Rodents are considered the most dangerous warm-blooded mammals because they transfer diseases that affect the distribution of human communities. There are about 1,500 living rodent species (out of about 4,000 living mammals overall). More than 35 dangerous diseases are transferred to humans by rodents, either directly through food poisoning through the body, urine, and feces of rodents or indirectly through parasites of rodents. economic losses that are destructive to the environment that humans live within. The damage caused is related to their feeding behavior of gnawing and digging, in which they cause damage to buildings, commercial structures, electric wires, and food products.

 To limit the spread of rodents and to avoid the economic and health damages they cause, ETS developed an integrated management strategy to prevent their high reproductive rate and reduce the damage they cause. Rodents are intelligent pests; they are adapted to the environment in which they live, in addition to their ability to maneuver in an orderly fashion. Therefore, there should be a radical change in the environment to deprive the rodents of the necessities of life, both within a limited area (home and farm) and a wide area (village or city).

The family Muridae is considered the common family in the order Rodentia, to which both rats and mice belong. Rodents are divided, based on their relations to humans, into associated rodents (their original home is where the human lives, for example: the house mouse) and not-associated rodents (rodents live inside the human house and get out to search for food or live in burrows outside the house but enter the house for food).

The most common rodents are:

1. House Mouse (Gray, Multi-Colored) – Mus musculus Linnaeus (also Mus domesticus)
2. Norway Rat (Sewer, Street, House, Common, Hanover, Wharf, Brown) Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout)
3. Climbing Rat (Roof, Ship, Water, Gray- or White-bellied, Black) – Rattus Rattus (Linnaeus)

1-House Mouse:

General Description

• Distribution: Worldwide distribution.

• General Appearance: Small, slender
• Adult size: small
  • Body weight: 12-30 g
  • Length (nose to the tip of tail) – 6-9 cm
  • Length of Tail: 7-10 cm
• Snout: Pointed
• Ears: large, some hair
• Eyes: small
• Tail: uniformly dark
• Fur: light brown, light gray, smooth
• Droppings: rod-shaped, 3-6 mm

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• It is characterized by rapidly multiplying, with an annual reproduction rate of about 44 per female rat.
• The maturity period of the female sperm is about 42 days, and the gestation period is 19–21 days.
• The female lays eggs between 4 and 8 times during her life, depending on the nature of the food.
• Up to 5-6 children per pregnancy (and up to 12-20 children in rare cases).

Comparisons of the reproduction characteristics among the three commensal rodents. 

Comparisons of the characteristic of growth and development of commensal rodents.

2. Norway Rat:

General Description

• Distribution: Asian in origin and worldwide in distribution, and quickly adapt to the environment.
• General Appearance: Large, robust
• Adult size: Large
  • Body weight: 200-500g,
• Length (nose to the tip of tail): 18-27 cm
• Length of Tail: 13-21 cm
• Snout: blunt
• Ears: small, covered with short hairs; do not reach eyes
• Eyes: Small
• Tail: dark above, pale beneath
• Fur: brown with scattered black; venter gray to yellow-white; shaggy
• Droppings: capsule-shaped, 2cm

The difference between the climbing or roof rat, Rattus rattus and the Norway or brown rat, Rattus norvegicus.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Norway rats prefer moist environments (cellars, streams, stores, warehouses, and mills).
• considered an excellent swimmer.
• The life cycle of rodents is no more than 1–1.5 years in natural conditions, and females live longer than males.
• Norway rats prefer to live in groups of small families or large groups.
• Breed throughout the year, beginning a period of sexual activity after 3-5 months of birth, a pregnancy lasting 21–25 days, an average female pregnancy of 8–12 short weeks, and a medium repeat pregnancy of 5–10 times a year.
• The life cycle has significantly affected the availability of food.

Comparisons of the reproduction characteristics among the three commensal rodents. 

Comparisons of the characteristic of growth and development of commensal rodents.

2. Climbing Rat:

General Description

• Distribution: offshore Far East in origin. Worldwide in distribution.
• General Appearance: sleek, graceful.
• Adult size: medium
  • Body weight: 150-250 g
• Length (nose to the tip of tail): 16-20 cm
• Length of Tail: 19-25 cm
• Snout: pointed
• Ears: large, nearly naked; can be pulled over eyes
• Eyes: large, prominent
• Tail: uniformly dark. The tail is longer than the length of the body and the head together
• Fur: agouti to gray to black; venter white, gray, or black; smooth
• Droppings: spindle- shaped, 0.5 in

The difference between the climbing or roof rat, Rattus rattus and the Norway or brown rat, Rattus norvegicus.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Breed year-round, beginning a period of sexual activity after 3-5 months of
• Take the climber/roof rat with several wives, which is a large degree of
• The average pregnancy lasts 20-25 days, there are 12 young women per pregnancy, and they have 6-8 pregnancies during their lifetime.

Comparisons of the reproduction characteristics among the three commensal rodents. 

Comparisons of the characteristic of growth and development of commensal rodents.

·       Rodent Senses

Most rodents are nocturnal (active at night).  Therefore, their senses are developed, and they are capable of searching for food and avoiding danger.

