People out, rats move in

Vancouver business owners might be in for a squeaky surprise when they return to the workplace. 

At the start of the pandemic, a number of businesses announced that they were temporarily closing doors, while others stated they were closing for good. Months later, some businesses have already reopened to the public, while others are hesitant to do so due to COVID-19 concerns.

But there might be a ratty reason to exercise caution, too.

Rats are creatures of habit, and if they have a constant food source, they'll typically stay put. However, thousands of restaurants and businesses shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which means that many of these rodents searched for new places to dine. 

Mike Londry of Westside Pest Control says rodents may have moved into temporarily shuttered units while people were gone.

"Rats typically won't live where people do," explains Londry. "But if a business has been closed for a considerable amount of time, there may be evidence of them when the owners return." 

Londry says when you take away a rat's food source, which could be anything from a restaurant to a garbage can in Stanley Park, the animal will relocate to find a new one. He adds that this isn't always pretty, as rats are extremely territorial. If a family of rats has been living at a given residence for a long time, they won't take kindly to new arrivals. 

"Rodents are very cannibalistic and very territorial. They'll kill each other over a food source," notes Londry. 

Rats will eat each other when desperate for food, and Londry says that technicians have checked traps and discovered that another rat has devoured most of the animal in it. With this in mind, he notes that rodent behaviour will change due to the pandemic, and that there could be a significant migration of rats in Vancouver. For example, he says Stanley Park rats could migrate into the city's West End.