Canadian town needs your help naming this taxidermied rat

Updated March 16, 2017 at 9:09 a.m.·1 min read

If you can find it in your heart, please take some time out of your day to help name this dead rat.

The District of Bonnyville in Alberta, Canada, is holding a contest to give the poor rodent the perfect name.

Officials posted the contest to their Facebook page, along with a picture of the anonymous critter.

Photo: Facebook

"Agriculture and Waste Services has added this little guy — a Norway rat — to their pest control education toolbox, and want YOUR help to name it," the post says.

Official rules state that the rat will be used to educate residents about the pests.

According to CBC News, Alberta has been rat-free for decades, and they want to stay that way.

The first step to making that reality is making sure locals understand how bad the rat problem could be. Many people in the province don't even know what the pests look like in real life.

Whoever wins the rat-naming contest will receive a $100 gift card to Boston Pizza and a whole bunch of Bonnyville swag.

If you qualify to enter, that's a pretty enticing deal. We suggest submitting any name your heart desires -- besides Boaty McBoatface, that's already taken.

Engadget
Apple Black Friday deals discount the M3 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM to the lowest price we've seen
Our pick for the best laptop for most people is on sale. A 13-inch MacBook Air with an M3 chip, 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage is down to a record low.
Yahoo Celebrity UK
Mourners begin to arrive for Liam Payne funeral as One Direction attend
The singer's family and girlfriend Kate Cassidy are also expected to attend the service being held in the Home Counties.
Insider Monkey
Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) Is Buying Discover
Bronte Capital, an investment management company, released its “Amalthea Fund” third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund was down 3.72% for the quarter vs. +2.54% for the MSCI ACWI (in $A). It was down 5.59% in September vs. -0.35% for the index. The market rose in the […]
The Canadian Press
Middle East latest: Israel insists on right to act against Hezbollah in any deal to end fighting
Israel’s defense minister says his country insists on the right to act militarily against Hezbollah in any agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon.
Investor's Business Daily
Dow Jones Futures Rise Ahead Of Nvidia Earnings, Jensen Huang; Target Plunges On Earnings
Dow Jones futures rose Wednesday ahead of Nvidia earnings and comments from CEO Jensen Huang. Target plunged 18% on earnings.
Sky News
Liam Payne's One Direction bandmates Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson among mourners as funeral takes place
Mourners including Liam Payne's One Direction bandmates and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy have gathered to say goodbye at his funeral. Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik are among the family and friends attending the private ceremony, which is taking place at a church in the Home Counties. Simon Cowell, who put the band together on The X Factor, has also arrived for the service.
Yahoo Life UK
I became a professional mermaid due to my invisible illnesses
Jasmine Seales, 33, says her health issues made it difficult for her to hold down a conventional full time job, but she's now found her dream role.
Sky News
Officers face criminal investigation after pregnant woman and baby killed by police car
Two Metropolitan Police officers are facing a criminal investigation after a pregnant woman and her baby were killed in a collision with an unmarked police car. The woman's car was struck by the police vehicle in Eltham, southeast London, on 17 October. Two unmarked police vehicles had been responding to an unrelated incident when the crash happened.
BBC
Seven-year-old gets job offer from Russian IT firm
The software company's boss said Sergey, who teaches coding in online videos, was "a kind of Mozart".
PA Media: UK News
Wannabe YouTubers must be motivated by ‘passion’ for making videos, says DanTDM
DanTDM, real name Dan Middleton, is one of the world’s most successful YouTube gamers with three channels totalling more than 32 million subscribers.
The Independent
Liam Payne funeral latest: One Direction star’s bandmates and girlfriend Kate Cassidy arrive at church
Pop star, who died in Buenos Aires last month, rose to fame with Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson as a member of the chart-topping boyband
GuruFocus.com
Trump's Administration is Potentially More Favorable to The Airline Industry
Stricter Airline Regulations Under Biden Administration Highlight Consumer Protection
BBC
Ugandan opposition figure appears in military court after Kenya expulsion
Kizza Besigye is charged in a Ugandan military court after his wife says he was kidnapped while in Kenya.
The Guardian
Rio Tinto review shows rise in rape and bullying reports
Bullying claims linked to diversity programme ‘retaliation’, despite efforts to improve workplace culture
Associated Press
US defense chief regrets China's decision not to meet during Southeast Asian security talks
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed regret Wednesday that his Chinese counterpart chose not to hold talks with him during meetings of Southeast Asian defense chiefs in Laos, calling it a setback for the entire region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is holding security talks in Vientiane at a time of increasing maritime disputes with China and as the transition to a new U.S. president approaches. The decision by Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun “is a setback for the whole region,” Austin said after the first day of meetings.
Cover Media
Hugh Grant, yaşlı bir ebeveyn olmanın 'dayanılmaz' zorluklarını tartışıyor
The Kelly Clarkson Show'a çıkan yıldız, genç ailesi hakkında övgüler yağdırarak yavrularıyla oynamayı sevdiğini söyledi. "Yani, korkacak çok şey var çünkü yaşlıyım ve gürültülü ve dayanılmaz." "Ve tuvalette çok saklanıyorum. Artık orada çok uyuyorum... Bir kilit var ama artık onu neredeyse kırdılar."
Reuters
British Land eyes retail parks expansion after half-year profit rise
(Reuters) -British Land plans to acquire more retail park assets, its new finance chief said on Wednesday, after the landlord posted a 1% rise in half-year profit helped by strength in that sector. The FTSE 100 firm's increased focus on retail parks helped it to counter valuation weakness in its office-focused portfolio, as the British commercial property market recovers from the post-pandemic freeze. "If we can exit from the non-strategic parts of our business - whether that is shopping centres or drier London assets - we will free up capital and look to redeploy that into retail parks," CFO David Walker, who took up the role on Wednesday, told Reuters.
Bears Wire
Bears have lost games that had odds to happen one in 68 million times
The Bears have an unbelievable stat in losing close games
Sky News
Junior Thames Water bondholders push for changes to £3bn emergency loan
A group of junior Thames Water bondholders are pushing for changes to a rival syndicate's proposed £3bn loan that they argue is prohibitively expensive for Britain's biggest water company. Sky News has learnt that the class B creditors - who have also offered their own emergency financing package to Thames Water - want a so-called make-whole provision which would cost hundreds of millions of pounds under the A group's proposal to be removed or made less onerous. It was unclear on Wednesday whether the class A creditors would be willing to amend their deal along the lines of the class B group's demand.
Reuters
DuckDuckGo says Google should face fresh EU probes into compliance with tech rules
Alphabet's Google should face additional EU investigations into its compliance with landmark European Union rules aimed at reining in Big Tech's power, rival internet search engine DuckDuckGo said on Wednesday. Under the EU's Digital Markets Act adopted in 2022, Google and six other tech companies are required to make it easier for users to switch to rival services and banned from favouring their products on their platforms, among other obligations. The world's most popular internet search engine is already the target of two DMA investigations related to its app store Google Play rules and whether it discriminates against third-party services on Google search results.

Latest Stories