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How Alberta Eradicated Rats

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Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#71

Post by Hugsbox »

WalterBright wrote: post #66
skeeter2020 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Alberta has no rats" is a bit of a simplification, as the linked article goes into in depth. They do find rat investations (typically) in the border zones, and some sneak through, both wild and domesticated. Due to ongoing management though the statement is true in broad strokes. We have lots of mice and all sorts of ground squirrels (including a ridiculously awesome "museum") but thankfully very few rats. https://w…

The exterminator told me you either have rats or mice. That's 'cuz the rats are good at eating the mice.

In some parts of the world I bet that's true. I can say with a high degree of certainty that I have neither.

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#72

Post by Hugsbox »

tennfown wrote: post #39
Hugsbox wrote: post #3

Every so often I'll mention online that Alberta has no rats, and inevitably there will be an American responding in absolute disbelief saying I'm full of shit. I may not live in Alberta, but luckily rats aren't really a thing in my neck of the woods. Travel an hour down the highway and it's a different story. Also, as an aside, people often don't believe me when I say I've never seen a cockroach before in my life. No…

> Also, as an aside, people often don't believe me when I say I've never seen a cockroach That one is pretty shocking. When I lived in South Carolina I remember I used to walk this one road late at night. Once it was dark enough I could see them scattering underneath the streetlights on the fucking sidewalk. Reminded me of sidewalk lizards in Florida, but grosser. I live in the Midwest now. I’m just glad they’re smal…

I'm told that the nearest city to me "probably" has cockroaches, but I avoid the city like the plague so no roach encounters for me thus far. I'm 30 and have never left the Canadian Maritime provinces in my life, so I guess it makes sense that there's plenty of "normal" things I've never come across.

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#74

Post by triceratops »

BXLE_1-1-BitIs1 wrote: post #70

Lots of rodents in Alberta. The neighbourhood cats keep the mice and hantavirus down. Aircraft are often infested with mice. We need more bullsnakes.

> The neighbourhood cats keep the mice and hantavirus down. Aircraft are often infested with mice

They aren't doing a good job of keeping them "down" if they're on planes.

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#75

Post by NaOH »

dang wrote: post #51

Related: On the front lines of humanity’s high-tech, global war on rats (2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17821534 - Aug 2018 (1 comment) On the front lines of humanity’s high-tech war on rats - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9540096 - May 2015 (32 comments) I thought there had been other threads about this but couldn't find them. Anyone?

New York claims a small victory in 'forever war on rats' - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42918425 - Feb 2025 (204 comments)

Cats are no match for New York City's rats (2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38333054 - Nov 2023 (77 comments)

How rats became an inescapable part of city living - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19413214 - Mar 2019 (52 comments)

The Case for Leaving City Rats Alone (2016) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19207172 - Feb 2019 (14 comments)

Drones Help Rid Galapagos Island of Invasive Rats - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19078518 - Feb 2019 (58 comments)

New Zealand’s War on Rats (2017) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16891549 - April 2018 (34 comments)

New Zealand’s War on Rats Could Change the World - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15730337 - Nov 2017 (3 comments)

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#76

Post by ipdashc »

FeteCommuniste wrote: post #53
ipdashc wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've seen pictures of em, and I'm pretty sure if I saw one of those things irl I would absolutely shit myself. I always thought this was interesting (how many people are super scared of cockroaches). I'm absolutely terrified of bugs, I see cockroaches very rarely, and while I wouldn't pet one... They're not too bad? There's tons of bugs that are way scarier. Spiders, house centipedes, camel crickets. And that's jus…

For me it's less fear than an instant "I must kill it / get it out of here" feeling. A big spider or centipede gives me a more intense "creepy crawly" shiver but a cockroach is way higher on the disgust scale for some reason.

That makes total sense actually!

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#77

Post by ipdashc »

rawgabbit wrote: post #56
ipdashc wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm aware, I don't kill spiders if I can avoid it. And I know cockroaches are nastier. I just think it's surprising that people are so visually afraid of them, since they're not a very scary-looking bug.

Growing up poor, cock roaches symbolize poverty and the run down sad places I used to live in. I can’t stand them as they bring back bad memories of my childhood.

That makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about it that way.

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#78

Post by scotty79 »

_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #52
dan353hehe wrote: post #28

> But it was easy to prove warfarin was safe: a pest control officer held a series of local meetings where he ate warfarin-treated rolled oats while discussing rat control. Got to love those live demos. Eating rat poison in front of the audience to prove it is safe!

The dose makes the poison. Warfarin is prescribed as a blood thinner for humans.

Is it only the dose? I think I read somewhere that rodents are especially vulnerable to this substance for some genetic reason. To lazy to check again. Not to lazy to pronounce my ignorance in a comment. Oh my.

Re: How Alberta Eradicated Rats

#80

Post by [deleted] »

cf100clunk wrote: post #14
skeeter2020 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Alberta has no rats" is a bit of a simplification, as the linked article goes into in depth. They do find rat investations (typically) in the border zones, and some sneak through, both wild and domesticated. Due to ongoing management though the statement is true in broad strokes. We have lots of mice and all sorts of ground squirrels (including a ridiculously awesome "museum") but thankfully very few rats. https://w…

Canada's shipping ports have had rat infestations for hundreds of years, even up the Great Lakes. DNA studies show that once a local population became established long ago, it defended itself repeatedly from incursions, and carries on. Alberta has no sea ports, so rats hitch rides there on trains, trucks, and in packaging. The scale is much, much smaller, so Alberta is somewhat able to eradicate them.

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