Victor Vasquez, a manager with Truckee Meadows Pest Control, told the Reno Gazette Journal on Sept. 24 that he gets calls everyday to address rat problems local residents are having.

"Some days are lighter than others, majority are in Incline and in the 89503 area (in west Reno)," Vasquez said. "That’s where we first started seeing them in Reno."

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

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. Vasquez said Truckee Meadows Pest Control has seen an estimated 50% increase in calls about rats since 2020, with a 10% increas

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