DEFINITION
- Mammals of the rodentia characterized by single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About forty percent of all mammals species are rodents, and they are found in vast numbers in all continents except Antarctica. They are most diversified mammalian order and can be found in variety of terrestrial habitats, including human made environments. There are species that are arboreal, fossorial and semi aquatic. Well known rodents include mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs, porcupines, beavers, guinea pig, and hamsters.
MOST COMMON RODENTS ( RAT/MICE )
- Rats are various. medium size long tailed rodents member of genus rattus. most important to which human are :
- Roof Rats/Black rats (Rattus rattus)
- Norway Rats/Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus)
- House mice (Mus Musculus)
- This rats or so called rodents tend to live close by wit humans and eats the same food as we do too.
ROOF RATS (RATTUS RATTUS)
- Known as the ship rat, roof rat, house rat, Alexandrine cat, old English rat- Species originated in tropical Asia and spread through the Near East in Roman times before reaching Europe by the 1st century and spreading with Europeans across the world.
- Generalist omnivores
- Eat birds and insects and to farmers as they eat a wide range of agricultural crops
- They are vectors of many disease including the bacterium Yersinia Pestis an agent of Bubonic Plague.
Appearance
-16-24 length, with a tail longer than the head and the body
- 150-200g in weight
- Pointed nose, larger ears, slender body when compared to the Norway Rat.
Life Cycle
- 5-10 young per litter ; 3-6 litters a year
- Gestation period of about 3 weeks
- 12-16 weeks from birth to sexual maturity.
NORWAY RATS (RATTUS NORVEGICUS)
- Referred to as common rats, street rat, sewer rat, Hanover rat, Norway rat, brown Norway rat, Norwegian rat and wharf rat.
- One of the largest muroids
Appearance
- Up to 40cm in length, tail shorter than the head and the body.
- 350-500g in weight
- Blunt nose, small ears and a thicker body when compared to the Roof Rat.
Lifecycle
- 7-8 young per litter ; 3-6 litters a year
- Gestation period of about 3 weeks
10-12 weeks from birth to sexual maturity.
HOUSE MICE (MUS MUSCULUS)
- Small mammal of the order Rodentia
- House mouse has been domesticated as the pet or fancy mouse and as the laboratory mouse
Appearance
- 7-9.5cm in length with a tail around the same length
- 12-30g in weight
- Small feet and head and large eyes and ears.
Lifecycle
- 4-16 young per litter ; 7-8 ;itters a year
- Gestation period of about 3 weeks.
- 8-12 weeks from birth to sexual maturity.
SIGNS OF RAT'S PRESENCE
- Faeces
- Footprints
- Runway
- Smears
- Bitemarks
- Burrows
- Smell
- Urine
- Live rat
- Carcass
- Nest
RODENT CONTROL MEASURES
- Eliminating sources of food
- Eliminating breeding and nesting places
- Rat-proofing building and other structures
- Killing them
