A growing problem
Fans of the caped crusader are familiar with the bat phone.
But what about the rat phone?
In Alberta, the number to call is 310-RATS (7287), a new listing designed to encourage the reporting of rat sightings, dead or alive, and keep the province rat-free.
Bruce Hamblin, an inspector with Alberta Agriculture, said the new phone number should eliminate the guesswork.
“Some people didn’t know who to call, and so they would just start calling numbers,” said Hamblin.
The department responsible for rat control can vary in cities, while not all residents of rural municipalities have the agricultural fieldman on speed dial.
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Most Alberta farmers know that 310-FARM can be used to connect with rat control officials, but it isn’t staffed on weekends.
“If somebody phones in and they don’t get an answer for a couple of days, then they’re going to get frustrated or they’re going to maybe think that we don’t take this rat-free status seriously,” Hamblin said.
“It’s an easily remembered number,” he said about 310-RATS.
“It’s a catch-all for everybody.”
The number connects callers with voice mail, where they can leave a message. The voice mail is checked several times a day, including weekends, Hamblin said.
“I think it’s going to make it more effective and more efficient.”
Farmers can still use other channels to report rats, such as direct contact with municipal district or county officials.
Many Albertans have never seen a live rat in the wild, which makes Hamblin happy.
However, that also results in incidents of mistaken identity. Muskrats and pocket gophers are the most common species mistaken for their unwanted rodent cousins.
Hamblin said there were more calls than usual last year involving actual Norway rat sightings, although he did not have exact figures.
One rat caught a plane into Fort McMurray, one hitchhiked in a vehicle driven from British Columbia and a few came into the Redcliff area aboard farm machinery.
Sightings were also reported north of Sibbald, at Youngstown and in Calgary, Edmonton and Medicine Hat.
“People will say, ‘we’re supposed to be rat free but there’s rats in Medicine Hat (for example).’ Well yes, but we fight that. It’s a constant,” said Hamblin.
“Rat free is not a noun, as far as I’m concerned. It’s a verb.”
A rat infestation at Medicine Hat’s landfill in 2012 received national and international attention, and was in part responsible for this new initiative to encourage reporting, Hamblin said.
Medicine Hat now has a baiting program and employs steady vigilance.
“That’s not to say that next week a truckload of garbage comes in from Saskatchewan or from wherever and there are two rats in it. Then you start again. It’s a constant battle. But it’s an interesting battle.”
Hamblin said the cost of Alberta’s program is small, considering the damage rats could do if left to their own devices. The rodents consume and contaminate feed and food, gnaw and tunnel, and can transmit disease.
Rats cause an estimated $19 to $20 billion in economic damage in the United States each year, and about $100 million is spent annually on control efforts.
Provincial legislation requiring landowners to take action against rats is the backbone of the rat-free program, said Hamblin.
“As long as we can stay ahead of the curve, it’s huge, because if they ever do get established, then it’s like a snowball going downhill, almost. It’s going to get bigger and bigger and bigger until people get accustomed to living with them.”
He believes Albertans are proud of the province’s rat-free status and often hears supportive remarks about the program.
“One of the comments that I hear quite often is, ‘I don’t care what you guys do but keep the rats out of Alberta.’ So there is an arm of support out there for the program, a very big arm, I think.”
- Rats can be responsible for losses to food stuffs by consumption and contamination, damage to property, caused by gnawing and tunnelling and disease transmission.
- The predominant rat species in Canada is the Norway rat, a shy, nocturnal rodent that can survive on a wide range of food items ranging from garbage to stale grain, straw or packaged food.
- Norway rats have a life span of about 18 months. Under ideal conditions, a breeding pair of rats can produce 15,000 offspring per year. Females as young as eight weeks old can deliver 12 to 18 pups per litter. They can produce up to 12 litters per year.
- An adult male Norway rat weighs about one lb. and is seven to 10 inches in length (not including the tail).
- Its fur can be reddish to greyish brown or black with a lighter underbelly.
- It has small, delicate pink feet and a small pink nose. Its eyes are small compared to other rodents and its ears are small compared to other rat species.
- The most distinguishing feature of this rat is its tail, which is cylindrical, tapered and nearly hairless. Any hairs on the tail are short and bristled and grow from well-defined ridges along the entire length of the tail. Tail length is six to nine inches and is always shorter than the body.
- Rats must chew continuously to wear down their front teeth, which grow two to four inches per year. They chew anything in their path, including plywood, structural woodwork, frozen ground and even concrete.
- They produce up to 25,000 droppings per year, so they can be easily detected. Droppings are black, blunt at both ends and are the size and shape of a small olive pit.
- Norway rats are ground dwellers, building nests on or below ground level. Nests consist of food remains and scavanged items such as paper, straw, cardboard, rags or even shredded plastic. Entrances to their nests are sometimes smudged from contact with their oily fur. Rat nests often have a distinctive musky odour.
- Remove food sources such as garbage, food containers, spoiled grain or feed.
- Remove potential shelter such as tires, planks and bales. Rats will make any object a temporary home as long as they can crawl underneath it. Move items frequently to discourage nesting. Rotate stored grain or forage bales.
- Use poison to eliminate infestations. Pre-mixed warfarin bait is the recommended product for rat control. Newer baits such as bromodialone and brodifacoum work faster but are less safe for non-targets such as pets and livestock. Only warfarin should be used near occupied buildings.
- Set bait where only rats will find it in obvious habitats such as bale stacks, under granaries, barns, shelters and garbage piles. Use an all-weather bait station to keep the bait dry and fresh.
