This photograph taken on February 19, 2024, shows rats feed next to a pigeon, in Paris. —photo by Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse PARIS, France — While the Paris Olympics is set to be a festival of socializing and intermingling, city authorities are keen for visitors not to encounter any of the capital’s notorious furry inhabitants. Humorously portrayed in the hit animated film “Ratatouille,” the French capital’s abundant rat population is no joke for the city’s residents—and could be an embarrassment as the Olympics spotlight falls on Paris.
“All of the Olympic sites and celebration areas were analyzed (for rats) before the Games,” Deputy Mayor Anne-Claire Boux, who has responsibility for public health, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview. READ: Paris Olympics: Athletes enjoying first days at Olympic village As well as ordering a deep clean to remove any food residues that might tempt the scurriers from their underground lairs, the mayor’s rodent specialists also worked to close up exit points from the sewers around the sites. “Where there were areas with lots of rats we put traps in place ahead of the Games,” Boux continued, adding that both mechanical rattraps and chemical solutions were used to reduce troublesome populations.
The park behind the Eiffel Tower, where the beach volleyball is set to take place, and the Louvre gardens, where the Olympic cauldron is set to burn, are popular picnic spots—and previously rat infested. “Ult.