Greater Sudbury’s rat problem seemed to ease up enough to drop the city from eighth spot down to 19th on Orkin Canada’s list of Ontario’s top 25 rattiest cities.
The Nickel City is ranked No. 19 on the list, ranked by the number of rodent (rat and mice) treatments Orkin performed from Aug. 1, 2020 through July 31, 2021 and includes both residential and commercial treatments.
Sudbury’s change in ranking is one of several notable changes over the past year, said Orkin Canada in a news release. Ottawa moved to No. 4 number four (from 12), while Kitchener, which didn’t make it on last year’s list, ranked last.
“Multiple lockdowns this past year have meant more people are cooking and eating at home,” said Orkin in the release.
A recent survey found that Canadians produced 13.5-per-cent more food waste during the lockdown than non-lockdown times. Food abundance means potential increases in rodent populations, which is why people may be seeing more rats and mice in residential neighbourhoods.
“Orkin Canada experts have observed bolder behaviour among rodents,” said the release. “Mainly nocturnal, increased sightings of rodent activity during the day have become more common, as well as migrations from resource-depleted urban centres to food-rich suburban areas, where rats and mice may have been able to reproduce and drive up the population.”
The top 10 rattiest cities in Ontario in 2021 are:
- Toronto
- Mississauga
- Scarborough
- Ottawa
- North York
- Etobicoke
- Richmond Hill
- Brampton
- London
- Oshawa