Smell:

• Odor is one of the rodents’ most important senses. They can be guided to food and quantify it by smell; they move their heads in all directions and use their olfactory system at the same time.
• difficult to identify odors that they are interested in, but certainly not intimidated by human odors, as is the case with the smell of
• Sex glands secrete fatty perfumes that infer families and find their way into males during mating.

Touch:

• possess the sense of touch provided by rodent hairs or mustaches on the face near the nose and the rest of her body, outlining the way to the holes.
• protect their eyes from harm through this sense.

Hearing:

• very strong, and it is stronger than the sense of hearing of humans.
• they use hearing to locate objects to within a few inches or centimeters.
• can discover any noise and escape immediately to avoid any danger approaching.

Vision:

• thesenseofsightis the theweakestofallsenses.
• cantrackthemovementsbetween10-15m
• The color change does not affect the bait’s acceptance.
• active at night when light levels are low, at which time they rely less on their eyesight than they do on their other senses, particularly small, touch, and hearing.

Taste:

• The taste sense in rodents is similar to that of humans.
• They have a highly developed sense of taste and can detect some chemicals at parts-per-million concentrations. If the bait is contaminated with insecticide odors, this taste sensitivity may result in bait rejection.

·       Biological and Behavioral Characteristics

Before you prevent and control rodents, it is imperative that you recognize their vital characteristics, and behaviors and curb their living conditions and environmental factors. Of the most important of these attributes:

Gnawing

• Supercapacityfor rodentsgnawing andcausedbyinternalincisorsand
• Cutters with uselessrootscontinue to growover thelife of the animal, and to get rid ofthis continued growthresortedrodentto loananythingencounterseven whilefeedingregularly which lendstenfoldwhat to eatreally, as diggingburrow sizeslargerthan is requiredas a means ofsharpening orshortenhis teeth.
• Rodentscangnawanyless solidsubstanceofPortteethmaterialsuch as wood, stone and paper materials, cloth, lead andasbestospipes,andaluminumplatescanusuallyrodentsprevious articlesloanupto22 mm in

Digging:

• When drilling takes up about a third of rodent activity in a full day, this phenomenon is apparent in rodents’ goal: securing housing for young people in places close to food sources.
• Help in property development by drilling the legs’ muscles (rear), the tail, and teeth suited for them.
• Destruction of irrigation canals and tunnels could damage power cords, and damaged sewage manholes could destroy buildings and dams as a result of induced cracks.
• one of the most important behavioral manifestations in rats It is rare that the mice dig burrows.
• The rat makes a complex of tunnel chains, making their enemies available to them.
• Tunnels made by the rats may reach several meters longitudinally, but the vertical depth is no more than 60 cm, and a rat can carry in its mouth a stone weighing 190 g.

Climbing:

• Mice and rats are distinguished by their ability to climb high, as the development of leg muscles in rodents, as well as the fact that they have five fingers when most types, with foot pads, make them excellent climbers; they can also press their bodies and climb inside the 8-cm-diameter tube.
• The Norway rat tends to live near the surface of the ground and in sewers; however, the rat can also climb.
• Rats and mice can climb vertical walls easily if they have a slightly rough surface and can reach altitudes of up to several meters, depending on the type of wall.
• The rat can walk on the wire and keep its balance using its feet, hooks, and tail.

Jumping:

• Rodents can jump up to 1 m vertically along vertical walls.
• Rodents can jump back and forth.
• Because of its ability to jump up to 2 meters, the roof rat is considered the best rat species.The rat can jump from a height of 15 meters without causing harm. The mouse can jump 30 cm.

Swimming and Diving:

• Norwegian rats are considered the best swimming species because they live in aquatic environments such as swamps and rivers.
• Rodents can be transmitted through these sewer pipes against the water current.
• The rat can swim for 72 hours straight at 4 kilometers per hour.
• Rodents (mice and rats) can control their breathing systems and swim underwater for up to 30 seconds, so they can enter homes through pipes, toilets, septic tanks, and sinks.

Feeding:

• The differences in the nutritional value of available food cause differences in the size of individual rodents.
• Rodents consume about 10 percent of their weight a day; it has been found that the average amount of food the rat may consume is about 40 g per day, and it needs 30 ml of water per day when feeding on dry materials. The mouse requires up to 3 g of food per day and 3 ml of water per day.
• The rat can go a month without water by consuming the water content of its food.
• Lack of water is a fatal factor for rodents.
• Rodents typically start looking for food shortly after sunset and continue until midnight, though mice may venture outside during the day.The mouse has a relatively low activity period, starting at midnight and lasting until dawn.
• The rat feeds from a single location, while the mouse prefers to get its meal from several places, where it takes a bite here and a bite there.
• The Norway rat is characterized as cautious and suspicious and tends to avoid anything new; this phenomenon is known as the “reaction to the new thing,”  and it does not freely feed on any food encountered before the passage of 3–5 days.
• The roof rat is less cautious than the Norway rat. The house mouse, by its nature, tends to try to discover anything new, thus feeding with complete freedom.

·       Signs Associated with Rodent Presence

Urine:

• House mice urinate at intervals along well-used runways that are always used by the rodents, occasionally creating small mounds (urinating pillars) that consist of a combination of grease, urine, and dirt that fluoresces under ultraviolet (black) light.

