ALBERTA VS.

THE
CRIMSON RAT

(Alberta Provincial Archives, 1950)

A Research Essay by Mike Morrison

In the fall of 2000, the government of Alberta organized a special celebration for a
unique quinquagenarian anniversary. For 50 years the province has boasted the status of
being rat-free. This is a more remarkable claim than it might first appear. Rats inhabit every
continent in the world except for Antarctica, and have even reached at least 90% of the
worlds islands (Rachel Nuwer, 2014). Conservative estimates place the worldwide
population of rats at many billion and most consider the highest of all mammals - including
humans. (Jerry Langton, 2006) The United States alone is home to 150 million or more rats
(Brian Handwerk, 2003). Alberta is currently the only region in North America free of rats
(Frances Reilly, 2016), a point of pride for the province. Brian Bergman writes that outsiders
may be forgiven for believing that what gives Albertans their unique identity is their aversion
to a provincial sales tax and a certain fondness for turning right-wing fringe parties into
formidable political forces...but no, as important as all that is, what really keeps us united is a
common enemy, one that walks on four legs and boasts continuously growing incisors that
can chew through anything from electrical wire to concrete. (Bergman). John B. Bourne,
head of Alberta Agriculture's rat control program, states that "we maintain and broadcast our
rat-free reputation, so that Albertans know that the province is free of rats." (Handwerk)

(Alberta Provincial Archives, date unknown)

Albertas rat-free status is not by chance but by design, (John Bourne, 2002) the
result of an unprecedented government-sponsored rat control program began in 1950.
While the United States was responding to Cold War pressures by ferreting out
Communists, Alberta was busy eradicating a menace in its countryside. (Dawn Walton,
2000) That the avid hunt to eradicate rats in the province coincides with the communist witch
hunts of the Red Scare is more than a coincidence, however. Albertas war on rats finds its
origins and impetus in the communist paranoia that swept North America in the wake of the
post World War era. Walton states that fifty years ago, Reds and rats had something in
common: both were targets of government- sanctioned witch hunts. The comparison is
more apt that one might guess. The Albertan war on rats was a reaction to and an
expression of the war on Communism, and in effect the two are synonymous manifestations
of The Red Scare that gripped Cold War North America.
To comprehend the unusual and extraordinary effort put into Albertas anti-rat
campaign, it's important to understand how daunting a task is the creation of a rat-free
environment. Rats are members of the order Rodentia, the largest order of mammals. The
characteristic that unites this order - and its most conspicuous trait - is a single pair of
razor-sharp incisors. (Ed. Wolff & Sherman, 2007) The name rodent itself derives from the
Latin rodere, meaning to gnaw. The success of rats as a species is largely based on their
exceptional adaptability. Jerry Langton notes that it doesnt take long for rats to adapt to any
environment, no matter how inhospitable it seems...Colonies of rats have even been known
to thrive in meat lockers, where constant freezing temperatures would kill humans in a
manner of minutes.(2006) Rats also reproduce at an alarming rate. With a gestation period
of roughly 3 weeks and litters between 6 -12, it's possible for a three-year-old rat to have
given birth to forty-three different litters, up to 516 separate births. (Langton)

Rats possess exceptionally acute senses, a rapidly-evolving immunity to poisons,

preternatural agility, and the ability to squeeze through holes no larger than a quarter by
collapsing their rib cages at will. (Langton) Though rats will prefer to flee rather than fight,
their nails are capable of rending human skin and their bite is an evolutionary wonder. The
hardness of the enamel on the front of the rats incisors is comparable to some grades of
steel, notes Langton, [and they] can exert a force of 7000 PSI in a bite, much greater than
the 1000 or so for a dog. There are actually three types of rat bites; besides the ordinary
one for eating, a rat can gnaw through materials including brick, concrete or lead by sliding
down a protective membrane, and, when aggressive, their incisors separate to create a
wider wound and more damage. (Langton) This is to say nothing of the deadliness of a rats
saliva, host to numerous communicable diseases, with infected bites fatal in 13% of cases
in humans, despite antibiotic treatment. (Langton)

(Claire M. Jordan, 1999)

To humans, rats have long been considered deadly pests. They infiltrated Rome
among the many food shipments and are thought responsible for spreading the devastating
Antonine Plague that claimed the life of the Emperor Lucius Verus (Paul Erdkamp, 2013)
Likewise, rats were long held responsible for spreading the devastating Black Plague that
claimed the lives of roughly of Europes total population from 1346-1353. (David Herlihy,
1997) Every 50 years massive swarms of rats from the bamboo forests sweep across India,

devouring crops. (Alasdair Wilkins, 2010) They are considered the worlds worst invasive
species, with evidence that rats are to blame for 40 to 60% percent of all seabird and reptile
extinctions. (Science Avenger, 2007) According to the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service, each year, rats destroy approximately 20% of all agricultural products in the world.
(2008) But despite this, no place on Earth besides Alberta has made such a concentrated
effort at eradicating the vermin. Though measures to ameliorate their harm are taken, for the
most part rats are accepted as an unavoidable blight. So what would cause Alberta to
expend such vasts amount of money, time, and manpower to warring against nature? To
understand that one must look at another threat that captivated North Americas attention in
1950.

