View report page

A very high proportion of rat complaints are traced to defective
drains or sewers and this stresses the importance of sewer treatments
as in relation to rodent control. Unfortunately the present
maintenance treatments of the Council's sewers have the effect
of " containing " the rat population at about its present figure
and cannot achieve the ultimate aim of effecting a complete
clearance. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries are at
present carrying out experimental treatments with various bait
bases and poisons which, it is hoped, may lead to improved systems
for the treatment of sewers.
During the year a new poison " Warfarin " was made available
and has been found to be very effective, particularly against mice,
and enabled infestations of mice to be cleared which had proved
resistant to the poisons already in use.