Smudges or rub marks

• Dirt and oil from the fur of the rodent may sometimes leave smudge marks on pipes and beams.
• Smudge marks left by rats are much more conspicuous than those produced by house mice.

Gnawing marks:

• Sawdustlike wood chips are produced by the gnawing of house mice and rats around baseboards, doors, windows, and frames, and kitchen cabinets.
• Recent gnawings on the wood are light in color, darkening with age. The size of the tooth marks left in the wood can help distinguish the presence of rats or mice.

Droppings:

• The age of the droppings indicates whether the infestation is current.
• Old droppings are dry and gray, and crumble easily when pressed.
• Fresh droppings are dark and moist.
• Droppings are most numerous along runways, near burrow entrances, and at feeding sites.

Pet excitement:

• Pawing and excitement of cats and dogs can indicate the presence of rodents.
• Pets respond most commonly when the premises have been invaded only recently.

Odor:

• Rodents produce characteristic odors.
• With experience, the musky scent of house mice can be differentiated from that produced by rats.

Tracks:

• Fresh tracks are distinct; old ones are faint. Tracks are more easily seen by side illumination with a flashlight than by direct light from above. Tail drags as well as footprints may show up.

·       Rodent Damage and Economic & Health Implications.

Damages in the Area of Animal Production:

• Rodents are attracted to poultry facilities and breeding sheep and cattle farms because they are considered vital and attractive to rodent communities and because they provide suitable environmental conditions such as food, the perfect temperature for breeding, and good places to escape and hide from their enemies. Because of this, the efficiency of reproduction of young during a short period of time causes damages and large losses.
• Rodents in poultry farms eat eggs after they break them, eat the yolk and the chicks, and use chicken feathers to build their nests.
• Rodents attack sheep breeding farms and eat the sheep’s wool, causing wounds, skin ulcers, and serious diseases.
• The presence of rodents in bred animals causes anxiety and tension, which has a negative impact on production (the number of eggs decreases, as does the amount of milk in cows and sheep).In addition, rodents may bring snakes to animal breeding places.

Damages in the  Area of Agriculture:

• Mice and other rodents eat wheat seeds, barley, maize, lentils, and chickpeas after planting, resulting in a low percentage of germination and a lack of production.
• attack the cotton crop from seed to seedling to plant. It also causes damage in the sugar cane fields and rice fields.
• cause significant damage to the tuber crops (potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, and ornamental bulbs) feeding on tubers and roots, causing sudden death of those plants.
• attack vegetable crops (melons) from seed to fruit, where they puncture and eat the content.
• attack fruit trees and feed on the bark of trees, causing the gradual, slow death of the young seedlings and fruit trees. Because they have a high ability to climb trees and twigs, they feed on the juiciness of the fruit (orange, lemon, apple) and even seed fruits (pistachios, walnuts).
• cause significant damage to the landscaping.

Damages to Public Utilities/ Facilities:

• Rodents damage and cause open gaps within doors, windows, and furniture, and destroy a large portion of which also ruptures and eats wallpaper and fabrics, clothes, books, and papers, and everything that marks the way in the kitchen of foodstuffs, fresh or cooked or stored.
• Rodents cause damage to public facilities (labs, hospitals, stores, grain silos, airports, ports of ships, and train stations) by consuming electrical cables and connecting wires, resulting in electric sparks that cause fires and damage to tools and electrical appliances.
• Rodents attack the body of the soily dam and build their nests, which, in addition to damaging the electric connections in the dam, cause severe damage to the dam.

Damages to Stored Materials

• The rodent consumes a fifth of its weight in grain per day, destroys twenty times more grain, and leaves the food materials contaminated with its urine, feces, and hairs.
• Norway rats weigh 400 g and consume 40 g per day, totaling 1600 g per day.It consumes about 30 The Norway rat consumes half as much as the roof rat, which weighs about 200 g.The house mouse and field mouse consume approximately 5 g of food per day, destroy 100 g, and consume an average of 2 g of grain.

Damages in the Field of Public Health:

• Rodent mammals live in filthy, polluted environments or waste collection sites.Many bacteria and pathogens that cause dangerous diseases in humans and domestic animals live on many rodent species.
• According to the reports of the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than forty rodent-borne diseases.

The most important diseases that can be transmitted through rodents to humans.

Leishmania

• Leishmania is an animal that does not have chlorophyll and causes serious diseases in humans.
• The oval-shaped animal (3-5 microns) lives in the human body, rodents, and Leishmania parasites live in the body of the mosquito, the sandfly, Phlebotomus sp., and the infection passed on to the rodent when it absorbs blood from a patient’s body.
• There are two types of this pathogen: Leishmania skin and Leishmania entrails of the interior.
• The parasite is transmitted by sandflies, which absorb the blood through the piercing of diseased rodents carrying the parasite or from an infected person.