(Josh Jones, 1909)

The Red Scare is the name typically given to the paranoia and ideological insecurity
that swept North America in the years following World War 2. Domestically, this anxiety and
insecurity translated into a widespread concern over internal subversion,[and] led to spy
chasing, police investigations and security screenings, red baiting, accusations of
conspiracies, the squashing of legitimate dissent, and smear campaigns. (David
MacKenzie, 2001) By 1949, these fears were exacerbated to a fever pitch by the communist
party of China winning the Chinese civil war and the first Soviet tests of atomic weapons. In

1950, the Korean War began, pitting U.S., Canadian and South Korean forces against North
Korean and Chinese communists. On the homefront, the war against communists was
embodied by Senator Joe McCarthy, to the point that McCarthyism is now a common
synonym for the Red Scare (Whitaker and Marcuse, 1996). Together with the House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a series of government witch hunts began,
along with a propaganda campaign that incited public tensions.

(Catechetical Guild Educational Society,1947)

(Pearson Education Inc., 1938)

The emergence of a National Security State in the U.S. had a profound effect upon
its neighbour to the North (Whitaker and Marcuse). The atomic age changed the way
Canadians looked at themselves and forced them to evaluate their place in the world, writes
MacKenzie, Overnight, Canada went from being a small country far from inflammable
materials...to the territorial buffer between the superpowers...geography made neutrality or
isolationism an impossibility,while ideology made Canada a partner...with the United States.
A Canadian variation on HUAC, The Security Panel, was created by Prime Minister
MacKenzie King to determine the loyalty of government workers. RCMP screenings were

held, with accused individuals denied work or moved to less sensitive positions without
explanation or appeal. (Whitaker and Marcuse) Provincial governments quickly endorsed
various levels of witch hunting. (MacKenzie) The infamous Padlock Law empowered the
government to decide what was defined as communist and close down any group or
publication officials interpreted as propagating communism. (MacKenzie) This was the
political climate in which Alberta launched its campaign against rats.
Rats have been associated with communism at least as far back as the Victorian era,
when Charles Dickens, in an article for the periodical H
ousehold Words, humorously
remarked upon a pamphlet he acquired in London entitled R
at!!! Rat!!! Rat!!!, wherein the
author comments that Communism, Socialism, and Ratism - are terms synonymous.
(1851)

(National Film Preservation Foundation, 1919)

Richard Nixon, a member of HUAC during the infamous Hollywood trials, gave a speech in
which he stated Reds [are] a bunch of rats. But just remember this: when you go out to
shoot rats, you have to shoot straight, because when you shoot wildly it only means that the
rats may get away more easily. (James Cross Giblin, 2009) Pamphlets were handed out
during the Hollywood Blacklisting trials that stated Star is just rats spelled backwards.
(Ellen Schrecker, 1994). The analogy is easy to understand from the point of view of those
caught up in the paranoia of the Red Scare. Rats are an omnipresent but seldom visible
threat to humanity, gnawing at the infrastructures of civilization. During this era,

communism, much like the rat, was seen as an infiltrating force, writes Frances Reilly, it
was an other that could invade through the familiar. Seemingly normal Canadians could
in fact be communists, and could spread the ideology through friendship, family, and the
home. (2016)

(Alberta Provincial Archives, c.1948)

In 1950, the Alberta government officially declared a War on Rats. (Jeremy Berke,
2015) Utilizing a 1942 law, The Agricultural Pest Act, allowing the Ministry of Agriculture to
designate any animal likely to destroy crops or livestock a pest, (Reilly, 2016), rats were
deemed an official threat to be killed on sight. Rat Patrols were created, but the ultimate
success of the venture depended on civilian participation. To that end a propaganda
campaign was initiated that mirrored the anti-communist campaigns in the States. Whereas
U.S. citizens were watching the public service films such as The Red Scare, Albertans were
fed a steady diet of anti rat animus. (Walton). Posters extolling the Rat Menace even
made obvious allusions to the parallels between the rats historical migration from east to
west and the feared spread of communism along the same trajectory. (Reilly) As U.S.

