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26
Rodent Control — Maintenance of Sewers
Under the terms of Local Authority Circular N.S.19 issued by the
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, two treatments were carried out
for the fiscal year 1948/49 and details are as follows:
First Treatment (No. 9)
This was carried out as follows:
Pre-Baiting 13th and 14th June, 1949
Poison Baiting 15th June, 1949
Check of Poison Bait 16th June, 1949
253 Manholes were baited and of these 172 showed "takes" of pre-bait.
The estimated kill based on the "takes" of poison bait was 965, the
smallest kill so far recorded.
Second Treatment (No. 10)
This was carried out as follows:
Pre-Baiting 5th and 6th December, 1949
Poison Baiting 7th December, 1949
Check of Poison Bait 8th December, 1949
266 Manholes were baited and 249 showed "takes" of prebait. The
estimated kill based on "takes" of poison bait was 1,395.
In both treatments the dates were those recommended by the Rodent
Control Workable Area Committee to secure uniformity of action by
the various Local Authorities represented.
It is considered that the population of the Borough's sewers has
reached a point where the maintenance treatments will keep the population
at about its present level without effecting any marked decrease in
infestation. As some sewers in the Borough have no access whatsoever, it
is only possible to lay bait where manholes are present. Consequently,
there will always be a proportion of rats which are not affected by sewer
treatment and, as the number of rats increase, they will automatically
spread throughout the system.
Rats and Mice
During the year 240 complaints of rats and 134 complaints of mice
were received. These figures show an increase of 42 rat complaints and
38 mice complaints over the previous year.