Taking a Trip to France? Check Out this Eye-Grabbing Exterminator’s Shop

PARIS — Paris is keen to great culture, unique fashion, world-renowned cuisine and a deep-rooted history in architecture. But if you’re a pest control professional and taking a trip to the “City of Lights,” you’ll want to make a stop at this unique stuffed rat storefront — Julien Aurouze and Co.

In the front window of Julien Aurouze and Co., founded in 1872, there are 21 dead rats hanging by their necks, crushed by steel traps, that have been hanging there since 1925, according to a Seattle Times article.

This historic family-owned pest control shop in Central Paris was also featured in the film “Ratatouille.” The facade of Julien Aurouze was portrayed in a gloomy nighttime scene warning about the dangers of humans.

The big slogan above the display of dead rats reads "destruction of harmful animals,” and today, the exterminator shop treats more than just rats.

While the dead rats have remained a tourists attraction, the methods of exterminating vermin have evolved for the company. Mice and cockroaches remain a problem in Paris, Julian Aurouze stated in the article, keeping this century-old exterminator shop busy.

Eric Brothers, senior editor of Aerospace Manufacturing (a GIE Media publication) was recently in France and took some photos of the storefront. The shop is located on Rue des Halles, close to Hotel de Ville.

Brothers told PCT, “Walking down the Paris street, with its elegant sandstone-faced buildings full of shops and restaurants, I wasn't expecting to see a display window full of rats hanging from traps! The rodents are well-preserved for being 100 years old, with fur intact, so the taxidermist of that era did a good job of preparing these trophies of the exterminator's trade.”

Brothers said he felt sorry for the cafe-bistro on the corner right next door to the hanging rats — “Not something you want to see to improve one's appetite!” he said.