Why Control Rodents?
Damage comes in many forms: • Damage to buildings. Mice and rats will damage wood and electrical wiring, which can be a fire hazard. • Destruction of insulation. Many livestock and poultry facilities show serious deterioration within five years. Associated with this damage are costs for re-insulation, increased energy costs and poorer feed conversions by animals. • Feed consumed. A colony of 100 rats will consume over 1 tonne of feed in 1 year. • Feed contaminated. A rat can contaminate 10 times the amount of feed it eats with its droppings, urine and hair. A rat produces 25,000 droppings per year, a mouse 17,000. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that the equivalent of more than $2 billion in feed is destroyed by rodents each year.¹ • Biosecurity. Rodents are recognized as carriers of approximately 45 diseases, including salmonellosis, pasteurellosis, leptospirosis, swine dysentery, trichinosis, toxoplasmosis and rabies. Mice and rats can carry disease-causing orga
