BIOLOGY OF RODENTS

Rats and mice cause a huge loss of food worldwide. We will mostly be discussing the type of rodents called commensal rodents. The word commensal means sharing one's table. The word rodent means to to gnaw. Rodents will gnaw through many types of materials in order to reach a location including lead sheathing, cinder block, aluminum siding and some concrete. Besides eating our food, they spoil it by contamination with their feces, urine, or fur. They can be found not only in our homes, but supermarkets, restaurants, warehouses, food processing facilities, livestock facilities, and farm fields.

Under stable conditions, rodent movement for both rats and mice is limited. A Norway or Roof rat will move within a diameter of 98 to 164 ft. and a house mouse,10 to 33 ft. If conditions are unstable or there are changes such as new building, they may expand the diameter. They may also expand their range in protected areas such as in sewers, in passages between buildings, and under groundcovers.

Rodents reproduce rapidly with major activity at night. Rats tend to be cautious and mice are more curious. Rats tend to eat most of their food at one time, where mice will nibble a little at a time. It is important to remove rodents food sources, but do not disturb the rodent habitat. You will want a complete rodent elimination to occur before they could move to another area. A successful rodent control program includes a combination of baiting and trapping for the highest rate of success. You may also want to consider integrating your program, with exclusion techniques and a general cleanup, removal of their hiding places (harbor aging areas.)

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