Alberta is the Largest Rat-Free Populated Area on Earth

Alberta is actually THE largest rat-free populated area on the planet. How cool is that?! This needs to be known!

Roughly 12 or so rats enter the province per year, and they are quickly killed off by provincial rat control specialists before they’re able to breed.

Alberta, Canada, is the largest rat-free populated area in the world. Rat invasions of Alberta were stopped and eliminated by very aggressive government rat control measures, starting during the 1950s.

 

The only species of Rattus that is capable of surviving the climate of Alberta is the brown rat, which can only survive in the prairie region of the province, and even then must overwinter in buildings. Although it is a major agricultural area, Alberta is far from any seaport and only a portion of its eastern boundary with Saskatchewan provides a favorable entry route for rats. Brown rats cannot survive in the wild boreal forest to the north, the Rocky Mountains to the west, nor can they safely cross the semiarid High Plains of Montana to the south. The first brown rat did not reach Alberta until 1950, and in 1951, the province launched a rat-control program that included shooting, poisoning, and gassing rats, and bulldozing, burning down, and blowing up rat-infested buildings. The effort was backed by legislation that required every person and every municipality to destroy and prevent the establishment of designated pests. If they failed, the provincial government could carry out the necessary measures and charge the costs to the landowner or municipality. – WIKIPEDIA

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