Integrated Pest Management

Food Quality Manager

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Understanding Rodent Management

Excerpted from a presentation done by:

Dr. Pio A. Javier

Adjunct Research Professor
Institute of Weed Science, Entomology and Plant Pathology
College of Agriculture and Food Science
University of the Philippines Los Banos
College, Laguna

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 What is a Rodent?
Rodent = “ to gnaw”

Rodents gnaw to sharpen

teeth, and grind teeth to
keep them from growing.
Gnawing Teeth

Rodents are vertebrate

animals including rats,
mice, squirrels and etc.
 Senses
Keen sense of smell, touch, hearing & taste

Food Requirements:
- Wide range of food including non-traditional
food: soap, glue and electrical insulators

- Rats eat 20-25 grams of food a day

- Mice eat 3-4 grams of food a day

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 Territorial Movement

Generally with restricted range

1. Juveniles: 6 meters
2. Adults: 26 meters

Neophobia : fear of new objects

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 Three Important Species

House Mouse
Mus musculus Roof Rat
Rattus rattus

Norway Rat
Rattus norvegicus
 House Mouse (Mus musculus)
Slender body, weighs between
15-30 grams (adult)
Large ears, tail is semi-naked
and is as long as the head and
body together
Prefers grain, cereals, and
seeds
Stores food in protected
places
Mouse nest
General Biology, Reproduction Behavior (Mus musculus):
Mainly nocturnal, although at some locations
considerable daytime activity may be seen.
Seeing mice during daylight hours does not necessarily
mean there is a high population present, although this
usually is true for rats.
Have poor eyesight (essentially colorblind), relying more
on their hearing, excellent senses of smell, taste & touch.
Can dig & may burrow into the ground in fields or
around structures when other shelter is not readily
available.
Nesting may occur in any sheltered location.
Nests are constructed of fibrous materials and generally
have the appearance of a "ball" of material loosely woven
together. Nests are usually 4 - 6 inches in diam. 
General Biology, Reproduction Behavior (Mus musculus):
 Litters of 5 or 6 young are born 19 to 21 days after mating,
females that conceive while still nursing may have a slightly
longer gestation

Newborn mice are naked and their eyes are closed.



Grow rapidly; after 2 weeks they are covered with hairs and their eyes and

ears are open.

At 3 weeks, they begin to make short excursions from the nest and eat

solid food.

Weaning soon follows, and mice are sexually mature as early as 6 to 10


weeks old.
General Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior:
They quickly detect new objects in their
environment, but they do not fear novel objects
as do rats. 

This behavior should be remembered if faced

with a large population of mice in a residential,
industrial or agricultural setting.  Proper
placements of mouse bait is a must if you are
to have a successful baiting program.
 Roof Rat (Rattus rattus)
Smaller than the Norway rat.
The color of fur is usually grayish
black to a solid black, the belly
varies from buff-white to all gray.
Nests in trees, vegetation, and
upper floors but will move into
lower floors and burrows.
Prefers vegetarian diet of fruits
and vegetables
Must drink daily. Eat small
amounts in different places and
carry food to nests or protected
areas.
Nest of Roof Rats
 Roof Rat
Behavior
Rattus rattus-tends to live in polygynous groups with
multiple males and females.
Dominant males have increased mating access and
mate more frequently than do subordinate males.
Females are usually more aggressive than males, but
have been reported to be less mobile.
Black rats exhibit many destructive behaviors
stripbark off of trees,
contaminate human food sources and,
are overall pests.
 Roof Rat
Behavior
Rattus rattus are primarily nocturnal.
build nests in burrows for young out of sticks
and leaves,
depending upon habitat, individuals maybe
arboreal or terricolous.
often make home in the upper floors of
buildings due to their climbing abilities
tail is longer than their bodies used to assist in
balance when climbing
often lives on ships and in arboreal habitats
 General Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior:
Home Range
 The home range of R. rattus is never more than about 100 square meters.

 It often has smaller territories.

 Territories surround food sources and are defended.

Food Habits
 Rattus rattus generally feeds on fruit, grain, cereals, and other vegetation.

 It is an omnivore, however, and will feed on insects or other

 invertebrates if necessary.

 It consumes about 15 g/day of food and 15 mL/day of water.

 Because it consumes and destroys the food source during feeding, it can cause
devastating damage to farms and livestock.

 It does not only gnaw through many materials but it ruins more than that by
excreting on the remains of its foraging efforts.
 Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus)
Habitat


In Asia, R. norvegicus was native to forests and brushy areas.


