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PestAway Pest Control Blog
Use of Chemicals in Rodent Control
The early use of chemicals in rodent control employed largely traditional acute or “single-dose” poisons. Because these materials need to be ingested only once and have a very high level of toxicity to a broad range of non-target animals, it is not surprising that their use has declined significantly and that they have been replaced by less hazardous alternatives.
It was not until the early 1950s that the much safer, “multi-dose” anticoagulant rodenticides were developed, and gradually these have come into very wide use. Because these, materials require that the target animal feeds over a period of perhaps 4 to 8 days before the concentration of the anticoagulant is sufficiently high to cause death, these materials are far superior to traditional single-dose poisons, from the viewpoint of safety for non-target animals.
By research efforts to expand the range of anticoagulant rodenticides, a new generation of acute “single-dose” anticoagulant rodenticides has been developed.
Methods of rodent control by chemical baiting are:
Tracking powders and gels: Some rodenticides are available in a powder or gel formulation. When these are placed where rodents are likely to contaminate their paws and fur (e.g. along runways, in burrows, on the roof of baiting stations), the rodents will later, during grooming, ingest an amount of the poison. Tracking powders can be sprinkled in appropriate places, or a dust blower may be useful in less accessible situations. Care should be taken not to use tracking powders where the poison may be conveyed by the rodents onto food for human consumption.
Fumigants: Fumigation is useful for large-scale rodent infestations on poultry farms and for other circumstances where rapid elimination is required. Fumigants are very dangerous substances, so only specially trained and licensed technicians may carry out such work (PestAway Pest Control has highly accredited technicians and fully certified pest controllers for rats, mice and rodent control). The role of fumigation in rodent control involves largely outdoor applications treatment burrows.
Prebaiting: Rats mostly use the same routes when travelling and tend to know well their immediate environment. Unlike mice, they suffer from “neophobia”; that is, their behaviour shows an aversion to new objects in their environment. It may, for example, take a few days before the more suspicious rat will try a new food in a new container, while the more adventurous mouse may begin to investigate within minutes. Before prepared baits are laid down, it is sometimes advisable to prebait. This involves laying down the attractant food with all other additives (e.g. mould inhibitors and dyes) in the bait, except for the poison. This may be carried out for a few successive sessions, or perhaps until the rodents appear to be feeding freely. Once their feeding habit has been established, the bait should be altered to contain the poison. This procedure lessens the likelihood of creating bait-shyness in rats.
For more details about mice, rat and rodent control services by PestAway Australia, please visit: www.pestaway.com.au/rodents-rats-mice-control
Posted by PestAway Australia on 4th November, 2012 | Comments
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