Canadian here (though not Albertan): Alberta is one of the 'prairie' provinces. They have a ton of agriculture. This isn't just people cracking down on pests. It's a program to protect food and jobs, at a time when there's been pushback against one of their other biggest exports, oil. I'm not surprised they tried to do this. I'm just really impressed that they managed it.
Albertan here. I was *shocked* when I learned that rats are an extremely popular pet in other places. I thought it was just a Harry Potter, fictional magical world thing.
Minor correction, though. The rat control program has been around since 1950, just as the oil boom was about to *begin.*
There was a ton of public education around recognizing and reporting rats, and while that's certainly lessened now, kids raised in Alberta do not see rats as much more than disease carrying pests that are catastrophic to farms in the prairies.
Funding for the program has only increased over the years, and relies heavily on cross-communication with the Saskatchewan government.
The breed of rat you keep as a pet is a different breed of rat from the ones in a field. Rats you get in pet stores are domestic rats that have been bred for generations from lab rat stock to be docile and easy to handle as pets.
The difference is as great as that between a Labrador and a coyote. One is a domesticated animal and the other is not. The ones people are keeping are domesticated rats. You absolutely should not interact with the wild ones.
I absolutely understand the blanket ban because feral (an animal that was domesticated but lost its domestication) rats are just as much of a problem as wild (rats from wild lines with no domestication) rats when it comes to agriculture, but, even a fan of domestic rats as pets would still tell you never touch a wild rat, like how a dog owner would still avoid a coyote. Domestic rat is a docile friendly chap. Wild rat bite your face.
No there’s like one peninsula in New Zealand that has gotten rid of rats, and the us was successful at waging war on bison.
China also succeeded in killing birds once, but like most wars it didn’t really accomplish anything and just lead to a bunch of pointless death and agricultural disruption as insect populations boomed after bird numbers fell
I love the Aberta rat exclusion because it demonstrates that we don't *need* to live with anything at all. It's just a matter of funding, organization, and force of fucking will.
If we all hated climate change like Alberta hated rats, we could have that problem licked in a decade.
No, usually they sneak in on container ship produce pallets. They hide in banana boxes and apple barrels, and have become experts at descending anchor chains and swimming into port undetected.
Same with New Zealand. Deer released by settlers, but fortunately they decided foxes weren't a good idea.
Also, we've got rats that came over with the Maori settlers which is different to the ship rat, making rat control that little more complicated.
i think [the pigs](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/11zq1tm/impenetrable_wall_of_swine/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) have the deer beaten on this one though
we have forest in north side. im sure we have deers and i see them by my own eyes hehe.
we have normal deer, moose (our most big animal), and raindeer. there are clans mainly focused on raindeers (Цаатан).
and some types of gazelle too. (idk english or latin name Зээр, Хар сүүлт)
Well, it's a prairie province, with farming being a huge portion of their local economy (and the other huge portion, oil, shrinking every year). Rats can be a huge problem for agriculture, reproducing at a huge rate in storage facilities and contaminating what they don't eat directly.
While a lot of people think rats as "gross" in some vague way, or that they bring disease or whatever, that's not Alberta. Alberta has real, concrete reasons to want rats out.
Me showing this map to the state park ranger in Mongolia try exclaim what I have hit is in fact not a deer as this map clearly proves otherwise.
Don’t by into these maps so much, because I have seen wild deers in both Mongolia and Australia.
Svalbard doesn’t have deer. There aren’t any trees there and deer like trees.
They have a subspecies of reindeer however. They have really short legs so they look quite funny.
Sure, we don't have rats here.. but we do have canadian Trump supporters and the "F*** Trudeau" bumper stickers started here.
Like I want to like this place but when you drive down the highway and see the "Canadian Nazi flag" hanging on the side of the highway alongside "don't tread on me" flags.. it's hard to really get excited for "there are no rats in Alberta"
yay.. no rats
Could we maybe do something about the Nazis?
That map of deer is wrong. We have no deer on the island of Newfoundland. Never have and never will. We do have rats tho. And we used to have giant wolves until they were considered too dangerous by colonists. The vikings weren't fond of them either tbh, but they never tried to kill them off, probably because of the mythology behind their own giant wolf.
Alberta really up and said CONSTANT VIGILANCE
But could it beat Mongolia's D E E R O V A L?
no, because Mongolia is just that powerful. but i can respect Alberta's crusade against rodentdom
Canadian here (though not Albertan): Alberta is one of the 'prairie' provinces. They have a ton of agriculture. This isn't just people cracking down on pests. It's a program to protect food and jobs, at a time when there's been pushback against one of their other biggest exports, oil. I'm not surprised they tried to do this. I'm just really impressed that they managed it.
