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Efficacy of alpha-chlorhydrin in sewer rat control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

R. V. Andrews  and
R. W. Belknap
R. V. Andrews
Affiliation:
Departments of Physiology and Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska USA 68178
R. W. Belknap
Affiliation:
Departments of Physiology and Biology, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska USA 68178
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A single application of the male chemosterilant, α-chlorhydrin, to a problem sewer rat infestation resulted in reductions of rat numbers and distribution which was comparable to effects of warfarin baiting methods. Rat numbers were reduced by more than 85% by both methods. More rapid mortality and recruitment were evident for warfarin effects; the α-chlorhydrin treated population had a longer lag phase of growth so that reinfestation of sewer habitat to pre-treatment numbers, and distribution over a 40 square block area, required approximately 1·5–2 times longer after α-chlorhydrin treatment when compared with warfarin treatment. Comparisons of changes in rat densities in infested sewers following the two treatments indicate that recovery of warfarin treated populations is achieved by reproductive recruitment followed by dispersal while α-chlorhydrin treated populations recover by slower immigration and later reproductive recruitment. Alpha-chlorohydrin should be a useful addition to a limited arsenal of rat control agents because of its specificity for the Norway rat, its single dose effectiveness as a toxicant-chemosterilant, and its short environmental half-life.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 91 , Issue 2 , October 1983 , pp. 359 - 366
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

References

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