2012 Volume 27 Issue 1 Pages 7-11
The Yokohama municipal government requested the Kanagawa Pest Control Association (KPCA) to control rats in an urban area (21 ha) in Yokohama. The KPCA conducted campaigns from January 2009 to March 2011 (three years) by setting traps and warfarin block baits outside buildings. Our campaigns motivated the residents to sanitize their environment by covering rat holes with asphalt or cement, and setting planters, vending machines, or refuse containers where people used to dump trash. The average consumption of nonpoisonous block bait in 10 divisions of the area decreased from 1.51±1.19 kg in 2009 to 0.21±0.25 kg in 2011 in the pre-baiting process. The latter was significantly less (Kruskal-Wallis test, H=10.2, d.f.= 2, P<0.05). This indicated a remarkably reduced population of the Norway rat, Rattus norvegicus.
