SA Vermin Control
Description of the Training
This topic provides 12 images of different vectors of disease (rats, flies and cockroaches), what environments they thrive in and ways to deter them .
Rats are a nuisance because they eat food products and damage homes by gnawing on pipes, electric wires, wood and even soap. Rats also create a health worry because they can cause food poisoning and carry fleas and mites that can infest a home. In addition, they can carry leptospirosis, which can lead to liver failure, and hantavirus, which can cause respiratory illness.
How to use Card set 23. ‘Rat Control’
Garbage control: The best line of attack against rats is to clean up the environment, so there is no food to attract them.
Poison is often used to kill rats but this is very dangerous for children, particularly in informal settlements where there are few areas they cannot reach.
Cats are the best deterrent for mice but may not be able to keep down a large rat population.
Mass Trapping Rats are often shy of new objects. So by placing unset traps in a new location for a week or two they will get used to the traps. Once they start to ignore them, set lots of traps at once, in order to kill them faster than they breed and become shy of the trap. There may be a need to have as many as 20-30 rat traps set in place around a badly littered area.
Hanging Baskets are made by taking two flat baskets and hanging them up from the roof with three cords or string of macramé, and putting the main string through a rat cone.
Link to the Facilitator Instructions for the topic: