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Montreal is known for many things, including great restaurants and potholed streets. But Canada’s second biggest city also has a growing rat problem.

An unseasonably mild winter has created ideal breeding conditions for rats and mice, and the spike in rodent populations is keeping local exterminators busy.

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One pest-control company reported that business is up 22 per cent this year.

Some of the worst hit areas in the city for rodents are the West Island, followed by Hampstead and Côte-St-Luc, and Westmount and N.D.G, said Bill Dowd, president of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control.

“It was such a warm winter, it allowed mice and other animals, which often die in the winter because food sources are scarce, to reproduce. … Mice can reach sexual maturity to start another family every 21 days. ”

All species, including raccoons, squirrels and skunks are experiencing increases, he said.

“We’ve already had our first litter of baby skunks, which is the earliest in 10 years, the second earliest in the 27 years we’ve been in business,” said Dowd, whose company operates in 75 municipalities in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.