PARIS
Disney’s Ratatouille might be Hollywood’s favorite rodent but Parisians aren't too happy about the creatures that inhabit the city’s darkest and dankest underground spots getting into their homes and businesses.
Like any large metropolis, Paris has a rat problem to deal with. The Seine River running through its middle, an abundance of large parks, and a consistent flow of tourists are all factors that contribute to the city’s constant need for exterminators. In a municipality of just over 2.1 million people, it’s to be expected that a few rodents would run rampant.
But is there a problem? Christophe, owner of Le Jardin de Senteurs, a garden shop on the banks of the Quai de la Corse which runs along the Seine on the border of the busy Fifth Arrondissement, should know.
“We have rats - because of the Seine. It’s a haven for them,” he says. “They like the water and are naturally attracted to it. When I come here in the morning though, I will open up and they are sometimes here - sometimes not. Sometimes they have stayed the night.”
Christophe sells flowers, flowering plants, and every kind of pot and paraphernalia accompaniment one can imagine. It’s a nice place for rats to hang.
“You know those rats though are really intelligent, really really intelligent. I will block off one of the entrances to my shop, on the floor in the back, and they’ll just find another way in, another route. They know how to survive. They’ve done so for centuries!” he says.
A rat's playground
Paris ranks high on the list of most infested cities. Number one? The US city of Chicago, which was deemed by pest control company Orkin to be the “rattiest” city in the world in 2021. Paris’ number one designation: top tourist attraction in the world. Which means people = food and drink = a rat’s playground.
The disposal of garbage is definitely a problem. On any given Sunday in the Tuileries -- the park that runs out from the Louvre Museum in the city’s center -- one can find mounds of garbage, more than enough for the rat population to feed on if bins are not emptied quickly enough. During the day they’re filled to overflowing with takeaway containers, cups, and half-eaten meals. Couples and groups of friends picnic between the sculpted hedges there, where many a rat has been seen.
Is the problem worse for street-front cafes, the backbone of French culinary attractions? Gilles, a partner at Le Saint Honore in the Fourth Arrondissement known as the Marais, reports what he sees as a normal amount of rats that might run about when he leaves at night, but it’s to be expected. The cafe sits at the intersection of two streets with a cafe on each corner and many more down the way.
Gilles goes outside and points to the park opposite, saying the problem is a little better post-pandemic but not by much. “Over there, they are way worse. They are still present. You just have to look for them when the sun goes down.”
The massively pedestrian area is just in front of the entrance of the Nelson Mandela Parc and Forum des Halles, a modern-day multi-story shopping center that was formerly the site of a massive open-air food and dry goods market with hundreds of vendors serving the whole of Paris. One can almost taste Les Halles’ past still lingering in the air; at least it could be said that the grime, and rodents that follow, remain in good measure. It is definitely one of the dirtiest parts of Paris.
5 million rats
A recent piece on the French website Deratisation.com - “Deratting.com” - puts the number of rats in Paris at around 5 million, or an estimated 1.5 to 2 rats per person, according to pest control experts.
Down the road in Les Halles, La Maison Aurouze has been specializing in the killing of the vermin since 1872. The Kelly-green storefront graced with gold lettering is merely a charming facade to the poisonous substances that lie within. The store is able to exterminate not only rats but mice, cockroaches, moths, mites, bedbugs, even larger country kin like moles and weasels.
Sammy, who has worked there for many years, says the problem is not unlike that found in any other grand metropolis. “You’ll find them more in the summertime when there is more construction and they are bound to be stirred up,” he says. “They can be bad but only really if you are in a very old house or don’t keep yours very clean.”
Do they have a lot of business nonetheless?
“We are always busy. Our reputation is known throughout the city,” he says confidently.
One of the primary factors keeping La Maison Aurouze in business is the sheer ability rats have to reproduce. They are sexually mature as early as eight weeks of age, and typically have five litters per year of five to 13 babies each. That’s a lot of rats!
There has to be another story at the biggest tourist attraction in the world, the Eiffel Tower. On a recent Monday evening at dusk, the site is chock-full of tourists. Accents from every corner of the globe pepper the air and camera phones are held aloft to snap the iconic landmark as it twinkles in the sky. Tchotchke sellers line the entrances to hawk their Eiffel Tower keychains and Eiffel Tower statues in every size and color laid out on blankets in front of them.
How is the rat problem for them as the night goes on? Joseph, one of the sellers, says the creatures can come out when darkness hits, but he sees them pretty much only then, not during daylight hours. “They gather around the garbage - and we have a lot of garbage here with all of the tourists,” he says. “Sometimes I see rats running through the bushes but they don’t bother us, so we don’t bother them!”
Like all who make this beautiful place their home, it seems that rats and humans are able to live in harmony in the City of Light.