Plague

• The old laws are remembered as the most devastating and lethal epidemics that threatened rights for centuries, including the so-called black death.
• The roof rat (Rattus rattus) is a reservoir host of bubonic plague, with the oriental rat fleas that infest them being a prime vector of the disease.
• Theplague oftwotypes,namely:
• Bubonic plague (lymph nodes): the bacteria enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver, spleen, kidney, and brain, where they settle and cause one of the following pathological symptoms: high fever, body tremors, headache, vomiting, dizziness, and then tumors in the lymph nodes under the armpits and thighs.
• Pneumonic plague: the bacteria enter through the bloodstream and settle in the lungs. Delirium and extreme fatigue, insomnia, numbness, coma, memory loss, severe lung inflammation, and edema (fluid entrapment in the lungs) are all pathological symptoms.

Rat Bite Fever

• Definition: an infectious disease transmitted to humans by biting mice or
• Reasons: The pathogenic bacterium Streptobacillusis the causative agent of the disease.
• Synonyms: rat bite fever, mouse bite fever, Sudoku, Alsodjelkothe
• The spread of infection: The disease is transmitted to humans when exposed to the urine or oral secretions of other rodents, such as And this is usually due to a bite or even exposure to secretions.
• Complications:oneofthemostimportantreactionsofthediseaseispoverty inthe
• Treatment: Given penicillin as an effective treatment using 200–300 thousand IU (3–4 times per day for 6–7 days), tetracycline can be used for 7–14 days.
• Prevention and disease control measures
• avoidexposuretorodents andtheirlocations.
• the use of antibiotics when exposed.
• the use of toxic pesticides to eliminate them.

Murine Typhus

Rickettsia is the disease vector, and it is spread to humans by fleas, spiders, and mites. When a flea bites a human, the skin itches, and pathogens from the flea feces are released into the human body, causing the illness.

Salmonella

• The causing agent is a pathogen-shaped bacterium, Salmonella.
• The bacteria infects rodents and can be transmitted to humans or domestic animals (poultry and their products through food contaminated with rodent feces and urine).
• The symptoms are vomiting, high temperatures, abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, headaches, and chills.

Trichinosis ) Helical filaments disease)

• PathogenwormspiralnoodlesTrichinaspiralis
• Transmittedto humansfromporkorlunchfromcontaminatedrodentfecesandurine.
• The most important signs of the disease are diarrhea, abdominal pain, brain inflammation, and muscle pain when chewing.

The post Rodents appeared first on ETS.

Birds are immeasurably valuable to humans and the environment.  People enjoy watching, feeding, and conversing with harmless and beautiful birds, even common city pigeons, sparrows, and starlings. These birds represent a few of the only naturally free forms of wildlife. Unfortunately, these same birds can be nuisances and may then fly to nearby urban areas to roast and nest (or rest, but this has nothing to do with breeding or feeding) on and in buildings such as food warehouses, restaurants, apartment building windowsills, school and hospital rooftops, and the like.

Urban birds may play potentially important roles in food-borne illness outbreaks, and may frequent livestock fields that contain livestock manure, urine, molds, soil, fungi, bacteria, and viruses (Salmonella, Cryptococcosis, Histoplasmosis, Avian influenza, Ornithosis, and Pigeon Fancier’s disease).  These birds also contaminate food and deface buildings, signs, statues, vehicles, and other items of importance in urban environments.

Like other pest management programs, ETS provides an effective bird management program that incorporates several management approaches.  Sanitation, exclusion or habitat alteration, repellents, and population reductions are the essential components of managing urban pest birds.

When a public relations program is warranted, ETS technicians always inform and consult all public officials before beginning the management program. This helps keep all concerned parties informed that only nuisance birds will be controlled.

Three common bird pests are found in the UAE:

1. Pigeon (Rock Dove) – Columba livia Gmelin – (Columbudae: Columbiformers)
2. European Starling – Strurnus vulgaris Linneaus – (Sturnidae: Passeriformes)
3. House Sparrow – Passer domesticus (Linneaus) – (Passeridae: Passeriformes)

1. Pigeon (Rock Dove):

General Description

• Pigeons have gray bodies with a whitish rump, two black bars on the secondary wing feathers, a broad black band on the tail, and red feet.
• The body color can vary from gray to white, tan and blackish.
• The average weight is about 300-400g, and the average length is 30 cm.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

1. Reproduction:

• Pigeons are monogamous (i.e., they have one mate at a time).
• The male cares for and guards the female and the nest.
• It reproduces in the 4-6th month and broods 2-3 times a year.
• The female lays 1 or 2 eggs after 8 to 12 days of mating.
• Eggs hatch after 18 days.
• The squabs are fed a secreted substance called pigeon milk.
• The young are raised for 4-5 weeks by the parents. More eggs are laid before the first young are weaned.
• Breeding may occur during all seasons, but peak reproduction is in the spring and fall.
• The population consists equally of males and females.
• Wild pigeons can live for 15 years, and sometimes longer.
• In typical urban environments, however, most pigeons do not live for more than about three-and-a-half years.
• This bird is a resident.

 2. Habits and behaviors:

• The pigeon is the most serious urban bird pest in the UAE.
• They frequent parks and sidewalks, feeding on food provided by people.
• They use city bridges and buildings that provide roosting, loafing, and nesting sites. They also inhabit farmyards, livestock facilities, grain elevators, feed mills, and other buildings.
• In cities, pigeons tend to move in flocks of several hundred, which frequently move about, fly, and roost together.
• Occasionally, a smaller group will select a house or a few houses on which to roost, but in general, they prefer large buildings.
• Pigeons inhabit roofs, ledges, drain spouts, lofts, steeples, caves, and ornate architectural features of buildings where openings allow for roosting, loafing, and/or nest building.
• Pigeons do not construct a typical bird nest. Instead, their nests consist of sticks, twigs, and grasses and are built in the crevices of rocks.

