Rats! Vancouver rated No. 1 in rodents
Rounding out the top five in B.C. are Victoria, Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey
Rats! It appears Vancouver is leading the pack when it comes to the little scoundrels.
For the second year in a row, Vancouver has been rated as the top rat-infested city in B.C., according to pest control company Orkin Canada.
The company released Wednesday its annual list of the top “rattiest” cities in each province, based on its number of commercial and residential rodent treatments.
Orkin says out of all the cities in the province, Vancouver had the most service calls to deal with rodents in 2017. However, the company would not disclose how many calls, citing competition and “business reasons.”
Rounding out the top five are Victoria, Burnaby, Richmond, and Surrey. The company has not yet compiled a national list.
Orkin Vancouver branch manager Trine Butler said it is not surprising that Vancouver is in the top spot, given its density, older buildings, and proximity to water and shipping routes.
Although she could not provide numbers, she said anecdotally that there was an increase in the number of calls last year, mainly to do with rats, and predominantly in the Downtown Eastside.
She believes the reason for the spike is increased use of composting, and the construction boom.
“When construction happens, we tend to see more rodents because they are getting displaced,” she said.
Also, restaurants are a big draw for the critters, especially in the warmer months because owners leave the back doors open.
The company works with health inspectors to ensure the city ’s restaurants are following pest control recommendations, she added.
Kaylee Byers, a PhD student at the University of B.C. doing research at The Vancouver Rat Project, says rats transmit a number of different pathogens. She told Postmedia local rats are most likely to carry leptospira, a bacterium carried in rat urine that causes fever in humans.