Rats are believed to easily outnumber Parisians in the city, with their numbers increasing all the time.

 

And in an attempt to improve the situation, the city has taken some drastic measures including closing parks and bringing cats into prestigious illustrious government buildings but a recent stomach-churning video showing scores of rats in a Paris dumpster sparked alarm over the invasion of rats in the French capital. 

 

Now it's trying another — much more aggressive — method of combating the rodent population…the guillotine.  

 

In the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers which is particularly affected by the rodent invasion, authorities have been testing a mechanical version of the famous French execution device in the sewers. See the picture in the tweet below.

 

 

 

The trap, which is inserted into a pipe, detects the rat by heat and motion sensors and then drops a series of blades, causing “the rupture of the spinal cord and therefore death in a split second,” explained one of its developers Laurent Nguyen to Le Parisien, adding that “the rat hardly suffers.” 

 

And while it might sound gruesome, so far local authorities are pleased with the results, with 45 rats killed during the first month of testing. 

 

“If the device still works as well by the end of March, we will ask for it to be developed it in other areas of the city,” said president of a local housing group, Anthony Daguet.

 

But if it the Paris authorities do decide to roll the device out across the city, it's certainly going to cost them the big bucks, with each “guillotine” costing between €300 and €450 per month.

 

How much is the city willing to shell out to fight the scourge of rats?

Photo: Screengrab Le Parisien