3. Feeding: −       Pigeons feed mainly on grains and seeds, as well as snails and spittle.

• An adult pigeon consumes about 1 lb. of food per week.
• The ingested food is digested with the aid of gravel or sand, which serves to grind food in the gizzard, or digestive organ.
• Pigeons must have water.
• Healthy pigeons can exist for several days without food, but they require water each day.
• Resting, nesting, and roosting sites are frequently located in protected areas up high on structures.

2- European Starling:

General Description

• The starling is a stocky, short-tailed bird about the size of the robin. From a distance, it appears entirely black, but it is actually flecked with light speckles.
• Most of its feathers show iridescent purples and greens.
• The bill of both sexes is yellow during breeding season (January to May), and dark for the rest of the year.
• Juveniles are a plain brownish-gray.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

 1. Reproduction:

• Starlings mate in the spring.
• Females lay 4 to 7 greenish-blue eggs without spots.
• Eggs hatch after 12 to 14 days of incubation.
• The young leave the nest when they are about 21 days old.
• Both parents help build the nest, incubate the eggs, and feed the young.
• Usually, two broods hatch per season.
• By the end of the breeding season, it is formed by thousands of birds that roost collectively on reeds, trees, or buildings.
• Partially considered a migratory bird. Migrate in February, March, and October.

2. Habits and behaviors:

• They travel in flocks, as do pigeons and sparrows.
• Nests are usually built in wide open towns, in meadows, fields and sides of streams. They situate their nests in areas such as tree cavities and in almost any available hole in and around buildings.
• In city and suburban areas, starlings are pests because they use buildings, parks, and residential trees for roost sites.
• Feces from large numbers of starlings on and around the trees will kill the trees.
• Starlings spend the warm weather months in rural areas. In colder weather in the fall, they descend in large flocks into towns and cities at night to seek the warmth and shelter of large buildings.

3. Feeding:

• During the daylight hours, winter urban starling flocks feed at feedlots or grain elevators and fly back to the protected city roost sites at night.
• Each day, they may fly 15 to 30 miles between roost sites and feeding sites.
• Starlings consume a variety of foods (insects, worms, spittle, snails, fruits, seeds, and scraps) that make up a large portion of their diet during the breeding season.
• During the winter months, waste from food-processing facilities makes up a substantial part of their diet.
• In times of food scarcity, starlings will feed on almost anything to survive.

3. House Sparrow:

General Description

• The house sparrow is small and has a stocky appearance.
• The upper parts are reddish brown streaked with black, and the under parts are gray.
• The female and immature birds lack any distinctive markings.
• The male has a characteristic black throat, gray crown, and chestnut-colored nape.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

1. Reproduction:  −       The female lays 3-9 eggs speckled with dense black-brown spots.−       The incubation takes place for 14 days. −       It takes care of feeding the chicks for 11 to 17 days.

• The young are fledged (ready for flight) at about 14 days.
• House sparrows can produce up to 5 broods per year.
• The high reproductive rate is offset by an annual natural mortality rate ranging between 40 and 60%, often depending on the severity of the winter.

 2. Habits and behaviors:

• House sparrows can inhabit virtually every part of a city, nesting and/or perching in and around all types of residential and commercial buildings.
• Flocks of house sparrows can be serious nuisances.
• In rural areas, they are destructive around poultry and other livestock operations as they consume and contaminate large amounts of livestock feed.
• They are also capable of destroying building insulation.
• Large flocks often develop around food-serving establishments, shopping malls, warehouses, stadiums, and airport hangers.
• In residential areas, sparrows are pests in gardens and around yards, where they frequently displace desirable songbirds.
• The nests of house sparrows are usually built in, on, or near buildings.
• The nests are typically messy and are comprised of twigs, grass, and paper.
• Sparrows will also nest in trees and shrubs, usually using the same nesting locations and tree cavities year after year.
• Sparrow nests constructed on and around power lines and in electrical sub-stations have caused serious fire hazards.
• Sparrows are gregarious (i.e., group-loving).

3. Feeding:

• The food of the house sparrow varies, but grain is its preferred item. They also feed on the fruits and buds of some trees and bushes, as well as green leaves.
• The average adult sparrow eats less than 1/4 oz. of food daily.
• During the breeding season, the nestlings are fed insects.
• In rural areas, sparrows thrive at cattle feedlots, dairy farms, and hog and poultry farms where food and shelter are plentiful.
• In urban locations, they depend upon human trash that provides foods such as bread, fat, and other table scraps.

