Rats off! Alaska’s St. Paul Island remains vigilant in search for rats

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Never mind the old idiom “to smell a rat,” a resident of St. Paul Island thinks they might have seen a rat and it’s not being taken lightly.

Located in the central Bering Sea, St. Paul Island is part of the Pribilof Island group in the Aleutians West Census Area in Alaska. In addition to being the home to a community of roughly 350 people, it’s also the home of rich wildlife, with over 300 recorded species of birds.

That’s why Lauren Divine, director of the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island’s ecosystem conservation office said the remote island community is ultimately “responsible forever” to keep the island rodent-free.

“It’s critical that we keep it rodent-free to maintain our diverse wildlife populations,” Divine said. “Just the threat of a rat — realized or unconfirmed — has to be taken seriously and acted upon until we are confident that there is no longer a threat, because an infestation and invasion can completely decimate our island so quickly.”

The resident reported the potential sighting last June, and while no sightings have been reported since, the anxiety lingers on.

After receiving word that a rat might have moved to town, wildlife officials were quick to arrive at the resident’s apartment complex to give a thorough examination, looking for the slightest indication of tracks, chew marks, or droppings.

Traps were baited with peanut butter with strategically placed blocks of wax made with ultraviolet material in hopes of using black lights to detect glowing droppings to light the way. Trail cameras have even been brought in to aid in the search, but still, no confirmed sightings as of now.

Tribal President for the Aleut Community of St. Paul John Melovidov said with any luck, it will stay that way.

“We’re crossing our fingers,” he said. “We’re hoping that it was just maybe a false reporting, but we’re absolutely taking it as if it is a real report.”

Melovidov has grown up on the island, being active with the tribe since around the age of five. He said in the 30-plus years he’s lived on St. Paul, he can only recall the threat of a rat sighting maybe a total of three times.

Despite it being a fairly uncommon occurrence, St. Paul has long since implemented a surveillance program that consists of setting rat traps around the airport as well as around the waterfront areas where vessels will dock.

“Our main concerns are the harbor in the airport,” Melovidov said. “We’re really heavy on traps and monitoring there. The most likely chance of getting a rat out here would be on one of our cargo ships or on our cargo plane.”

The last known rat sighting on the island was back in 2019 and it took nearly a year before it finally turned up dead inside a warehouse, all the more stressing the importance of a persistent search, Divine said, no matter the cost.

“While it’s true that our biosecurity vigilance is not cheap — and we have to assume those costs continuously — the costs of eradication would be infinitely more expensive, and perhaps never 100% successful,” she said.

The community is so concerned about wildlife conservation that Divine said dogs have even been federally prohibited from the Pribilofs Islands since 1976 to prevent interactions with northern fur seals.

However, in response to this most recent potential rat sighting, Melovidov said they’re currently seeking permission to have the U.S. Department of Agriculture temporarily bring a canine to the island to assist in the search.

“That’s going to cost about $12,000 to bring them out,” he said. “If we get that regulation waived, we’re hoping for November, but if it gets cold a little early, we may have to wait until spring, but really, I want to get this done as as soon as possible.”

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