About 5 percent of the rats, though, move into new alleys from as much as seven miles away, the researchers reported in the journal Molecular Ecology. Baltimore is about 10 miles wide. A lot of movement by just a few individuals is enough to explain why all of the city's rats still belong to the same species. Those movement patterns might also explain how diseases such as hantavirus spread among rats and from rats to people, Glass said. While still unpublished, his work is turning up evidence that traveling rats are more likely to carry viruses than are their sedentary peers. One possible explanation is that the viruses change a rat's behavior, making the animal more likely to travel further, efficiently spreading disease along the way. "Long-distance movements may be infrequent," Heaney said. "But man, they are important." The findings might give people a new source of power over their rodent foes, Glass added. Traditionally, scientists have assumed that the best way to get rid of rats was to target a block-wide area and then move on. Now, it seems, this strategy works only for the 95 percent of rats that don't move much. Instead, it may be better to come back to a cleared area every six months or so to get rid of any super-travelers that have pounced on an open opportunity. "What we think this does is explain where we went wrong in what we told people about how to control rats," Glass said. "You really can't do just a block. You need to target a whole neighborhood." Related Links: |
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