Video of swarming rats worries Paris, amid flooding worries

PARIS – Rats are increasingly scrambling from Paris sewers to the surface — and city officials and rat-catchers are scrambling for ways to get rid of them.

A creepy video of hundreds of rats wriggling in dumpsters published by Le Parisien newspaper put new pressure on authorities to act.

City hall says it has taken increasing measures against rats as their surface population has exploded in the past two years.

But Stephane Bras, spokesman for a group of extermination companies, said Monday the city’s efforts won’t work without national legislation requiring regular rodent inspection of all buildings and punishing picnickers who litter.

He said heavy rains in recent days, combined with a mild winter and an unusually large number of Paris construction sites, have driven more and more rats above ground.