Rise in rat sightings across Metro Vancouver has residents concerned

A viral video of a horde of rats in Downtown Vancouver has people talking about a sharp rise in sightings of the critters across the entire region.

An increasing number of both rats and mice have been seen scurrying around in all areas of Metro Vancouver, and many people are concerned about this trend.

But not everyone is unhappy with this development. For pest control experts like Derek Thorsell, business is booming.

“I’d say 90 per cent of my calls all throughout the winter months were all rat-related or mice-related,” said Thorsell, who is the district manager at Critter Control Vancouver.

Art Phllips Park, just outside of Vancouver’s Burrard Skytrain station where the video was taken, has been a hot spot for the pests. Rats have been seen emerging from cracks and crevasses in the ground, despite traps being laid

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There are many reasons why we may be seeing more rats than usual in Vancouver, according to Thorsell.

“In those city settings, the natural predators for them, they’re not really around,” he said.

Pest control experts also attribute an unusually warm winter and a ban from the province last year on a type of rat poison that was deemed harmful to other animals.

Thorsell says for rodents, it all comes down to the environment and survival.

“If there is a food source, if there is a water source and a place to call home, that’s where they’re going to congregate,” he said. “So eliminating those things, the populations will go down.”

Thorsell says if you see one, there are certainly more. And when it comes to prevention, he advises against leaving clutter or pet food outside of your home. As well, he says it is best to keep garbage containers stored and secure.

Also, it is important to plug any holes on the outside of your home — no matter how small — where rodents could enter.

“A mouse for example, anything dime-size, a mouse can get into,” he said. “Rats, we’ll usually say a quarter size. Any holes like that into your home, boom, there’s an entrance available.”