citizens were entreated to monitor each other for subversive behaviour, Albertans were
encouraged to keep watch for signs of rodent incursion. (Reilly) While it might be tempting
to scoff at the comparison between rodent and ideological control...both governments used
similar tools of persuasion to urge residents to, well, rat out enemies of the state. (Walton)
And just as suspected Communists in Hollywood ended up testifying in HUAC trials,
Albertans who didn't control rats ended up in court. (Reilly)
The parallels between Albertas War on Rats and the Red Scare are numerous and
obvious, which ultimately leaves only the question of why a nationwide fear of communism
would manifest in such a unique and specific manner in Alberta? Communist paranoia was a
fueled by anxiety and uncertainty. What the war on rats provided was a tangible enemy, a
scapegoat that focused the aggression and fear regarding communist infiltration upon a
physically identifiable threat. The rodent became an antagonist for Albertans to rally against
and a battle that ultimately could be won in a way the Cold War never could. In this manner,
Alberta is perhaps additionally unique in North America for dealing with the Red Scare in the
healthiest way possible. As Reilly puts it, viewing the rat control program through the
perspective of Cold War disaster management, the campaign successfully endeavoured to
control chaos at a time of measured disorder, anxiety, and potential disaster, with
corresponding environmental effects that have lasted up to the present day.
Now 60 years from its Cold War origins, Albertas War on Rats continues on well
after McCarthy was discredited. The Rat Patrol regularly hosts educational programs in
Albertas elementary schools, and citizens still keep a watchful eye for any signs of rodent
infiltration. For a modern Albertan, the provinces remarkable status as a rat-free
environment is an essential part of their identity and something that defines them as unique
in the world. While Alberta may have started out symbolically hunting communists, Albertans
ended up cementing a sense of community and provincial pride.

REFERENCES
Bergman, Brian. Alberta's Rat Patrol Stands on Guard for Thee. The Globe and Mail.
First published online Oct. 23, 2009.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/albertas-rat-patrol-stands-on-guard-for-thee/article4
215109/
Berke, Jeremy. Alberta's War on Rats. Atlasobscura. First published online June 29, 2015.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/alberta-s-war-on-rats
Bourne, John. The History of Rat Control In Alberta. First published online October 2002.
http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3441?opendocument
David Herlihy, The Black Death and the Transformation of the West. Harvard University
Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1997.
Dickens, Charles. Household Words. London: March 1851.
Erdkamp, Paul. Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2013.
Giblin, James Cross. The Rise and Fall of Senator Joe McCarthy. NY: Clarion Books, 2009.
Handwerk, Brian.Canada Province Rat-Free for 50 Years. National Geographic News.
First published online March 31, 2003.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/03/0331_030331_rats.html
Langton, Jerry. Rat: How the World's Most Notorious Rodent Clawed Its Way to the Top.
Ontario: Key Porter Books Ltd., 2006.
MacKenzie, David. Canadas Red Scare. Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 2001.
Nuwer, Rachel. The Last Places on Earth with No Invasive Species BBC.com.
First published online Spetember 9, 2014.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140909-are-alien-species-everywhere
Reilly, Frances. Rats and Communism: Protecting Alberta from Invasion in the Early Cold
War. First published online September 1, 2016.
http://niche-canada.org/2016/09/01/rats-and-communism-protecting-alberta-from-invasion-inthe-early-cold-war/
Schrecker, Ellen. The Age of McCarthyism. New York: St. Martins Press, 1994

Science Avenger. Humans Outdone by Rats for Causing Extinctions.

First published online December 5, 2007.
http://scienceavenger.blogspot.ca/2007/12/humans-outdone-by-rats-for-causing.html
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Rats Fact Sheet. First published online June 2008.
https://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/publications/ratsfactsheet.pdf
Walton, Dawn.Alberta Continues to Rat Out Varmints. The Globe and Mail.
First published online October 30, 2000.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/alberta-continues-to-rat-out-varmints/article770697/
Whitaker, Reg and Gary Marcuse. Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity
State, 1945-1957. Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1996.
Wilkins, Alasdair. Massive plagues of rats swarm across India every fifty years
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s
Ed. Jerry O. Wolff and Paul W. Sherman. Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary
Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Alberta Provincial Archives. Alberta Department of Public Health Rat Poster.Northern Alberta
Railways Company. c.1948.
Alberta Provincial Archives. Albertas Rat Patrol. Provincial Records of Alberta. 1950.
Alberta Provincial Archives. Rat Posters. Public Affairs Bureau. Date Unknown.
Catechetical Guild Educational Society. Is This Tomorrow: America Under
Communism.1947.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention.Norway Rat. Photo by Orkin, Inc., July 29, 2010.
Dalton, Stephen. Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) silhouetted in sewage piping, UK, controlled
conditions. Nature.pl. July 29, 2010.
Jones, Josh. Anonymous, 1909. The Red Menace: A Striking Gallery of Anti-Communist
Posters, Ads, Comic Books, Magazines & Films. First published online: November 18,
2014.
http://www.openculture.com/2014/11/the-red-menace-a-striking-gallery-of-anti-communist-pr
opaganda.html
Jordan, Claire M. Rat Haiku and Other Assorted Oddities. 1999.
http://members.madasafish.com/~cj_whitehound/Rats_Nest/Haiku_etc.htm
National Film Preservation Foundation. Still from U
ncle Sam and the Bolshevik Rat. Ford
Motor Company, 1919.
Pearson Education Inc. How Communism Works. 1938. First published online: 1995.
http://wpscms.pearsoncmg.com/wps/media/objects/1693/1733989/images/img_w066.html