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Alberta's image as world's only rat-free region shattered by discovery of rat

47 points · 35 comments · pseudolus

  1. beloch · · focus · HN ↗
    Misleading headline.

    Alberta is rat-free because its government has maintained an eradication program for three quarters of a century. That doesn't mean there are never rats in Alberta. It means that, when some show up, they're reported and destroyed. To date, the costs of maintaining the program have been smaller than the economic damage rats would otherwise inflict, so it has continued.

    Bowden is nowhere near the border, so this is a little concerning. Hopefully it was just an isolated individual that made it in through a shipment.

    1. throwaway2037 · · focus · HN ↗
      Agree 100%. This term "shattered" in a headline should immediately raise suspicions. That programme was started in 1950! I would say that it has been incredibly successful.
      1. goodcanadian · · focus · HN ↗
        Having grown up in Alberta, somewhat close to the Saskatchewan border, I would say that it has been amazingly successful. I had never in my life seen a rat until I was an adult and moved out of province. Rats were, quite literally, semi-mythical things to me.
        1. throwaway2037 · · focus · HN ↗

              > Rats were, quite literally, semi-mythical things to me.
          Truly, a sentence I never thought I would read on the Internet!
        2. dustbunny · · focus · HN ↗
          Im from the same area, never saw a rat until I moved to California.
        3. jamwil · · focus · HN ↗
          Also Albertan. Had never seen a rat until I moved to Vancouver at the age of 34.
          1. snapplebobapple · · focus · HN ↗
            So the rumours are true? Everywhere else is a den of scum and villainy?
        4. pseudohadamard · · focus · HN ↗
          You don't have lobbyists anywhere in Alberta?
          1. throwaway2037 · · focus · HN ↗
            I gotta say, you got me. I know we aren't supposed to post Reddit-like humorous replies here, but this one is damn good.
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