INTRODUCTION TO RODENTS
Modern man may never know when rats and mice first left the fields to establish their homes in and near the primitive dwellings of early man. The history of the rat in the last few thousand years is well told; for when man first recorded for posterity the events of importance to himself, he began the written history of the rat. We know today, that from that time on, man has never without his unwelcome associate.
The rat has followed the soldier to the battlefield to establish himself as the enemy. It has gone before the reaper to the fields at harvest time and come along to the granaries. It has followed the butcher to the slaughterhouse and helped dispose of refuse. It has sailed with the explorer on his voyages of discovery and has helped to settle new lands. It has lived before us in our new homes and remained when we departed. It has been our companion in times of plenty, as in times of famine, epidemic, and disease. As we have shared with it our food,our homes, our health, and even our lives, it has shared with us its filth and destruction, its mites and fleas, and its ravaging diseases. The three murine, or domestic rodents are the Norway rat, the roof rat (with various subspecies), and the house mouse.
In order that we be prepared to handle rodent problems, we must first know something of the rodent's biology. It is the objective of this subcourse to provide the knowledge necessary to identify the murine rodents of military importance, survey to determine the degree of infestation, and control the rodent population in a given area.
Man has been combating rats and mice across much of the earth for hundreds of years. His control efforts have taken numerous forms, and many have been the attempts to "build a better mousetrap." Building a better mousetrap, however, requires that one first know something about the mouse. It is no surprise that man's most successful methods for controlling rodents are based on knowledge of the rodents themselves. The knowledge of the biology and habits of rats and mice is an important weapon to use in their control.
In North America, the rodents include such native animals as the squirrels, woodchucks, field and wood mice, pack rats, gophers, porcupines, and the beavers. They also include three imported species. The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), the roof rat (Rattus rattus), and the house mouse (Mus musculus). These last three belong to the Old World War family “Muridae”, and are often called commensal or domestic rodents, due to their close association with man.
