Institut für Epidemiologie und Pathogendiagnostik
Norway rats and domestic rats cause problems when they damage infrastructure, eat or contaminate stored goods and they are hygiene/health pests because they can transmit pathogens to humans, pets and livestock. These rodents are usually managed by the application of rodenticides. These substances can expose non-target species and the environment to risks. It therefore makes sense to develop or optimize alternatives. The use of snap traps could be a promising and environmentally friendly alternative to rodenticides in certain areas. The (partial) replacement of anticoagulant rodenticides with traps would reduce the entry of PBT substances into the environment. To prevent damage and disease risks, it may be possible to manage rat populations in rural and urban areas using snap traps. In the course of management measures against rodents, millions of rodents are caught with snap traps every year. Optimal snap traps are technically designed in such a way that they are effective and do not cause unnecessary animal suffering during trapping. Both aspects are relevant to the quality of management and generally go hand in hand, because optimal trapping improves both effectiveness and animal welfare. However, there are many factors that can influence the capture of Norway rats, as these animals have a fear of unfamiliar objects (neophobia). This project therefore aims to optimize the use of snap traps through to a prototype in order to ensure the greatest possible practicability and effectiveness and thus acceptance among users. To this end, the extent to which snap trap trapping can be improved in terms of effectiveness and animal welfare through accompanying structures such as trap protection stations, bait and trap location will be examined. This research project will address this issue by examining the impact of: (a) material, transparency, shape and entrance size of trap protection stations b) baiting (incl. duration of pre-baiting) c) spatial constellation of barriers as "guidance systems" on the behavior of rats in/around snap traps in field studies in the relevant habitat and d) a prototype is derived from a-c and tested in rat control (via an external service provider). All work on a-c is carried out by the JKI in project years 1-3. This work is limited to purely observing the natural behavior of the animals in the infested habitats with wildlife cameras, without causing any stress to the animals and completely without touching the animals. The subsequent control in the project years 3-4 is organized by subcontracting a competent person and the resulting information is processed by the JKI. This person or their institution would be responsible for ensuring that work with animals is only carried out in the context of control work that is due to take place anyway - i.e. without additional trapping just for the project. The subcontractor commissions competent persons from agriculture or pest control and ensures that this work is geared to the project requirements (timing, number of traps, quality).
German Environment Agency
