UNIT:-12

RODENTS AND THEIR CONTROL.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF RODENTS:
Rodents includes rats and mice which damage human property along with agricultural
production. The damage can be seen in the field as well as in the storage condition also.
According to FAO the damage caused by rodents is around 33 million metric tons of food grain
along with human property. The data above indicates a great loss of agricultural and non-
agricultural commodity. This loss is directly related with the national economy. As we know
Nepal is agricultural country and major portion of National GDP comes from agriculture, So, the
rodents have a significant importance in terms of economy.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND HABIT OF RODENTS:

The knowledge of rats and mice are very important for establishing effective and
economic control measure:
They are very clever organism.
They can easily avoid unfamiliar objects.
They are color blind and have poor vision.
The sense of taste, smell and hearing are highly developed.
They usually repeat same activity every day at the same time and follow the same path.
They use their teeth to cut things.
The female is able to produce 3 to 12 off-springs at a time. Under optimum condition
little’s are produced at every 3 weeks interval.
On an average the age of rodents are of one years.
They mostly like ghee, meat, potato, noodles etc.

CONTROL OF RODENTS:
Rodents control is very important issue to save huge amount of agricultural product.
Generally they are nocturnal in habit so we follow following control measures to control rodent
population;
1) Rodent control without chemical (non-chemical):
In this method we follow different tactics which are environmentally friendly and don’t
cause harm to humans and animals. Rodents can be controlled non-chemically by
following ways;
 Cleaning of farm and storage properly so that rodents don’t find shelter.
 Rodent proof materials should be used to make storage bins.
 Storage bins should be constructed at least 1m above the ground since it will be
difficult for them to jump the distance.
 Keeping traps;
a) Sticky trap:- In this method some sticky materials are kept on a board
which is placed in general path of rodents. If rodents step on the board then
they gets trapped.
b) Pot trap:- In this method a half filled pot with water or petroleum is used.
Some food materials are then hanged just over the neck of pot and kept in
 the suitable place. If rodents find the material then they jump over it and fall
into the pot.
c) Steel trap:-In this method a steel material having a pair of jaw is used to
catch the rodents.
 Using irrigation: In this method field is flooded or irrigated in such a way that
water goes inside the tunnels made by the rodents.
 Fumigation: In this method fumigating substances are used to control the
rodents. Locally smokes are used by burning plant materials near the hole or
tunnel.
2) Rodents control with chemical:
In this method chemicals (poison) are used to control rodents. Generally these
chemicals are mixed with food and used as bait. If they eat the bait, they can die from
stomach poisoning. Generally baits are placed near the storage and at a distance of 5m
in the field. Commonly used chemicals are Zinc Phosphide, Lead Arsenate, Sodium
Arsenate, Calcium Cyanide etc.
This chemicals are used in different doses so that the time and efficiency to
control rodent is also different. According to doses we have two control method.
 Single dose acute poison:- In this method high dose of poison is used in a bait.
If rodent consume it then it will die suddenly, but there is a great chance of
alarm to other rodents. For eg: Zinc phosphide, lead arsenate, red squill etc.
 Multiple dose chronic poison:-In this method small dose of poison is mixed
with bait and its amount is increased every day. Rodents consume the bait
regularly and finally they die from internal bleeding of organs. In this case other
rodents are not alarmed. Warfarin, pindone etc.
3) Biological Control: Cat.