Managing Rats and Minimizing Rodenticides

摘要

Rodents most often encountered as structural pests include the Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus; the roof rat, Rattus rattus; and the house mouse, Mus musculus. The Norway rat, considered the most important pest rat in the U.S., is also known as the brown, wharf, house, grey, or sewer rat. (Albino forms of the Norway rat are used for scientific research.) It occurs in every state and is widely distributed around the world. The roof rat, also known as the ship or black rat, occurs mainly in the coastal U.S., including the Pacific Coast states, the Gulf states, and the Southeast and some Middle Atlantic states. The house mouse is found throughout the U.S. (Marsh 1994; Corrigan 1997).