Economic & Health Damage of Birds

1. Economic Damage

• Some types of birds may cause economic or health damage to homes and their occupants, which puts them in the ranks of dangerous household pests. When birds, such as sparrows and pigeons, gather in large numbers on the roofs, windows, and trellises of houses and electricity poles, take positions or places of shelter, breed, and then set out to feed and return with the materials they may carry, they work on the dirt and pollution of the house.
• The excrement of these birds and the remains of their food cause stains on the walls and walls with sticky dirt, and some fungi grow on them, which in turn secrete acidic substances that cause corrosion of buildings.
• Damage may occur as a result of nests and dead birds gathering in air-conditioning vents or rainwater drainage. It also spoils light bulbs and causes damage to electrical connections.

• Losses are inflicted on home gardens as a result of their feeding and destruction of fruits, vegetables, and small seedlings, in addition to the disturbance they cause when they are present in large numbers, especially in the early morning and at sunset.

• The containment of bird droppings on ammonia and folic acid leads to the corrosion of car paint and the corrosion of metals and devices.

• Some birds and their flocks cause problems and danger to air navigation lines and airports, and collisions of some birds in the air may result in accidents, even if they are rare.

2. Health Damage:

Birds can harbor disease organisms that may affect people, pets, and domesticated animals.  However, reports of disease outbreaks directly linked to urban pest birds are rare, and the actual incidence of transmission of diseases from urban pest birds is difficult to assess.  Diseases and ectoparasites transmitted by birds to humans are mentioned below.

The post Birds appeared first on ETS.

General Description

The average length (with tail) is 30–60 cm, with a maximum length of 85 cm. Females are larger than males. It is short in length, the body and head are broad, the tail is short, the neck is delicate, and on both sides of the broad head, there are poison glands that contribute to increasing the size of the head.

Credit: Zuhair, Stümpel, and Joger

• The horned snake has two movable front fangs.
• The two horns of the snake are soft, flexible leather that can easily be bent.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• The diet of this snake primarily consists of rodents, insects (particularly beetles), and lizards.
• The horned snake can move its two fangs forward outside the mouth and inward to insert them into its gums, and these two fangs help it quickly deliver the poison to the prey.
• The two horns of the snake are soft, flexible leather that can easily be bent, and they are not considered a weapon that it can use, while it can scare its enemies with it, and they may be to protect its big eyes from shocks.
• Snakes crawl sideways.
• Not all individual snakes have horns, and the horns are not related to the age of the snake. Both young and old have horns. It is likely that the horns are for male-only.
• It was noted that the horned snake is more ferocious and in self-defense than the one without horns.

Damages and Medical Implication

• It is considered one of the poisonous snakes whose bite must be avoided. It does not attack humans, and if you approach it, it escapes from you.
• If the snake is trapped, it turns around itself and rubs its scales against each other to make a sound to scare its enemies.

The post  Desert Horned Viper appeared first on ETS.

General Description

Credit: Broobas

Credit: Zuhair, Stümpel, and Joger

• Despite its serpentine body, its head is broad, flat, and it has short horns above its eyes.
• The fangs are folded like other snakes, but they lack a distinctive color pattern on their body and are often dark gray or tan in color.
• With a total length of 90 cm, it is the largest snake found in the UAE. Females are usually larger than males.
• The horned viper is very similar in appearance to the fake horned viper and is often referred to as a sand viper. The identification of these snakes causes some confusion, as some have horns while others do not have horns at all.
• The body is stocky, and the head is massive. It also has long, folded teeth and moves in an undulating manner in the soft sand, which is its favorite habitat.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• It is oviparous, and sexually mature females lay 11-21 eggs. When produced, these already contain well-developed embryos, each of which can be as much as 8.5 cm in total length.
• Eggs hatch after only 30–32 days and measure 14 to 16 cm in total length.
• This snake species lives in the hills of the UAE. It is not found at altitudes less than 400 meters above sea level, and it does not venture out into the desert.
• They adapt well to the rocky environment they prefer.
• These snakes are found in the Emirates in the sandy deserts from the coast to the plains of the hills, where shade is not available.
• They are nocturnal reptiles and spend their days under anything that can provide them with a little protection from the glare of the sun. In the absence of shade, it buries itself in the sand by moving its ribs forward and upward at the same time, scattering the sand sideways, and allowing it to dive below the surface in a manner similar to a submarine. In a short time, she disappears, and only the eyes appear at the top of her head.

Damage and Medical Implication

• These snakes tend to avoid areas of human habitation.
• The venom of this snake exhibits strong hemorrhagic
• No antivenomis available for bites from this species.

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Horned Viper – Cerastes cerastes (Linnaeus)

General Description

This horned viper is also called the “Saharan horned viper” or the “desert horned viper”. The average total length (body and tail) is 30–60 cm, with a maximum total length of 85 cm. Females are larger than males. It is easily recognized by the presence of a pair of supraocular “horns” (one over each eye), although hornless individuals do occur. The eyes are prominent and set on the sides of the head. There is significant sexual dimorphism, with males having larger heads and larger eyes than females.

