A natural food aversion in Norway rats and in house mice

We studied the distribution of introduced mammals in six nature reserves of New Caledonia's southern province. Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) were common in both rainforest and shrubland but their abundance decreased with increasing altitude. Ship rats (Rattus rattus) were abundant in rainforest but less numerous in shrubland and their abundance did not increase with altitude. We found no Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) or house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) in reserves. Feral pigs (Sus scrofa) used mainly rainforest but also shrubland and preferred foraging in valleys with alluvial soils. Rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) selected shrubland over rainforest. Feral cats (Felis catus) were widely distributed in the reserves, whereas dogs (Canis familiaris) strayed into reserves but did not form feral populations.

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Commensal Rodents in 19th Century Australasia: Diversity, Invasion Routes and the China Connection

10.21203/rs.3.rs-339763/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew James Veale ◽

Carolyn King ◽

Wayne Johnson ◽

Lara Shepherd

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

New Zealand ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

House Mice ◽

Mus Musculus Domesticus ◽

The South ◽

The North ◽

Founding Population ◽

Norway Rats

Abstract The present genetic diversity of commensal rodent populations is often used to inform the invasion histories of these species, and as a proxy for historical events relating to the movement of people and goods. These studies assume that modern genetic diversity generally reflects early colonising events. We investigate this idea by sequencing the mitochondrial DNA of rodent bones found in a 19th-century archaeological site in The Rocks area of Sydney, Australia, the location of the first historical European port. We identified 19th-century bones from two species, Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus domesticus. We found six genetic haplotypes in the 39 Norway rats, showing either multiple early introductions or a diverse initial founding population. One of them was identical with Norhap01 common in the North Island of New Zealand, but none was like the haplotype Norhap02 found throughout the South Island. We found three haplotypes in seven house mice, all belonging to the dominant subspecies established in Australia, M.m. domesticus. There was no evidence for M. m. castaneus or M. m. musculus having established there. We had few modern R. norvegicus and M. musculus DNA sequences from Sydney, but those we had did tentatively support the hypotheses that (1) modern samples can represent at least a preliminary estimate of historical diversities and origins, and (2) Asian haplotypes of both Norway rats and of house mice reached the South Island of New Zealand early in colonial times direct from China rather than through Port Jackson.

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Influence of vitamin K-rich plant foods on anticoagulant baiting efficacy in wild House Mice, wild Norway Rats, and wild Black Rats

Pacific Conservation Biology ◽

10.1071/pc090087 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 87 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

G. W. Witmer ◽

P. W. Burke

Keyword(s):

Vitamin K ◽

Plant Material ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

House Mice ◽

Plant Materials ◽

Brussels Sprouts ◽

Anticoagulant Rodenticides ◽

Norway Rats ◽

Black Rats

Rodents introduced to islands have caused the extinction of many species of animals. Anticoagulant rodenticides are relied on to eradicate rodents from these islands, but if the rodents are eating plant materials that contain high amounts of vitamin K (the antidote to anticoagulants) anticoagulant rodenticides may not be effective. In a laboratory trial, individually caged Norway Rats Rattus norvegicus, Black Rats R. rattus and House Mice Mus musculus were fed fresh plant material high in vitamin K (Collards [0.62 mg vitamin K per 100 g] and Brussels Sprouts [0.19 mg vitamin K per 100 g]) for a period of 7 days. When presented later with anticoagulant rodenticides (0.0025% brodifacoum pellets or 0.005% diphacinone pellets) along with the diet of plant material, 94% of the rodents died. We conclude from this study that the presence of green feed rich in vitamin K does not reduce the effectiveness of anticoagulant rodenticides. However, we add a word of caution on one of the findings of our study. While we think the low efficacy (75%) we found in the case of brodifacoum and Black Rats was probably an artifact of small sample size in that treatment group, the result warrants further investigation.

