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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 21 ,2 01 9 | 12 1200 Speers Rd., Unit 12, Oakville, Ont. L6L 2X4 (905) 845 - 1408 | Fax (905) 845 - 5931 | ricky@rickywong.ca Ricky Wong CPA, CA, MBA, B. Eng Ricky WongRicky W DIAMONDDIDIDIDIDIAMAMAMAMAMONONDIAMONDONDIAMONDONONONONONDDD DIAMONDDIDIDIDIDIAMAMAMAMAMONONONONONONONDDD Voted BestAccountant by Oakville Beaver Readers for 11 ConsecutiveYears For more information please check our website www.rickywong.ca •Accounting •Auditing • Taxation 1276 Cornwall Road, Unit C, Oakville Ontario, L6J 7W5 T: 905-845-0767 • F: 905-845-5552 •www.haxelllaw.com • lawyers@haxelllaw.com Personal Professional Service at Competitive Rates Buying? Selling? Re Call us for a quote at 905-845-0767 ext. 223Jameson Glas GOLDGOGOGOGOGOGOGOLDLDLDLDLD 905-845-0767 ext. 223Jameson Glas THURSDAY APRIL 4 5pm -8pm STONEY CREEK CAMPUS FOR SKILLED TRADES Skilled Trades and Apprenticeship Programs SATURDAY MARCH 30 10am-1pm FENNELL CAMPUS All Programs TUESDAY APRIL 2 5pm-8pm INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED HEALTH SCIENCES AT MCMASTER Health Sciences Programs JOINUSATOPENHOUSE! mohawkcollege.ca/openhouse 3 Campuses in Hamilton Oakville has gone from Ontario's sixth "rattiest" city to 12th in three years, according to a rat ranking released by Orkin Canada in February. The pest control firm's "Ontario's Top 25 'Rattiest' Cities" list puts Oakville at No. 12 - five spots down from last year's ranking at No. 7. The previous year, it was ranked sixth. The ranking is based on the total number of rat treatments the pest-con- trol company performed in each municipality in 2018, so is not a per-capita figure. Unsurprisingly, Toronto ranked first, followed by Mississauga, Scarbor- ough, Ottawa and Sudbury. The company would not re- lease the actual numbers for each city, calling them "competition sensitive." Bruno Levesque, Orkin Canada's Ontario regional manager, said Oakville's significant improvement in the rankings could be re- lated to construction. He said areas with a rapid rate of building can see in- creased rat activity if the digging interferes with their habitat. "During years with a lot of construction, we're mod- ifying their habitat, forcing them to find other places to live." Rattus norvegicus, by far the most common rat in Ontario, is known as the brown rat or Norway rat. It can be brown or grey, with bodies up to 28 centimetres long. They can weigh about a pound. "It's probably about four times the size of a mouse," said Levesque. "It has a pointier nose and their tails are hairless and quite long." The Norway rat is found throughout the world, par- ticularly in places with dense human populations. Animal behaviour text The Biology of Traditions says rats and humans are the most successful mammals on the planet when it comes to inhabiting a wide range of climates and con- ditions. Levesque says larger centres such as Toronto typically see the highest rat populations because rats tend to go where peo- ple's garbage is most wide- ly available. "That's not always the case, though," he said, not- ing that Windsor came in at No. 6 on this year's list, even though it has only 226,000 people. "In that case, it may be the slightly warmer weather further south, and the proximity to Detroit." Recent research bears out the idea that rat and hu- man density goes hand-in- hand. Researchers from Peterborough's Trent Uni- versity and the University of Manchester in the Unit- ed Kingdom published a paper in October which found that city rats have much richer diets than OAKVILLE NUMBER FALLING IN 'RATTIEST CITY' RANKINGS SAIRA PEESKER NEWS TOWN FALLS FROM NO. 6 TO NO. 12 IN THREE YEARS See - page 13 While Burlington's rattiest city ranking is about the same as last year, Oakville's rating has improved by six places, dropping to number 12 in Ontario over the past three years. Pixabay photo