Rat
poison has always been the go-to way of dealing with a rat problem, but
a new study has found up to 75% of rats in some UK areas may be highly
resistant.
The most common rat poisons are anticoagulants,
which prevent clotting and generally cause rats to die from internal
bleeding. Soon after their introduction in the 1950s reports of
unaffected rats appeared, but attempts to map this resistance
were hindered by laborious techniques and abandoned in the 1990s. Now
Dr. Dougie Clarke (University of Huddersfield, UK) and his team at the
UK Rodenticide Resistance Mapping Project are establishing which regions
resistance is prevalent in.
The problem has greatly increased
since the previous attempt thanks to natural selection and usage of
incorrect doses. The rats' resistance has also caused problems for their
predators as the poison stays in their bodies. When each rat can ingest
several doses, any predator eating them is getting a massive amount of
poison. Areas of the UK with a high amount of resistant rats can get
access to stronger poisons, but this access is limited to avoid both
formation of rat resistance and harming their predators.
The
survey is not over and data will most likely be published in 2013, when
more samples (thanks to modern techniques, only the tip of the tail
needs to be tested) have been tested. Dr. Clarke has renewed his appeal
for samples in regions under survey. If anyone in the UK is interested
in helping, they can email Dr. Clarke on resistancesurvey@hud.ac.uk or
text 07852 975871 to get a sample kit and instructions.
Photo credit: Dean Thorpe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
Rat
poison has always been the go-to way of dealing with a rat problem, but
a new study has found up to 75% of rats in some UK areas may be highly
resistant.
The most common rat poisons are anticoagulants, which prevent clotting and generally cause rats to die from internal bleeding. Soon after their introduction in the 1950s reports of unaffected rats appeared, but attempts to map this resistance were hindered by laborious techniques and abandoned in the 1990s. Now Dr. Dougie Clarke (University of Huddersfield, UK) and his team at the UK Rodenticide Resistance Mapping Project are establishing which regions resistance is prevalent in.
The problem has greatly increased since the previous attempt thanks to natural selection and usage of incorrect doses. The rats' resistance has also caused problems for their predators as the poison stays in their bodies. When each rat can ingest several doses, any predator eating them is getting a massive amount of poison. Areas of the UK with a high amount of resistant rats can get access to stronger poisons, but this access is limited to avoid both formation of rat resistance and harming their predators.
The survey is not over and data will most likely be published in 2013, when more samples (thanks to modern techniques, only the tip of the tail needs to be tested) have been tested. Dr. Clarke has renewed his appeal for samples in regions under survey. If anyone in the UK is interested in helping, they can email Dr. Clarke on resistancesurvey@hud.ac.uk or text 07852 975871 to get a sample kit and instructions.
Photo credit: Dean Thorpe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
The most common rat poisons are anticoagulants, which prevent clotting and generally cause rats to die from internal bleeding. Soon after their introduction in the 1950s reports of unaffected rats appeared, but attempts to map this resistance were hindered by laborious techniques and abandoned in the 1990s. Now Dr. Dougie Clarke (University of Huddersfield, UK) and his team at the UK Rodenticide Resistance Mapping Project are establishing which regions resistance is prevalent in.
The problem has greatly increased since the previous attempt thanks to natural selection and usage of incorrect doses. The rats' resistance has also caused problems for their predators as the poison stays in their bodies. When each rat can ingest several doses, any predator eating them is getting a massive amount of poison. Areas of the UK with a high amount of resistant rats can get access to stronger poisons, but this access is limited to avoid both formation of rat resistance and harming their predators.
The survey is not over and data will most likely be published in 2013, when more samples (thanks to modern techniques, only the tip of the tail needs to be tested) have been tested. Dr. Clarke has renewed his appeal for samples in regions under survey. If anyone in the UK is interested in helping, they can email Dr. Clarke on resistancesurvey@hud.ac.uk or text 07852 975871 to get a sample kit and instructions.
Photo credit: Dean Thorpe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
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