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Level of mutation of the VKORC1 resistance gene to anticoagulants in house mice and norway rats in Moscow and Moscow region

Disinfection affairs ◽

10.35411/2076-457x-2021-1-55-62 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 55-62

Author(s):

Aleksey Nikolaevich Maltsev ◽

◽

Elena Vladimirovna Kotenkova ◽

Sergey Vasilevich Ryabov ◽

Tatyana Viktorovna Gololobova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

First Generation ◽

Genetic Resistance ◽

Resistance Mutation ◽

Moscow Region ◽

House Mice ◽

Heterozygous State ◽

2Nd Generation ◽

Exon 1 ◽

Norway Rats ◽

Vkorc1 Gene

The resistance of house mice (M. musuclus linnaeus, 1758) and norway rats (R. norvegicus berkenhout, 1769) to anticoagulants of the 1st and 2nd generation in the VKORC1 gene in Moscow and the Moscow region was studied. House mice had two previously unknown mutations in exon 1: Lys175Arg и Ser94Trp. We assume that these mutations can increase the resistance of rodents to second-generation anticoagulants. the percentage of individuals with mutations in exon 1 in Moscow is 87.5 %, in Noginsk and Podolsk – 100 %. Of the 18 norway rats studied in Moscow, only three individuals in a heterozygous state were found to have one of the mutations (Tyr139Ser), usually associated with genetic resistance of rodents to the first generation anticoagulant warfarin. the percentage of resistant individuals in Moscow was 15.7 %. the rats in which the resistance mutation was found were captured in three districts of moscow: southwestern, northern and eastern.

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Food habits of the Common Barn-Owl in British Columbia

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z87-090 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 65 (3) ◽

pp. 578-586 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

R. Wayne Campbell ◽

David A. Manuwal ◽

Alton S. Harestad

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Food Habits ◽

Passer Domesticus ◽

Columba Livia ◽

Barn Owl ◽

House Mice ◽

Tyto Alba ◽

The Common ◽

Norway Rats ◽

Microtus Townsendii

The diet of the Common Barn-Owl, Tyto alba, in British Columbia was determined from analysis of 30 218 prey remains recovered from 11 787 pellets between 1941 and 1981. Small mammals were the main prey accounting for 98.0% of all remains, with rodents (80.1%) and insectivores (17.8%) the primary prey groups. Microtus townsendii accounted for nearly three-quarters of all prey and 84.3% of mammalian-prey biomass. Food habits varied among five geographical areas. Voles (Microtus spp.) and shrews (Sorex spp.) were primary and secondary prey, respectively, in all areas but Vancouver City, where Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus), house mice (Mus musculus), and birds (Columba livia, Sturnus vulgaris, and Passer domesticus) predominated. Microtus townsendii was the primary prey in all seasons (1973 and 1978), with autumn the season of highest numbers of voles. Other prey were inversely proportional to the incidence of microtines in the diet. Over 13 years, from 1967 to 1981, microtines accounted for between 65.3 and 84.5% of all prey items and their occurrence in the diet generally followed population trends of grassland mammals. A positive correlation between percent occurrence in the diet and population density was noted for the principal food, M. townsendii.

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The comparative epizootiology of Capillaria hepatica (Nematoda) in urban rodents from different habitats of Baltimore, Maryland

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z88-404 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 66 (12) ◽

pp. 2769-2775 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

J. E. Childs ◽

G. E. Glass ◽

G. W. Korch Jr.

Keyword(s):

Age Structure ◽

Rattus Norvegicus ◽

Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽

House Mice ◽

Infection Rates ◽

Intensity Of Infection ◽

Meadow Voles ◽

Capillaria Hepatica ◽

Rats And Mice ◽

Norway Rats

The prevalence and intensity of Capillaria hepatica infections in four rodent species (Rattus norvegicus, Mus musculus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, and Peromyscus leucopus) trapped from sites in different habitats of Baltimore were examined from 1980 to 1986. Norway rats were frequently infected (87.4%), house mice rarely infected (5.4%), and no lesions were observed in meadow voles or white-footed mice. Rats from residential locations had significantly higher prevalence and intensity of infection compared with rats from parkland locations, findings not related to differences in the age structure of the populations. Prevalence and severity of lesions were positively associated with increasing body mass in rats and mice. No sex-related differences were found. Infection rates were positively correlated with relative densities of rat and mouse populations; results were corroborated by interviews conducted with 87 household residents.

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