Relative consumption of two commonly used rodenticides in New Zealand

Controlling rodents near municipal areas requires bait that must be housed in purpose-built bait stations to prevent interference from curious people, companion animals, and non-target species. Bait station design is important, but so are the baits themselves. To improve the efficacy of rodent control in municipal areas, we compared the consumption rates of two off-the-shelf rodenticides with the same active ingredients, but with different designs and cereal matrixes (Connovation D-Block (R) bait and Bell's DITRAC All-Weather BLOX (R)) in two similarly sized locations to determine whether consumption rates of baits differed. Forty tracking tunnels were deployed pre and post bait deployment to determine the presence of rodents. Rodents ate more of the fragile Connovation D-Block (R) bait than Bell's DITRAC All-Weather BLOX (R). We hypothesise that using both baits in each bait station may deliver a higher kill rate than using a single bait type, thus saving time and money.