A friend of mine recently discovered he had rats in his house. I know some people love rats and even keep them as pets, personally I find them repulsive. Just the thought of having one in the house gives me the creeps. He lives on the outskirts of town and many of his neighbours keep chickens. Rats are attracted to chicken coops. They love eggs and like to take the fresh eggs from the nesting boxes. It is quite cute to see a rat carrying an egg. Rats generally run on four legs, but when they get an egg, they carefully hold it between their front paws and run on the back ones.

He discovered where they were getting in an blocked off the hole. Then he trapped the ones still in the house and released them near the river. He said when he opened the trap, the rat took off swimming across the river. I know rats like damp, moist environments, but I did not think they were that comfortable in the water.

Of course, if one house in the area has rats you can assured the others do as well. Sure enough, he spoke to his neighbors and they all have rats too. But considering it is their fault the rats moved in, they should have to deal with the consequences.

The biggest problem with rats or mice is that they breed very fast. They can have a litter a month with each litter producing up to twelve young. Saskatchewan is currently experiencing such a huge rat problem they do not know what to do anymore. Apparently poor waste management attracted the rats and the populations are just exploding. The officials, government, etc. is spending thousands of dollars a day to try and somehow get the situation under control.