Hamilton councillor awaits report on Gore Park wildlife infestation

A Hamilton city councillor says he’s getting more and more complaints about the rat population in Gore Park.

City staff have now been tasked with finding out how big of a problem that rats, pigeons and even geese are in downtown Hamilton.

One person in Gore Park says he feeds the rats in the park because “I don’t feel like throwing my chicken in the garbage, what I got leftover, so I feed the rats.”

According to Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, two mating rats could multiply into 12,000 within a year and Gore Park appears to be a breeding ground.

Bill Dowd with Skedaddle says “wherever there is a large population of humans, there is a large population of rats.”

One resident calls them ‘falcon food’ — saying on occasion, he’ll “see a falcon or red-tailed hawk grab [a rat].”

Dowd says Gore Park is also overrun with pigeons, but the rat and pigeon population is taking off because people are feeding them.

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“You definitely don’t want to be out here feeding pigeons or leaving garbage around because that’s going to attract more rats into the park,” said Dowd.

While the City of Hamilton hasn’t actually fielded a lot of complaints about rats, the Downtown Sub Committee asked city staff Wednesday to report back in a few months about the rat, pigeon and Canada goose population.

Ward 2 Councilor Cameron Kroetsch says he doesn’t think it’s a massive issue yet.

“I want to get a report back from staff saying ‘what are we already doing to address the rat population to make sure it doesn’t grow.'”

In the meantime, the city is working with a pest control company that suggested putting bait stations in the area.

But as Skedaddle said, people just really need to stop feeding them.

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