Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Rat reduction measures were done in 171 villages of Panvel Block in Kolaba District of Maharashtra State, India. It started with rat preventive measures to doors and windows and the spraying of BHC and Malathion around bamboo matting huts. With the onset of rains trapping was done by “Deoras traps” inside houses and poison baiting by zinc phosphide on the outside. Rat burrows were closed by broken glass after the pumping in of BHC 10% dust, or sulphur fumes, or HCN or aluminum phosphide tablets. Lastly as the rains subsided zinc phosphide capsules dipped in melted wax were put on field borders and Malathion 1% sprayed in the field near crops. Total rats reduced were 20,260, of which 17,325 were by trapping and 2,935 by baiting. In the col lection, R. rattus species predominated and female rats were more in numbers than the males in all species of rats reduced. The cost of operations minus the salary and allowances of permanent staff came to Rs. 9,000/-. Public Health and Agriculture aspects were joined together and the rat reduction was done only for four months in the year when the monsoon was on, the paddy fields were full of water, and the rats migrated to residential areas for shelter. Public motivation was done by showing the damage and utilizing the rat skin and meat.