Harris County, Houston Rat Control Situation:
Dear Pest Control Agency, My name is Juan and I am working on my doctoral dissertation in Biology at Rice University, Houston, Texas. I have an undergraduate researcher who helps me with my research, and we both work in the laboratory of Prof. Michael. We have studied rats and mice in Europe, and we use the information to study a number of questions, including how rodent populations are connected between continents or within countries. One part of our work deals with the question of whether rats and mice in the US have developed resistance to rodent poisons, about which little is known. Our hope is that during pest control you will be able to obtain the tail tips (about 1 inch) of rats and mice that can be found at rodent infested sites. These could be collected from dead animals, and of course, we would send you everything you would need (scissors, tubes, gloves, prepaid shipping, etc.). If you decide to help us in our research, we would like to offer you a Domino's giftcard as a thank you for your efforts! We have received a large amount of support from a few pest control agencies so far. It would be wonderful if you would also consider helping us! Attached is a simple spreadsheet where a few details on the sampling are described. We do not need any specific information regarding locations where sampling was done, and no names of owners or of employees, etc. are needed. However, if you would like we would be more than happy to promote your company name in our research paper! Please feel free to contact us by email or phone if you have any other questions or concerns. Thank you so much for your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely, Juan
Houston Rat Control Tip of The Week
Can A Rat Have Rabies?
Rats have powerful bites:
Rats can have very powerful bites and are capable of damaging the skin quickly. A rat can bite through cinderblocks to get into an area if it needs to. Rats could bite through clothing or manage to break the skin even unintentionally with a very quick bite. Handling rats with care or using heavy gloves is recommended if you have to remove one or relocate it. It is ultimately best if you avoid handling rats whenever possible.
Many people are bitten each year with low rates of infection:
Rats bite over 50,000 people in the USA each year. Rabies vaccine shots are very rarely delivered in these cases and the risk for other types of diseases that rats carry can be far greater. Going to see a doctor about a rat bite can be wise if you are starting to feel some of the secondary symptoms or it looks infected.
Rats do spread disease:
Rats do spread a series of diseases including rat-bite fever. It can be transmitted through a bite or through pets. Rabies can be a deadly disease but most of the diseases that rats pass on are only able to cause the chance for fever and infection which carry lower rates of mortality.
Other animals can be much riskier to receive bites from:
If you are bitten by other animals like raccoons, coyotes, woodchucks, or skunks, this will give you a much riskier chance of receiving something like rabies. When bitten by a rat, you should be concerned but you may not have to run to get the bite checked out with the same urgency.
The main theory of low rabies cases:
A rat would have to survive a bite from a predator in order to become a carrier of rabies. As coyotes and larger animals will be likely to kill a rat in an attack, this leads to the chance of rats not being able to spread rabies at all.
