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Coronavirus blamed for recent rash of rat home invasions

Empty restaurant dumpsters and streets = aggressive rats prowling the Sault for food
rat
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SAULT STE. MARIE — Sault Ste. Marie's rat extermination calls are up as much as 30 per cent over this time last year, two local pest management companies tell SooToday.

There's no evidence that rats have been infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

But dots are being connected between COVID-induced social distancing behaviour among humans and the appearance of many more hangry rats on our streets.

"As human beings around the world change their daily behaviour to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, our absence is causing ripple effects in the urban ecosystem," National Geographic writer Emma Marris wrote 11 days ago.

"Among the most noticeable changes: Rats are coming out of hiding. They’re taking to the streets in broad daylight and invading homes in a desperate search for food," Marris says.

"With COVID-19, restaurants, hotels and many other industries have had their businesses disrupted. This has resulted in much less garbage being left on the streets and in dumpsters, thereby removing the major food source for rats in urban centres and causing them to travel to find new food sources," Etobicoke-based Abell Pest Control said in a written statement.

Local exterminators point to other possible factors behind the spike in rat appearances in Sault Ste. Marie:

  • we're having an earlier spring in 2020, compared to last year
  • there appear to be fewer foxes around town, reducing the impact of a significant rat predator
  • more people are at home continuously during the current pandemic, so we might just be more likely to notice rats that were already there
  • our new green garbage receptacles are harder for rats to access than the trash bags we used at this time last year

But both Stephen Pearson from Northern Pest Solutions Inc. and Allan McBane from Bugland Pest Management view the COVID-rat connection as credible.

"Our rat calls are noticeably up this year, particularly this past weekend," Pearson tells SooToday.

His Northern Pest Solutions reported five calls over the Easter holiday weekend, which Pearson estimates to be 25 to 30 per cent over last year.

"The wildlife has definitely been acting a little different this year," he says.

"There's always the possibility that if the food source is eliminated from some of the dumpsters, they'll move to where the food is," says Bugland's McBane. "The calls are up, at least 30 percent or better."

McBane says he's lost some institutional customers because of COVID's economic effects, but increased rat calls appear to be making up the difference.

Some customers request that he wear a mask when entering their premises, and ask McBane screening questions to ensure he hasn't been exposed to COVID-19.

He now asks his own COVID-19 screening questions when arriving at a job site.

Anthony Amato at Amato Pest Management hasn't noticed an increase in rat calls so far, but he concedes the season has barely started. 

"No more than usual. Things are just getting going right now. We'll know more in the next few weeks," he says.

Across Canada, Abell Pest Control reports a 50 percent increase in rat-related calls compared to 2019, most from larger cities like Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina and Vancouver.

Bruno Levesque, Ontario regional manager at Orkin Canada, agrees there are more rat sightings this spring but doesn't have numbers yet.

Local exterminators report seeing rats on the streets of Sault Ste. Marie this spring.

"If we see them in the daytime, that's not a good sign. They're nocturnal animals," says Bugland's McBane.

"Rats are neophobes. They don't like new things. When you start seeing rats on the streets, you realize there's not a whole lot of people about," Orkin's Levesque tells SooToday.

Mice usually don't travel much more than 10 metres, while the range for rats is about 100 metres, Levesque says.

But a lack of food quickly turns rodents into prowlers and burglars.

"They're going to force their way into establishments to find a food source. A hole the size of a quarter, a rat will be able to fit into that hole," says Levesque.

He recommends you check the seals under your doors and make sure all holes allowing pipes to enter your dwelling are similarly sealed.

"With the restaurants being closed, there are fewer food sources. The rats are going to travel to look for food."

Levesque also suggests residents ensure that household food is securely stored.

The City of Sault Ste. Marie offers additional advice to prevent and manage rat infestations:

  • monitor your property to determine where rats live, travel and feed
  • improve sanitation and eliminate nesting sites
  • prevent rodents from entering your home
  • use traps to reduce an existing rat population
  • if you have an infestation, hire a professional to set out bait and follow these precautions
  • continue to monitor the effectiveness of your control measures

At one point during the past decade, Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor were the only cities in Ontario offering rat abatement services to residents free of charge.

Still, in 2016 the Orkin Canada declared Sault Ste. Marie #18 on its list of Ontario's rattiest cities, based on the number of commercial and residential rodent treatments (rats and mice) it conducted.

Sudbury was ranked #9, Timmins was #22 and Toronto was ranked #1, followed by Ottawa and Mississauga.

From 2011 to 2016, the Sault's residential rodent control program averaged 304 calls per year, with a spike of 661 calls reported in 2015.

The city-funded program was eventually dropped after city staff argued it had become prohibitively expensive with no proof it was working.

Exterminators, on the other hand, maintained the $20,000 program was ridiculously underfunded, expressing reluctance to bid on the job even if four or five times as much money was offered.

At the end of this year, the City of Sault Ste. Marie will stop collecting trash to 250 apartment and condominium buildings, forcing them to make their own trash-hauling arrangements starting in 2021.

Asked whether that might lead to more garbage accumulations and more rats, Susan Hamilton Beach, the city's director of public works, said that would be a matter for property standards enforcement.


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David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
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