Relationship of roof rat population indices with damage to sugarcane

Roof rats (Rattus rattus) cause substantial damage to sugarcane in South Florida (Samol 1972; Lefebvre et al. 1978, 1985). Accurate estimates of roof rat populations in sugarcane fields would be useful for determining when to to treat a field to control roof rats and for assessing the efficacy of control. However, previous studies have indicated that roof rats exhibit trap shyness, which makes capture-recapture population estimates difficult (Lefebvre et al. 1978, 1985; Holler et al., 1981). Until trapping methods are sufficiently improved to allow accurate population estimates, indices of population size that relate to damage need to be developed. The objectives of our study were to examine the relationship of several indices of roof rat populations to the percentage of sugarcane stalks damaged at harvest; to determine which population index would be most useful for sugarcane growers; and to report on a test of several types of live traps for roof rats.