The video was filmed by one of the city's refuse collectors reveals Paris's longstanding rat problem in all its horror.
The swarms of rats caught on camera shows a huge number of the pests climbing all over each other presumably to get to food in the bin. Some are seen desperately trying to jump out of the bin.
Filmed on the banks of the River Seine, between the Musée d'Orsay and the Pont Royal, it's not exactly the kind of video people are used to seeing set in the romantic heart of the French capital.
But even though it's unquestionably disgusting and somewhat horrifying, the garbage collector who captured the scene says that for him and his colleagues it's not an uncommon sight.
“For a year, there has been a proliferation of rats in all the areas bordering the Seine,” he told Le Parisien.
“In the morning, we back away [from the bins],” he adds, saying he deplores the situation “for both Parisians and tourists, who come to visit the most beautiful city in the world.”
The situation is so bad, he says that he and his colleagues are regularly attacked by rats and fear one day they will be left seriously hurt.
“A colleague told me that a rat had jumped to his throat and another to his arm,” said David, adding that to his knowledge there have been no bites so far but that he does “not want to wait until there is a tragedy. “
As a result the garbage collectors are calling on the city to take measures to eradicate the problem and for restaurants in the area to behave better.
“The restaurants have about fifteen skips at their disposal and some still leave garbage bags outside,” he said.
The rats from the bin in the video were incinerated.
The Town Hall says it is tackling the problem head on, with Mao Peninou who is in charge of cleanliness at City Hall saying that in September €1.5 million was put towards getting rid of the rats.
(AFP)
This has been used for “intense cleaning, replacing all open public bins, as well as deratting operations in the city's parks and gardens,” said Peninou.
The city's rodents were given an image overhaul in 2007 in the hit animated film “Ratatouille” which depicted them cooking in a famous restaurant.
But rats are believed to easily outnumber Parisians in the French capital, their numbers are increasing and they don't seem to be going away.
In fact as recently as December The Local reported that the French government was forced to bring in cats to fight off the rat infestation at its prestigious ministries.
The Interior Ministry in Place Beauvau in Paris next to the president's Elysee Palace was among those affected, with the hallways and the apartment of Jacqueline Gourault, the minister's secretary, also playing host to the clever critters.
And in December 2016, the city was forced to close its parks as officials announced a major crackdown on rats.
A blog post on the site “Vivre Le Marais”, a community website for those living in the Marais quarter of central Paris, mentioned how the writer had counted some 200 rats inthe gardens around the St Jacques tower.
The blog post called the garden a “dump” and said the rat problem was not solved it would become “a hotbed of infection and a shame for Paris.”
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