Today, however, Norway rats find preferred habitat to be
alongside the rapid expansion of the human population.


every port city in the world has a substantial population of these
rodents.


They occupy a variety of habitats including garbage dumps,
sewers, open fields and woodlands, basements, and nearly
anywhere else that food and shelter might be found.


Anywhere that humans are located, R. norvegicus will most
likely follow.
 General Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior:
 Breeding interval
Norway rats may breed up to 7 times per year

 Breeding season
Breeding occurs year round, but is less pronounced during colder months.
 Number of offspring - 2 to 14; avg. 8

 Gestation period - 22 to 24 days

 Time to weaning - 3 to 4 weeks

 Time to independence - 4 to 5 weeks

 Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female) - 3 to 4 months

 Age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male) - 3 to 4 months

 The mating system of R. norvegicus is best described as polygynandrous.

Norway rats tend to breed in large groups. Once a female enters her six-hour
estrus period, she may mate as many as five-hundred times with competing
males.

 Home Range: Territories can be 50 meters in diameter.

Norway rats nest
 Rodents
Rodents inflict serious damage to
structures, equipment, furniture, utilities
and transportation vehicles.
Rodents contaminate food that cause
food poisoning.
Rodents have the potential to serve as
disease vehicles for harboring and rapidly
transporting diseases.
Rodents and Human Diseases
Allergens
Plague
- widely known and feared disease
- caused by a bacillus, Yersinia pestis that is spread
from rats to people primarily by the oriental rat
flea.
Rabies
Rat bite fever
Rodents and Human Diseases
Leptospirosis
Rickettsial diseases
٠ Murine Typhus – rat flea
٠ Scrub Typhus – rat mite
٠ Rickettsialpox – mouse mite
PLAGUE

 Plague – disease
 Yersinia pestis - Causal organism (bacteria)
 Xenopsylla cheopsis – Vector (Rat Flea)
 Rats and mice - host

Plague Types:
1. Bubonic Plague,
2. Septicemic plague,
3. Pneumonic plague
Leptospirosis

Jaundice (Sign of infection)

Leptospira sp. Causal organism)

Affected kidneys
 Rickettsial disease (Murine typhus)
Murine typhus (Fleaborne
typhus)
Transmission to humans
occurs when infective flea
feces are scratched into the
bite site (or other fresh skin
wounds) or are transported
manually to the eyes or
mucous membranes.

Rickettsia typhi may also be

transmitted by flea bites, and
not merely through contact
with infective feces or
crushed fleas.
Rickettsial disease (Scrub typhus)

Scrub typhus-disease
 Rickettsia tsutsugamushi
 Chigger mite
 Rats or mice
 Scrub typhus is an acute disease in humans, causing fevers and
sometimes it is fatal. The severity of the disease depends upon the
strain of the infectious organism.
 The main symptoms of the disease are fever, a wound at the site of the
bite, a spotted rash on the trunk, and swelling of the lymph glands.
 Rickettsial disease (Scrub typhus)
 Rat bite fever – disease

 Streptobacillus moniliformis and Spirillum

minus - Causal organism

 Rats, mice and other mammals –

Vectors

 Transmission – rat bite and/or

scratch in the skin.

 Symptoms - Symptoms usually occur 2-

10 days after exposure to an infected
animal. Common symptoms include an
abrupt onset of chills and fever, vomiting,
pain in the back and joints, headache and
muscle pain.. Within 2-4 days after the
onset of fever, a rash appears on the hands
and feet. One or more large joints may
then become swollen, red, and painful.
Damage to Food and Properties
1. Destruction of Agricultural crops

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 Damage to Food and Properties
2. Destruction of equipment, electrical systems,
books , etc.

3. Pest in animal farms

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 Signs of Rodent Infestation
1. Sighting of rodents

2. Damaged stocks and spilled grains

3. Fecal dropping

4. Runaways and oily smears

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 Rodent Control

1. Rodent Inspection
Good rodent control begins with good inspections
Rodent signs
- Fecal pellets (most commonly encountered signs of a

rodent infestation)
- Rodent tracts
- Gnawing damage
- Burrows
- Runways
Rodent
droppings:
Rodent signs:

- Urine stains
- Sounds
- Sightings of live or dead rodents (most reliable)
2. Sanitation
Sanitation is the backbone of a successful rat control
program and will often mean the difference between
success or failure in controlling rats.

Good housekeeping practices are an absolute must in

rodent control whether the structure be a residence,
office building or food handling establishment.