Credit: Jwinius Credit: Holger Krisp

• The colour pattern consists of a yellowish, pale grey, pinkish, reddish or pale brown ground colour, which almost always matches the substrate colour where the animal is found.
• Dorsally, a series of dark, semi-rectangular blotches run the length of the body. These blotches may or may not be fused into crossbars.
• The belly is white.
• The tail, which may have a black tip, is usually thin.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• These snakes favor dry, sandy areas with sparse rockoutcroppings, and tend to avoid coarse sand. They are found around oases and up to an altitude of 1,500 metres.
• In captivity, mating was observed in April and always occurred while the animals were buried in the sand.
• This species is oviparous, laying 8–23 eggsthat hatch after 50 to 80 days of incubation. Females lay eggs under rocks and in abandoned rodent burrows.
• The hatchlingsmeasure 12–15 cm in length.

Damages and Medical Implication

• The venom of this horned viber causes swelling, necrosis, haemorrhage, nausea, vomiting, and haematuria.
• Venom yields vary, with ranges of 19–27 mg to 100 mg of dried venom being reported.

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Wild Rabbit

General Description

Credit: Haplochromis, animalia.bio

Credit: Shah Jahan

• The Cape hare has a fine, soft coat that varies in color from light brown to reddish to sandy grey.
• The female is larger than the male, an example of sexual dimorphism.
• It has well-developed legs for leaping and running.
• It has large eyes and ears to look for threats from its environment. A white ring surrounds the eye.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• After a 42-day-long pregnancy, the female gives birth to from 1 to 3 young (called leverets) per litter and may have 4 litters per year.
• Breeding occurs from January to June, with young produced from March to October. Breeding my occur at intervals of three months.
• The young hares are born with eyes open and are able to move about shortly after birth.
• It is a nocturnalherbivore, feeding on grass and various shrubs.
• It consumes its own fecal material to double the amount of time food spends in the digestive tract (Coprophagy). With this behavior, the rabbit extracts the maximum nourishment from its diet, and microbes present in the pellets also provide nutrients.
• Hares rarely live more than one year in the wild, and few individuals may live up to 5 years.
• Range generation period from 38 to 41 days.
• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity is 7 to 9 months for both sexes.

Damages and Medical Implication

• Rabbits can cause damage throughout the year, depending on what plants are available. They eat succulent green vegetation, such as flowers, vegetables, and crops, during the growing season, and they may turn to trees or shrubs in winter.
• Rabbits can severely damage landscape plants, orchard trees, and other woody plants. They commonly bite off small branches and gnaw to reach the green inner bark.

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Feral Cat

General Description

Cat with similar appearance to domestic cat but often with increased muscle development, particularly around head, neck and shoulders.  Males generally weigh 3-6kg, females 2-4kg.  Coat is generally short and ranges from ginger, tabby and tortoiseshell to grey and black. Eyeshine is distinctive green under spotlight.

Credit: Brocken Inaglory

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• In a free-roaming environment, feral cats avoid humans. They do not allow themselves to be handled or touched by humans, and back away or run when they are able to do so.
• If vats are trapped, they hiss, growl, bare their teeth, or strike out.
• They remain fairly hidden from humans and will not approach, although some feral cats gradually become more comfortable around humans who feed them regularly.
• Most feral cats have small home ranges, although some are more transient and travel long distances.
• Feral cats often live in groups called colonies, which are located close to food sources and shelter.
• The home ranges of male feral cats, which are generally two or three times larger than those of female cats, are on average under 10 ha, but can vary from almost 300 ha to under 1 ha. This variance is often due to breeding season, access to females, whether the cat is neutered, age, time of day, and availability of prey.
• Male cats reach sexual maturity at about 12 months.
• Females can reproduce at about 7 months.
• It can produce up to 3 litters a year, usually of 4 kittens but varying from 2 to 7.
• Most reproduction occurs between spring and summer.
• Birth follows a gestation period of 65 days.

Damages and Medical Implication

• Feral cats are susceptible to diseases and infections that could be detrimental to feline or human health. It includes rabies, toxoplasmosis, bartonellosis, several viruses (feline panleukopenia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus), and feline respiratory disease
• Feral cats are one of the worst invasive species and one of the greatest threats to native wildlifein much of the world.
• Feral cats are either mesopredators(mid-ranking predators) or apex predators (top predators) in local ecosystems.
• They prey on a wide variety of both vertebratesand invertebrates, and typically prefer smaller animals with body weights under 100 g (they can prey on animals less than half their size), particularly mammals, birds, and lizards.
• Minor costs associated with the condemnation of sheep and lamb carcasses due to sarcosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis, which are carried by feral cats.
• Can injure and transmit disease to domestic cats.
• Carries parasites that can affect humans.
• High numbers in urban areas cause hygiene problems.
• Threatens small populations of critically endangered species.
• Carries toxoplasmosis, which is particularly harmful to marsupials, causing blindness, respiratory disorders, paralysis and loss of offspring.

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General Description

The naked-rumped tomb bat is a moderate-sized, sac-winged bat, males typically being slightly larger than females. The head and body length is 8.0-9.7cm, tail length is 2.5-3.3cm, forearm length 6.5-7.9cm, and weight is 20-30g.

