Alberta is a Rat Free Province

Norway rats (also called brown rats – although not all are brown) are not native to North America and have caused problems since their introduction from Europe around 1775. At this time they made their populations stronger in eastern Canada, and the United States, and gradually spread westward.

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Norway rats cannot survive Canadian winters without finding shelter in human habits or buildings. This is one of the reasons it took them so long to spread, and they didn’t reach Saskatchewan until the 1920’s. The first rat found in Alberta was spotted in the summer of 1950 and thus began Alberta’s fight to keep the province rat free, led by the Department of Agriculture.

Back then few Albertans even knew what a Rat looked like. In an emergency like course of action 2000 posters, and 1,500 pamphlets were distributed to grain elevators, railway stations, schools, and post offices. This was called “Rat Control in Alberta, 1951”, and it instructed people to rat proof their buildings and feed storage.

Every municipality in Alberta was assigned a pest control inspector, and various poisons were put to test to control these invasive animals, including a new poison at that time “warfarin”.

By late 1952 a few rats had penetrated almost to Medicine Hat (in south east Alberta). Most likely these animals were spreading via trains. Drastic measures were taken including the use of arsenic tracking powder. Unfortunately this was not done properly and some pets, and livestock were poisoned as a result .

Methods of control eventually switched more in favor of Warfarin, which is an anticoagulant set as bait mixed with rolled oats and icing sugar. Colored confetti was added to the rolled oats in 1965 to enable farmers not to confuse it the poison with rolled oats as fed to livestock.

Regular patrols check farms along the Alberta – Saskatchewan border. Farmers in the area are asked to keep baits around feed storage areas. Garbage is buried or burned regularly to eliminate easy feeding areas for rats.

Alberta’s rat free status has come into question a couple times, usually when people release pet rats (which are actually a domesticated form of Norway rat), as happened in Calgary at one time. When such a thing happens it makes the news! Indeed to keep its rat free status, pet rats are not allowed in Alberta. Zoos, and Universities within the province are the only places rats can be kept, and of course these are often “white rats”a strain of Norway Rat typically kept as pets or for research. Keeping pet rats can result in high fines or even jail time!

Alberta is relatively fortunate as it has the Rocky Mountain range on the west, forest to the north and sparse habitation, and grass lands to the south. This is all valid control of rats because the Norway rat needs humans dwellings to survive the winters here, even along the south border to the United States where winters are relatively warmer than in the north.

Control of rats on the eastern border is easy because cities and farmers along the border unite to control infestations as soon as they occur.

False reports do occur, but usually involve muskrats, pocket gophers, or mice.

Rats are a problem because not only do they eat food supplies, they defecate in them and spread diseases including hepatitis. Norway rats carried the fleas that spread the plague through Europe and Asia killing millions of people. They are destructive animals, eating through walls, insulation, and even supporting structures of buildings. Rats cost other areas millions of dollars.

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