GREENVILLE, S.C. — They're seemingly a fixture of any major urban environment, but one particular pest control company says rats are the biggest problem for 50 U.S. cities - one of which is in South Carolina.
Through its annual list of "Top 50 Rattiest Cities," Orkin shows multiple metropolitan hubs in the Southeast have the unenviable honor of being included - the ranking based on new residential and commercial rodent treatments the company has performed in 12 months.
South Carolina's contribution to the list is a city that tends to be on much more positive city collections - Greenville. However, the city ranked 44th this year for rodent problems as well.
CBS, which also shared the list, added that the most common rat in the city is the brown rat - also known as the Norway or sewer rat. And it's not just a problem for that city, the 1-pound rodent is the most common species of rat found in buildings around South Carolina.
For its part, Greenville, whether by happenstance or intentionally, has seen a significant improvement in its rat problem this year based on Orkin's findings. The city dropped nine spots from the previous year.
While it's the only South Carolina city listed, Greenville isn't the only rat-centric place where South Carolinians may find themselves after a relatively short drive.
Other cities in the Carolinas that made the list were Charlotte (42nd) and Raleigh (35th) - the latter of which is apparently also seeing a bit of a snake problem. If there is a silver lining for these cities, it's that they've both moved down on the list. Charlotte is down 11 spots and Raleigh is down nine.
However, far up the list - and just a little drive down I-20 - is the city of Atlanta which moved down a spot from last year to 15th. It ranked highest among cities within reasonable driving distance from the Midlands.