Credit: Rajesh Puttaswamaiah

• Bats are greyish brown above, and paler below.
• They have strong-smelling glands in throat sacs which may be used in courtship.
• Parts of the belly are naked.
• Fur does not extend to the tail membrane.
• The lower back, abdomen, chin, throat, and cheeks are hairless.
• The short tail protrudes from the midpoint of the membrane.
• The head is fairly flat with a long, cone-shaped snout and a shallow depression between the large eyes.
• The lower lip has a grooved protuberance and the ears are triangular and backward-pointing.
• There is no nose leaf and the throat pouches are well-developed in the male but less so in the female.
• The fur is short and sleek and covers the whole body apart from the rump, lower belly, and hind limbs.
• The dorsal pelage is pale greyish-brown, deep brown, or rusty-brown and the ventral pelage is a paler color than the back.
• The wing membrane is dark brown and the tail projects freely from the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• For most of the year, males and females roost together, but the males move to roost elsewhere before the young are born.
• For the first few weeks, the newborn bat clings to its mother while she flies, but later, the young roost beside their mothers, remaining behind while their mothers forage.
• The gestation period is nine weeks, but the female may store the sperm during hibernation, with fertilization and pregnancy occurring in the spring.
• This bat species is agile, flying fast and high in open areas, hawking for insects.
• It is a social species, becoming active about half an hour before the sun sets, and streaming from the daytime roost shortly after sunset.
• Its diet includes beetles, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, and flying ants.
• It roosts gregariously in crevices between stones, in caves, crags, ruins, and old buildings.

Damages and Medical Implications

• The naked-rumped tomb bat roosts in old ruins, mosques, and wells.

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General Description

Egyptian fruit bats are dark brown or grayish brown, with their undersides paler than their backs, a long muzzle, and a two-foot wingspan (approximately 60 cm). They weigh 80–170 g. The body is 15 cm in length. Males are larger than females and can be easily distinguished by their large scrotums and the prominent, stiff strands of hair around their throats. Adults have a total of 34 teeth. The fur on its body is relatively short and consists of soft and sleek strands. On its back, the fur’s coloration ranges from dark brown to gray-brown, while the coloration on its underside is pale brown with a yellowish-brown collar around its neck.

Credit: Lietuvos zoologijos sodas

• Its wings are of a darker brown than its body and the wing membranes attach to the leg at the first toe.
• Males and females have similar coloration.
• The bat is well adapted to seeing in low light and possesses a highly developed sense of smell.
• Its eyes are large and well-developed, while its ears are considered medium-length.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

• Females give birth to only one offspring, on average, after a gestation period of 105–120 days.
• True to their name, these nocturnal mammals feed almost exclusively on soft fruits, such as dates, apples, and apricots.
• These bats are highly social species and live in colonies with thousands of other bats.
• Young bats cling to the female for about 3 weeks, until they can hang from branches on their own, and begin flying after 3 months.
• The bat has two breeding seasons: the first is from April to August, while the second season is from October to February.
• Females typically give birth to only a single offspring each year (called a “pup”), but twins are occasionally born, after a gestationperiod of around 115 to 120 days.
• The female carries the pup until it is six weeks old, which is when it can hang in the roost on its own.
• Offspring typically stay with the same colony as the parents for their entire lives.
• The average lifespan ranges from 8 to 10 years.

Damages and Medical Implications

The bat eats commercially grown fruits intended for human consumption and cause crop loss to the farmers. It is a suspected reservoir for several human diseases.  It is hypothesized that it can spread the Marburg virus to conspecifics through contact with infected excretions.  Exposure to guano could be a route of transmission to humans.

Credit: Arpingstone

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General Description

• The starling is a stocky, short-tailed bird about the size of the robin. From a distance, it appears entirely black, but it is actually flecked with light speckles.
• Most of its feathers show iridescent purples and greens.
• The bill of both sexes is yellow during breeding season (January to May), and dark for the rest of the year.
• Juveniles are a plain brownish-gray.

Life Cycle and Common Characteristics

 1. Reproduction:

• Starlings mate in the spring.
• Females lay 4 to 7 greenish-blue eggs without spots.
• Eggs hatch after 12 to 14 days of incubation.
• The young leave the nest when they are about 21 days old.
• Both parents help build the nest, incubate the eggs, and feed the young.
• Usually, two broods hatch per season.
• By the end of the breeding season, it is formed by thousands of birds that roost collectively on reeds, trees, or buildings.
• Partially considered a migratory bird. Migrate in February, March, and October.

2. Habits and behaviors:

• They travel in flocks, as do pigeons and sparrows.
• Nests are usually built in wide open towns, in meadows, fields and sides of streams. They situate their nests in areas such as tree cavities and in almost any available hole in and around buildings.
• In city and suburban areas, starlings are pests because they use buildings, parks, and residential trees for roost sites.
• Feces from large numbers of starlings on and around the trees will kill the trees.
• Starlings spend the warm weather months in rural areas. In colder weather in the fall, they descend in large flocks into towns and cities at night to seek the warmth and shelter of large buildings.

3. Feeding:

• During the daylight hours, winter urban starling flocks feed at feedlots or grain elevators and fly back to the protected city roost sites at night.
• Each day, they may fly 15 to 30 miles between roost sites and feeding sites.
• Starlings consume a variety of foods (insects, worms, spittle, snails, fruits, seeds, and scraps) that make up a large portion of their diet during the breeding season.
• During the winter months, waste from food-processing facilities makes up a substantial part of their diet.
• In times of food scarcity, starlings will feed on almost anything to survive.

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