Here's why the rat population in Northern Nevada is booming

Northern Nevadans who feel like they've seen more rats around aren't imagining things.

Invasive roof rats from California have bred with native brown desert bushy tail rats (also called pack rats) to cause a population boom over the last five years, Victor Vasquez, a manager with Truckee Meadows Pest Control, told the Reno Gazette Journal on Sept. 24.

Truckee Meadows Pest Control serves Reno and the surrounding areas, including Incline Village at Lake Tahoe, where Vasquez said the roof rat problem started.

"We get calls every day for (rats)," Vasquez said. "Some days are lighter than others, majority are in Incline and in the 89503 area," in west Reno.

"That’s where we first started seeing them in Reno."

Vasquez said the pest control company has seen an estimated 50% increase in calls