the road or between gardens. One time I got to see a hawk swoop down and grab one as it ran down the sidewalk.

A couple months ago I saw one making some hilarious vertical hops trying to grab onto the siding of my neighbour's townhouse in broad daylight. The city is covered in them.

Alberta must have excellent border patrol

[bobthepanda]

You would expect Victoria to have a shot at eradication given that it's on an island.

[steve_adams_86]

Unfortunately it's very hospitable to the vast majority of smaller animals since it doesn't get very cold on the south end of the island and there's a fair amount of food available. Rats live comfortably outside of cities here, and you'll find them out in the woods where they can eat insects, seeds, nuts, berries, etc for most/all of the year.

[tobyjsullivan]

British Columbia has banned rat poison since around 2021. At least anecdotally, the impact on the local rat population has been exactly what you'd expect.

[steve_adams_86]

It's difficult to assess one way or the other, but the impact of poisons on rat-eating animals was bordering catastrophic in some areas. Farms using rat poison would often have dead raptors nearby, for example. Hopefully the predators not dying from poisoning will have its own effect on the rat population. It might not be as significant as poison, but it's better that we have healthy predator populations rather than eventually little or none.

[mb7733]

Good luck, Victoria has a navy base!

Alberta's advantage is being landlocked (and not a natural habitat for rats). They managed to keep the rats that arrived at the ports from encroaching inland.

[theflyinghorse]

> Alberta must have excellent border patrol.

Part of it is that rat control is like engrained in us through school. There's a certain pride to it, hard to explain.