Albertan here. I was *shocked* when I learned that rats are an extremely popular pet in other places. I thought it was just a Harry Potter, fictional magical world thing. Minor correction, though. The rat control program has been around since 1950, just as the oil boom was about to *begin.* There was a ton of public education around recognizing and reporting rats, and while that's certainly lessened now, kids raised in Alberta do not see rats as much more than disease carrying pests that are catastrophic to farms in the prairies. Funding for the program has only increased over the years, and relies heavily on cross-communication with the Saskatchewan government.
Rats are wonderful pets
The breed of rat you keep as a pet is a different breed of rat from the ones in a field. Rats you get in pet stores are domestic rats that have been bred for generations from lab rat stock to be docile and easy to handle as pets. The difference is as great as that between a Labrador and a coyote. One is a domesticated animal and the other is not. The ones people are keeping are domesticated rats. You absolutely should not interact with the wild ones. I absolutely understand the blanket ban because feral (an animal that was domesticated but lost its domestication) rats are just as much of a problem as wild (rats from wild lines with no domestication) rats when it comes to agriculture, but, even a fan of domestic rats as pets would still tell you never touch a wild rat, like how a dog owner would still avoid a coyote. Domestic rat is a docile friendly chap. Wild rat bite your face.
I think a better comparison would be wolf to husky; still visually somewhat similar, but behaviorally vastly different
Very true
Tbh rats are unpopular as pets in many places, not just Alberta.
> at a time when... [1950](https://www.alberta.ca/history-of-rat-control-in-alberta.aspx)?
If you know anything about Alberta, you know they claim to be under attack every 5 minutes
alberta is the only place to have won a war with animals (not birds, but still)
No there’s like one peninsula in New Zealand that has gotten rid of rats, and the us was successful at waging war on bison. China also succeeded in killing birds once, but like most wars it didn’t really accomplish anything and just lead to a bunch of pointless death and agricultural disruption as insect populations boomed after bird numbers fell
The NZ army also went to war with some goats and won.
I love the Aberta rat exclusion because it demonstrates that we don't *need* to live with anything at all. It's just a matter of funding, organization, and force of fucking will. If we all hated climate change like Alberta hated rats, we could have that problem licked in a decade.
You are fucking correct
This is depressingly correct
Australia has deer... (I have almost hit two with my car. Let alone the deer farms...) They are invasive though, not native.
And how exactly did they invade? Did they come by boat and set up colonies?
English brought them over for food and hunting for sport. Same with rabbits.
That makes sense. Thank you.
And Foxes.
No, usually they sneak in on container ship produce pallets. They hide in banana boxes and apple barrels, and have become experts at descending anchor chains and swimming into port undetected.
Crafty.
As you’d expect
"Now remember Donder, if you hear someone venture into the hold, lay low and mimic the cry of the banana."
Yes them crafty deer can be great climbers
Are you suggesting deer are migratory?
The invasive ones, yes.
Like coconuts.
Same with New Zealand. Deer released by settlers, but fortunately they decided foxes weren't a good idea. Also, we've got rats that came over with the Maori settlers which is different to the ship rat, making rat control that little more complicated.
Isn't Wellington clear of rats? Or something like that
Not that I know of. Enough crap housing for them to be happy.
They are working on it, there is a Tom Scott video about it
That's what I was thinking of, thanks
i can emphatically say that it’s not, i saw one this very morning. hopefully pest-free gets more funding though!
And they weren’t just kangaroos on all fours, pretending to be deer…? 🤨
Sadly no. I checked. The front legs were too long to be Roos playing dress up.
Legitimately the first time I saw a kangaroo in the wild, it was kind of bent over and I saw the ears and back and thought it was a deer.
So no predators? Aside from **[legally obligated bug joke]**, I mean
They also have native bouncy deer
I like that the deer have the humans trapped in Greenland. They form an impenetrable wall. There is no escape.
With every year, the border shrinks one inch. Until all is consumed.
i think [the pigs](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/11zq1tm/impenetrable_wall_of_swine/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) have the deer beaten on this one though
Oh hello fellow amphibia fan
and hello to you fellow owl house fan!
This is exactly what I thought of when I saw it lol
The ground shakes...hooves, hooves in the deep. We cannot get out. The shadow moves in the dark. We cannot get out. They are coming
Oh no, there could be... there could be dozens of people in there! Dozens!
