Having solved urban chickens, feral cats and outlaw bees, city council will now turn its animal control expertise to “harbour squirrels.”
Halifax South Downtown councillor Waye Mason will be asking for a staff report at Tuesday’s meeting of the Halifax and West Community Council to look at combatting the city’s rat problem.
The motion asks for HRM staff to come back with a list of “current steps being taken to provide rodent control in municipal streets, parks and Halifax Water infrastructure,” along with recommendations for improvements and education.
The last few years have seen the city’s rat population explode—or at least become a lot more visible. Milder weather has played a part, but most of the blame can probably be put on the peninsular’s rapid urban development.
Old houses are torn down and longtime rat nests are dug up—evicting the furry little critters into the streets where they’ll swim up strange new toilets looking for a place to call home.
Whether all that scurrying will settle down once the condos finally go up, or if Halifax will need some sot of Alberta-inspired rat-catching task force, will presumably be answered by Mason's staff report.
It’s estimated there are roughly 50 rats for every city block in Halifax.
