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Relationship of roof rat population indices with damage to sugarcane

Wildlife Society Bulletin
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Abstract

Roof rats (Rattus rattus) cause substantial damage to sugarcane in South Florida (Samol 1972; Lefebvre et al. 1978, 1985). Accurate estimates of roof rat populations in sugarcane fields would be useful for determining when to to treat a field to control roof rats and for assessing the efficacy of control. However, previous studies have indicated that roof rats exhibit trap shyness, which makes capture-recapture population estimates difficult (Lefebvre et al. 1978, 1985; Holler et al., 1981). Until trapping methods are sufficiently improved to allow accurate population estimates, indices of population size that relate to damage need to be developed. The objectives of our study were to examine the relationship of several indices of roof rat populations to the percentage of sugarcane stalks damaged at harvest; to determine which population index would be most useful for sugarcane growers; and to report on a test of several types of live traps for roof rats.
Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Relationship of roof rat population indices with damage to sugarcane
Series title Wildlife Society Bulletin
Volume 17
Issue 1
Year Published 1989
Language English
Publisher Wildlife Society
Publisher location Bethesda, MD
Description 5 p.
Larger Work Type Article
Larger Work Subtype Journal Article
Larger Work Title Wildlife Society Bulletin
First page 41
Last page 45
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