Why rodents need to be controlled?

Damage comes in many forms:

• Damage to buildings. Mice and rats will damage wood and electrical wiring, which can be a fire hazard.
• Destruction of insulation. Many livestock and poultry facilities show serious deterioration within 5 years. Associated with this damage are costs for re-insulation, increased energy costs and poorer feed conversions by animals.
• Feed consumed. A colony of 100 rats will consume over 1 tonne of feed in 1 year.
• Feed contaminated. A rat can contaminate ten times the amount of feed it eats with its droppings, urine and hair. A rat produces 25,000 droppings per year, a mouse 17,000. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that the equivalent of more than $2 billion in feed is destroyed by rodents each year.
• Biosecurity. Rodents are recognized as carriers of at least 45 diseases, including salmonellosis, pasteurellosis, leptospirosis, swine dysentery, trichinosis, toxoplasmosis and rabies. Mice and rats can carry disease-causing organisms on their feet, increasing the spread of disease.