Survey of rodent populations associated with an urban landfill.

Abstract

Trap lines placed in fields along the margin of a Houston, Texas landfill failed to capture a Rattus in 2,358 trap-nights. However, another trap line adjacent to a nearby residential area yielded four Norway rats in 510 trap-nights. These results suggest that rats living in or near homes were not crossing the fields to reach the landfill. The distribution of two native rodent species normally found in such fields reflected no landfill influence.