Editing Rat (section)

==Rat-free areas==
[[File:Rat caged.webm|thumb|Rat trapped in a cage]]
Rats are found in nearly all areas of Earth which are inhabited by human beings. The only rat-free continent is [[Antarctica]], which is too cold for rat survival outdoors, and its lack of human habitation does not provide buildings to shelter them from the weather. However, rats have been introduced to many of the islands near Antarctica, and because of their destructive effect on native flora and fauna, efforts to eradicate them are ongoing. In particular, [[Bird Island, South Georgia|Bird Island]] (just off rat-infested [[South Georgia Island]]), where breeding seabirds could be badly affected if rats were introduced, is subject to special measures and regularly monitored for rat invasions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/about_antarctica/environment/wildlife/non_native_species.php |title=Preventing the introduction of non-native species to Antarctica |publisher=British Antarctic Survey |access-date=17 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108071223/http://www.antarctica.ac.uk//about_antarctica/environment/wildlife/non_native_species.php |archive-date=8 January 2015 }}</ref>

As part of [[island restoration]], some islands' rat populations have been eradicated to protect or restore the [[ecology]]. [[Hawadax Island, Alaska]] was declared rat free after 229 years<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosen |first=Yereth |date=2009-06-13 |title=Hawadax Island Is Rat-Free |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE55B66920090612/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Reuters}}</ref> and [[Campbell Island, New Zealand]] after almost 200 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=John |date=2022-12-13 |title=Pioneering rodent eradication in the sub-Antarctic: the Campbell Island Rat Eradication Project |url=https://mousefreemarion.org/pioneering-rodent-eradication-in-the-sub-antarctic-the-campbell-island-rat-eradication-project/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Mouse-Free Marion |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eradication—The Clearance of Campbell Island |url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/eradication-the-clearance-of-campbell-island/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=New Zealand Geographic |language=en-NZ}}</ref> [[Breaksea Island (Fiordland)|Breaksea Island]] in New Zealand was declared rat free in 1988 after an eradication campaign based on a successful trial on the smaller Hawea Island nearby.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=R.H. |last2=Thomas |first2=B.W. |date=1989 |title=Eradication of Norway Rats (rattus Norvegicus) from Hawea Island, Fiordland, Using Brodifacoum |journal=New Zealand Journal of Ecology |volume=12 |pages=23–32 |jstor=24053177 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guthrie |first=Kate |date=2020-03-22 |title=Rat eradication breakthrough — Breaksea Island 1988 |url=https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/breaksea-island-rat-eradication-breakthrough/ |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Predator Free NZ Trust |language=en-US}}</ref>

In January 2015, an international "Rat Team" (organized by the South Georgia Heritage Trust) set sail from the [[Falkland Islands]] for the [[British Overseas Territory]] of [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]] on board a ship carrying three helicopters and 100 tons of rat poison with the objective of "reclaiming the island for its seabirds". Rats had wiped out more than 90% of the seabirds on South Georgia, and the sponsors hoped that once the rats were gone, it would regain its former status as home to the greatest concentration of seabirds in the world.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gill |first1=Victoria |title=South Georgia rat eradication mission sets sail |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30922255 |work=BBC News |date=24 January 2015 }}</ref>

The Canadian province of [[Alberta]] is notable for being the largest inhabited area on Earth which is free of true rats due to very aggressive government rat control policies. It has large numbers of native [[pack rat]]s, also called bushy-tailed wood rats, but they are forest-dwelling vegetarians which are much less destructive than true rats.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pestcontrolcanada.com/wildlife-control/wood-rat-pack-rat/ |title=Bushy-Tailed Woodrat (Pack Rat) |publisher=Pest Control Canada |access-date=8 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629085333/http://pestcontrolcanada.com/wildlife-control/wood-rat-pack-rat/ |archive-date=29 June 2017 }}</ref>

Alberta was settled by Europeans relatively late in North American history and only became a province in 1905. Black rats cannot survive in its climate at all, and brown rats must live near people and in their structures to survive the winters. There are numerous predators in Canada's vast natural areas which will eat non-native rats, so it took until 1950 for invading rats to make their way over land from Eastern Canada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.issg.org/database/species/distribution_detail.asp?si=159&di=37410&sts=&lang=EN |title=Rattus norvegicus (mammal) – Details of this species in Alberta |publisher=Global Invasive Species Database |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026081724/http://www.issg.org/database/species/distribution_detail.asp?si=159&di=37410&sts=&lang=EN |archive-date=26 October 2014 }}</ref> Immediately upon their arrival at the eastern border with [[Saskatchewan]], the Alberta government implemented an extremely aggressive rat control program to stop them from advancing further. A systematic detection and eradication system was used throughout a control zone about {{convert|600|km|sigfig=1}} long and {{convert|30|km|sigfig=1}} wide along the eastern border{{explain|reason=location on Sask. or Alta. border?|date=December 2024}} to eliminate rat infestations before the rats could spread further into the province. Shotguns, bulldozers, high explosives, poison gas, and incendiaries were used to destroy rats. Numerous farm buildings were destroyed in the process. Initially, tons of [[arsenic trioxide]] were spread around thousands of farm yards to poison rats, but soon after the program commenced the [[rodenticide]] and medical drug [[warfarin]] was introduced, which is much safer for people and more effective at killing rats than arsenic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3441 |title=The History of Rat Control In Alberta |publisher=Alberta Department of Agriculture and Rural Development |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925063521/http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3441 |archive-date=25 September 2014 }}</ref>

Forceful government control measures, strong public support and enthusiastic citizen participation continue to keep rat infestations to a minimum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex816 |title=Rat Control in Alberta |publisher=Alberta Department of Agriculture and Rural Development |access-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926013539/http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex816 |archive-date=26 September 2014 }}</ref> The effectiveness has been aided by a similar but newer program in Saskatchewan which prevents rats from even reaching the Alberta border. Alberta still employs an armed rat patrol to control rats along Alberta's borders. About ten single rats are found and killed per year, and occasionally a large localized infestation has to be dug out with heavy machinery, but the number of permanent rat infestations is zero.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/on-the-frontlines-of-albertas-war-against-rats/article27504057/ |last= Giovannetti |first= Justin |title= On the frontlines of Alberta's war against rats |date= 26 November 2015 |publisher= Toronto Globe and Mail |access-date= 8 August 2017 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170122205721/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/on-the-frontlines-of-albertas-war-against-rats/article27504057/ |archive-date= 22 January 2017 }}</ref>