§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will make available special funds for an intensified effort to destroy the warfarin-resistant rats at present infesting farms in the Midlands and mid-Wales;
(2) what special grants he has allocated to the pest division of his Department and to societies concerned with rat clearance to enable them to deal with warfarin-resistant rats.
§ Mr. HoyOwners and occupiers of land are responsible for controlling rats. Funds are available to our Infestation Control Laboratory for research into the nature of warfarin resistance and new techniques for dealing with it. In addition, we have made special funds available for the task of attempting, in association with the research effort, to slow down the rate at which warfarin-resistant rats are spreading. No special grants have been made to societies concerned with rat clearance.
§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many farms and smallholdings are now known to be inhabited by warfarin-resistant rats;
(2) what is the extent of the area in the Midlands and mid-Wales at present infested by warfarin-resistant rats; and what are the geographical limits of the area.
§ Mr. HoyWarfarin-resistant rats are found in an area of about 400 square miles containing all or part of the areas of the following local authorities—Newtown and Llanidloes, Llanfyllin, Forden, Clun, Atcham, and Ludlow Rural Districts; Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Urban District; and Welshpool and Montgomery Municipal Boroughs.
The probable presence of warfarin-resistant rats has been reported on 345 agricultural holdings. A recent sample survey indicates that fewer than one in eight of all holdings in the area have these rats.
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§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimate he has made of the damage caused over the past few years by warfarin-resistant rats on farms in mid-Wales and the Midlands.
§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps his Department have taken to prevent the carriage of warfarin-resistant rats from farms and warehouses in the Midlands and mid-Wales by means of stock or feed lorries or otherwise to other parts of the country.
§ Mr. Hoosonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Department first received intimation from a pest officer that a species of warfarin-resistant rats had been found in mid-Wales or the Midlands; and what steps were then taken to deal with the matter.
§ Mr. HoyFirst indications of possible resistance to warfarin were reported in February, 1960. Once the condition was identified, a concentrated effort was made by a team of our research officers to exterminate all resistant rats in a small experimental area using acute poisons. The attempt proved unsuccessful but from this and other field work, we found that it might be possible to slow down the rate of spread beyond the edges of the affected area. This we are now trying to do as an extension of our search for an alternative method of control.