Improving commensal rodent management by improving the utility of bait stations and the consumption of bait.
Commensal rodents are one of the most widespread mammals in the urban environment. They pose threats to the public’s health and cause structural damage to buildings. Yet, they remained understudied. This leads to a lack of understanding of these species, and to incomplete management. Recent PMF-supported research has shown that commensal rodents often do not enter bait stations that they encounter. This may be one of the reasons why certain populations of commensal rodent never achieve a satisfactory population decrease. Research has also shown that if rodents do not enter bait stations within 2 weeks of the start of the management program, the management program is likely to fail. This proposed research aims to determine the dynamics of the population in study sites and determine what individuals use, or do not use bait stations.