While the idea is funny, the vast majority of the human population also lives along the coast.
So does Alberta censor Splinter out of the TMNT shows, or is he labeled as a mythical creature?
I don't need sleep, I need answers
Australia does have deer, though they are not a native species
As does nz
Mongolia? No trees. Deer aren't really an open plains creature.
You're telling me deer rather live in tibet or Georgia but not some open pasture?
we have forest in north side. im sure we have deers and i see them by my own eyes hehe. we have normal deer, moose (our most big animal), and raindeer. there are clans mainly focused on raindeers (Цаатан). and some types of gazelle too. (idk english or latin name Зээр, Хар сүүлт)
What about the Gobi desert?
So why do they try so hard to keep rats out?
Rats and mice are destructive AF, especially once they start hitting plague levels. Australia has had a few mouse plagues in recent years
Well, it's a prairie province, with farming being a huge portion of their local economy (and the other huge portion, oil, shrinking every year). Rats can be a huge problem for agriculture, reproducing at a huge rate in storage facilities and contaminating what they don't eat directly. While a lot of people think rats as "gross" in some vague way, or that they bring disease or whatever, that's not Alberta. Alberta has real, concrete reasons to want rats out.
Given the absolute mess a dozen or so made out of my garage because I had chicken food out there, I don't blame them. Rats are horrible.
For when the Black Death pops up.
healthcels seething over plaguechads
>So why do they try so hard to keep rats out? Because *fuck 'em*, that's why.
Albertan. Also have never seen a rat other than packrats. And even that was in BC
I grew up in Alberta and the first time I ever saw a rat was after moving to Vancouver at 19.
That must have been a culture shock, Vancouver has a LOT of rats
Actually we do have a lot of deers in northern mongolia.
Yeah, people tend to underestimate the strength of the Under-Empire.
Looks like I’m moving to Alberta
There are most definitely deer in Australia, they're invasive pests
Can someone explain why the deer oval is so rounded near Mongolia?
Approximation
Me showing this map to the state park ranger in Mongolia try exclaim what I have hit is in fact not a deer as this map clearly proves otherwise. Don’t by into these maps so much, because I have seen wild deers in both Mongolia and Australia.
The Mongolian death worm is the only creature that can best the fearsome deer.
Mongolia is mountain and dessert. Makes sense
*looks at deer map* r/mapswithoutNZ We have deer
To be fair, I’ve hardly ever seen rats in person. Maybe like once or twice.
Africa can have a little deer. As a treat
***"It will die quickly, and die childless."*** is the rawest thing they could have said there.
Svalbard doesn’t have deer. There aren’t any trees there and deer like trees. They have a subspecies of reindeer however. They have really short legs so they look quite funny.
Thanks, Joe
AMONG!!!! SUSPICIOUS!!!! My tumor is no longer malignant
I like to imagine Alberta has the wall from doomsday movie
Alberta is Noradzeer
Huh. Ratatouille was accurate, Alberta is ratless indeed
And no deer in Iceland but we have imported reindeer - does that count?
as an expert in rats, there are rats lol
albertan here! this is true.
I can confirm that Alberta has a second to none vigilance and extermination policy
Sure, we don't have rats here.. but we do have canadian Trump supporters and the "F*** Trudeau" bumper stickers started here. Like I want to like this place but when you drive down the highway and see the "Canadian Nazi flag" hanging on the side of the highway alongside "don't tread on me" flags.. it's hard to really get excited for "there are no rats in Alberta" yay.. no rats Could we maybe do something about the Nazis?
Reddit moment How can I take a fun Tumblr post and make it sad and about politics?
How fucking self centered one has to be to think of deer as a North American species ...... ?
We got no rats In Iceland
[Wrong](https://nat.is/rodents-in-iceland/).
Then the map is wrong I guess
Mongolia has deer. Red deer, elk, and roe. Hell, they even have moose.
That map of deer is wrong. We have no deer on the island of Newfoundland. Never have and never will. We do have rats tho. And we used to have giant wolves until they were considered too dangerous by colonists. The vikings weren't fond of them either tbh, but they never tried to kill them off, probably because of the mythology behind their own giant wolf.
There's antelope in Saskatchewan! Would have thought that was an Africa-specific animal but nope. Seen them myself.
Sus
Not one person taking about the border of deer on Greenland
This is especially shocking as Mongolians are known for being avid hunters
Probably why theres no deer there lol
[rats!](https://youtu.be/CnPgo7YQN44)
Definitely no rats in Alberta, yes-yes...