CONTROL of Bowling Green December 1978
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ZINC PHOSPHIDE DEVELOPMENT FOR RODENT CONTROL Kasem Tongtavee A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 1978 14 © 1979 KASEM TONGTAVEE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Adult lab and wild rats (Rattus norvégiens) were maintained under laboratory conditions for the investigation of the bait shyness phenomena, the evaluation of modified forms of zinc phosphide, and the efficacy testing of various bait formulations. One zinc phosphide formulation was selected for a field trial. Wild rats, but not lab rats, developed bait shyness specific to zinc phosphide following ingestion of sub-lethal doses, but not to the bait material. Some wild, bait-shy rats retained memory for zinc phos phide for at least 60 days. In food preference studies the rats were given the choice of EPA- standard food and a test food. Only red pepper (at 0.16%) increased palatability of EPA-standard food for both lab and wild rats. Bait combinations A (consisting of ground barley and rolled oats), B (consist ing of ground wheat and rolled oats), and E (consisting of ground barley, ground corn, and rolled oats) were preferred to EPA-standard food by lab but not by wild rats. Experimental forms of Zn3P2 were mixed with EPA-standard food at 1% and tested on individual lab and wild rats in choice and non-choice regimens. The addition of buffering substances to Zn3P2 did not signifi cantly improve the toxic bait consumption. Most of the special formula tions provided 100% mortality to lab rats in choice and non-choice feeding situations, but only one formulation gave 100% mortality to wild rats. Seven microencapsulated zinc phosphide formulations provided complete mortality to lab rats in choice tests. Only one of these gave high mortal ity (80%) to wild rats. r in Four selected zinc phosphide formulations were tested on colonies of wild rats (n=5) in choice tests. Two microencapsulated formulations gave complete mortality to the test animals, and one of these was selected for a field trial. It was mixed with hog food at 1% for baiting Norway rats and house mice outside a hog barn. While this bait was well accepted by these rodents, the population was not reduced significantly because of immigration from surrounding environments. This study indicated that some wild Norway rats did develop shyness to zinc phosphide as a rodenticide. Special forms of zinc phosphide and microencapsulation improved the efficacy of this rodenticide. Additional development efforts are desirable. • • . ' iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my thanks to my advisor, Dr. William B. Jackson, for his helpful suggestions and support throughout this study. I also wish to express my gratitude to the members of my doctoral committee, Drs. Robert C. Graves, Francis C. Rabalais, Stephen H. Vessey, John P. Scott, and Thomas B. Cobb, for their helpful comments and suggestions. I am very grateful to Drs. Michael W. Fall, Peter J. Savarie, Ray T. Sterner, Melvyn V. Garrison, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service^ and John R. Beck, of Biological Environmental Consultant Services, for their helpful comments and suggestions. I wish to acknowledge the help of A.D. Ashton, who made the facili ties of the Fernside Laboratory of Bowling Green State University avail able to me, and the members of the laboratory staff, particularly John McCumber, Kevin Walsh, Leslie Spooner, Steve Spaulding, Randy Miller, Kathy Richards, Mike Paessun, Hailu Kassa, and Manfred Temme. I also wish to thank the farm operator, Jim Allion, who allowed me to run a field trial at his hog farm near Waterville, Ohio. I am very grateful to Ms. Donna L. Dacus, for her job of typing and her care in preventing many errors, and Ms. Rochana Junkasem, for her help in drawing some figures. My participation in this doctoral program was made possible by the award of a Rockefeller fellowship, and I appreciate this assistance from the Foundation. In addition, Hooker Chemicals and Plastics Corporation provided technical materials and formulations for testing and evaluation. I am especially grateful for the efforts of A.M. Foster and M.F. Loree of their development staff. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Thai government for providing my leave of absence so that these studies could be completed. Lastly, I am deeply grateful to my wife, Vanida Tongtavee, for her understanding and encouragement. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 Physicochemical Properties and Mode of Action ........ 1 Toxicity and Hazards .................... 4 Stability of Zinc Phosphide............................ 7 The Use of Zinc Phosphide.................... .............. 8 Food Preferences and Bait Shyness of Rats................... 10 Proposal of Study ....... ........ .. ........ 17 METHODS AND MATERIALS ............. .......... .. Experiment 1. Determination of the Phenomenon of Bait Shyness 19 Observation of the behavior of rats in responding to zinc phosphide bait.............................. .. 24 Individual lab rats ............................... 24 Individual wild Norway rats ............ 25 Determination of types of shyness ........... 25 Determination of retention of memory for bait shyness of wild rats.......... .. ............................. 26 Determination of responses of wild rats in social groups to toxic food.......................... .............. 26 Experiment 2. Investigation of Ways to Increase the Efficacy of Zinc Phosphide ....................................... 28 Increasing bait palatability . ............. 28 Improving zinc phosphide formulations.......... .. 29 Laboratory tests ............................. 29 Experiment 3. Field Tests ................... 32 Pre-treatment census.............. .................... 33 Treatment .......................... ......... 36 Post-treatment census ........ ...................... 36 vii Page Evaluation of the Efficacy of Zinc Phosphide ......... 36 Additional data for evaluating the efficacy of zinc phosphide................................ 37 Use of tracking boards ................................. 37 Trapping ........................ 37 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................ .......... 39 Bait Shyness Phenomena ......................................... 39 Behaviors of rats toward zinc phosphide baits ...... 39 Nature of bait shyness ........................ 57 Retention of memory of bait shyness ..................... 60 Social behavior towards bait shyness .................. 62 Improving Toxic Baits to Increase the Efficacy of Zinc Phosphide ............................ 69 Bait developments.........................................69 Using buffering substances . ............... 81 Physical characteristicso f zinc phosphide .............. 85 Improvement of zinc phosphide microencapsulation .... 88 Tests on colonies of wild rats . .......................... 91 Field Test................ .................................. 91 SUMMARY .......................... ..... ........ .. 103 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 105 vili LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page I Oral toxicity of zinc phosphide to various animals. Dose responses are expressed in terms of lethal dose (LD, LD50 LDgg), approximate lethal dose (ALD), or lethal concentra tion (LC50). 5 II The use of zinc phosphide baits for controlling small . rodents in U.S.A. 11 III Zinc phosphide baits used for small rodent control in foreign countries. 12 IV U.S. EPA registered zinc phosphide formulations for commensal rodents. 13 V Experimental zinc phosphide formulations with buffering substances added. ‘31 VI Non-choice tests on rats (R. norvegicus) with Zn3P2 baits. 40 VII Feeding behavior patterns of lab rats in 10-min exposures to ground Purina chow. 42 vin Feeding behavior patterns of lab rats (same rats in Table VII) in 10-min exposures to ZnqPo 0.10% in EPA standard food. 43 IX Feeding behavior patterns of lab rats (same rats in Table VII) in 10-min exposures to Zn3P2atl% in EPA-standard food. 44 X Consumptions by lab rats in three 10-minute experiments in non-choice situations. 48 XI Feeding behavior patterns of wild rats in 30-min expo sures to ground Purina chow. 49 XII Feeding behavior patterns of wild rats (same rats in Table XI) in 30-min exposures to Zn3P2 at 0.10% in EPA standard food. 51 XIII Comparison of feeding behavior and placebo and toxic bait consumption of wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) in three 30-min experiments in non-choice situations. 52 XIV Feeding behavior patterns of wild rats (same rats in Table XI) in 30-min exposures to Zn3P2 at 1% in fiPA standard food. 53 Table Title Page XV Tests of shyness to wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) In a non-choice situation to different kinds of baits. 59 XVI Retention of memory for bait shyness of wild rats (Rattus norvegicus) to zinc phosphide baits after sur viving a sublethal dose. 61 XVII Pattern of feeding behavior to a colony (n=6) of wild rats in 60-minute exposure to ground chow. 64 XVIII Pattern of feeding behavior (n=3) of a colony of wild rats that survived a sublethal dose of ZrçPj at 0.10% in EPA for six days in exposure to Zng at 1% in EPA in 60-min observations. 67 XIX Consumptions of EPA standard baits modified by addition of enhancers by lab rats in choice tests, five animals per test group. 71 XX Average 4-day food consumption of wild rats (R. norveg icus) in choice tests using experimental baits and EPA standard baits, and EPA + enhancers and EPA standard baits, N=5. 75 XXI Bait combinations tested on lab rats in choice feeding with EPA