Comparative Efficiency of Some Indigenous Traps to Capture Rats in the Wheat Field of Bangladesh

Abstract

Comparative efficiency of some indigenous traps for capturing rodents was evaluated in the wheat fields of Dinajpur district of Bangladesh during August 2007 to May 2008. Five different types of traps such as, cage type live trap, box type live trap, wooden live trap, tin made snap trap and wooden snap trap were evaluated and five types of bait (bread, potato, coconut meat, dry fish and paddy grain) were used for trapping rodents. At grain filling and ripening stages of wheat, the cage type live trap was found most effective (44.11% success) followed by tin made snap trap (30.73% success), wooden snap trap (14.62% success), box type live trap (10.41% success) and wooden live trap (9.85% success) using bread, dry fish, paddy grain, coconut and potato as bait. About 99 per cent of the trapped rats were identified as Badicota bengalensis and only 1 per cent was Mus terricolor. The descending order of preference of bait by B. bengalensis was: paddy grain> bread> dry fish> coconut> potato. A considerable number of shrew, Suncus murinus (12.72% of total animal) was also captured all over the season. Key words: Traps; rat capture; wheat field. DOI: 10.3329/jard.v7i1.4431 J Agric Rural Dev 7(1&2), 121-125, June 2009