First record of Little Indian field mouse, Mus booduga (Gray 1837) (Rodentia: Muridae), from cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Mus booduga (Gray 1837) is a mesic rodent, recorded for the first time from the cold arid region of Leh-Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. The species was collected from crop fields and nearby areas from different altitudes ranging from 3187 to 3768 m above mean sea level. The paper describes the external measurements and diagnostic features of M. booduga collected from Leh-Ladakh region. Earlier records had shown its altitudinal distribution from 250 to 3695 m above mean sea level from Uttarakhand in the Himalayan region, however in the present study the mouse was collected up to an altitude of 3768 m which is the highest elevational record of this species for the Himalayan range.

Efficacy of Germinated Cereals as Bait Carrier for Zinc Phosphide and Bromadiolone against Field and Commensal Rodent Pests: A Laboratory Evaluation

Both sexes of rodent pests such as Bandicota bengalensis, Millardia meltada, Mus booduga, and Rattus rattus were subjected to toxicity tests (acute rodenticide: 1.5% and 2% zinc phosphide and chronic rodenticide: bromadiolone (0.005%), under no-choice and choice tests) by using their preferred germinated cereals, namely, paddy, pearl millet, and finger millet, as bait base, individually. The results indicated that the poison baits in the germinated cereals induced all the chosen four species of rodent pests to consume greater quantities of bait perhaps due to the bait carrier’s palatability and texture. Besides these, the chosen three germinated cereals proved themselves that they are also capable of acting as suitable bait base for both selected rodenticides in bringing maximum mortality among the tested rodent pests under both no-choice and choice tests. Therefore, these germinated cereals may be recommended as a bait carrier for both zinc phosphide (2%) and bromadiolone (0.005%) poisons for the control of all these four species of rodent pests under field conditions. However, this requires field based trials with rodenticides for making a final recommendation.