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Mus musculus Linn. (House mouse)
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Dark brown to sandy brown in color weighing around 30 grams. Its tail is usually longer than the head and body. Breeding is round the year with upto 8 litters per year. Adult makes burrows but prefers to stay in small holes in floors or any other dark place. It feeds on cereals, cereal products, vegetables and can damage wooden furniture, paper, clothes etc. A mouse consumes 3-4 grams of food per day. They are responsible for food poisoning and may cause virus infections and diseases like ringworm.
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Rattus-rattus Linn. (Black rat)
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| Soft grey to black colored with small eyes and a pointed snout. The tail is equal to the size of the body plus head and they weigh between 150 to 200 grams. It breeds all through the year with 5-7 litters per year. It lives in burrows and in cracks of walls. It eats up all types of food materials and can damage wood plastic, rubber and even soft metal. It is also responsible for spreading diseases like plague, rat bite fever and marine typhus fever. |
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Rattus norvegicus Berken (Brown rat)
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Brownish grey with a whitish belly having a wide and blunt snout. The tail is shorter than the head and body and these rats weigh between 200 to 300 grams. Breeds round the year with 6-14 litters per year. It is habituated of making burrows outside grain stores. It has a life span of 1 year. Feeds on grain and damages containers. ie bags / cartons pollutes grain with excreta, dropings and hairs. Spreads various diseases like plague, rat bite fever and bacterial food poisoning.
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Bandicota bengalensis Gray (Bandicoot)
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| Dark brown to black in color with a robust and blocky body. Tail has scaly rings and is normally smaller , but sometimes equal to head and body. Has 5-8 litters per year and breeds round the year. It is an expert in digging burrows and has a life span of 7-8 months. It damages crops in fields (Sugarcane, Wheat, Paddy, Maize etc.). The damage to cereals is little as it prefers to cut cereal crop. It hoards grains in its burrows upto 6 kgs & is responsible for spreading various diseases like plague, bacterial food poisoning and may cause virus infection. |
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