Denver residents are not alone in moving inside to evade the cold winter weather.

Community members in Denver have taken to social media in recent weeks to share their shock and unease at what seems to be an increase in rat sightings within the city compared to previous years.

But according to Denver Department of Public Health and Environment Public Information Officer Amber Campbell, this increase is not necessarily due to growth in the rat population. A greater awareness of rats in public spaces, Campbell said in a Dec. 13 email, has driven an increase in the number of complaints received by the department.

And some of these rats are far larger than the typical field mouse. According to Wilson Christner, owner and vice president of Whitmore Pest & Wildlife Control in Littleton, the size of the rat is directly correlated with its ability to easily access an abundance of food.

“Close to downtown, we’ve had some pretty good size rats taken out,” Christner said on a phone call Tuesday afternoon. “One of them was the largest I had ever seen. It filled up the bottom of a five-gallon barrel.”

Christner added that construction and remodeling downtown has created wide thoroughfares between some buildings, allowing rats to travel without many limitations.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, rodents have the ability to spread diseases to humans and pose a serious risk to public health. These diseases — including Lassa Fever, rat-bite fever and tularemia — can be fatal, and can be transmitted to humans through direct scratching and biting or by indirect contamination through infected droppings and hair.

Ultimately, Campbell said, Denver residents can do a number of things to help keep rats away, including making sure that dumpsters and garbage cans are clean and lidded as well as maintaining yards and landscaped areas.

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