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Bastrop Research Paper

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Texas A&M AgriLife experts offer information on rodent control
BASTROP — While the presence of rats and mice is nothing new in homes, sheds, barns and other structures, some areas of Texas are experiencing greatly increased rodent activity, leading residents to ask for advice on how to control the furry varmints.
Rachel Bauer, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agent for agriculture and natural resources for Bastrop County, said Bastrop and surrounding counties have seen their mouse and rat population explode.
“Some homeowners are being invaded by mice and field rats which are thriving in the burned-out areas recovering from the wildfires, in part because there are very few predators,” Bauer said. “And with the regrowth of vegetation, the rats and mice have had an ample food source and …show more content…

(Texas Wildlife Services photo courtesy of Linda Tschirhart-Hejl)

Bauer said she has received reports of rats chewing on wiring in and around homes, as well as in cars parked both outdoors and inside garages.
“Last fall was an exceptionally wet season in this area of Texas,” said Jerry Falke, wildlife damage management biologist for AgriLife Extension’s Texas Wildlife Services who is based in the Bastrop area. “The increase in late-season grass and seed was a major factor in greater native rodent activity, and the resulting population led to increased migration into residences, storage buildings, shops and other indoor locations in wintertime.”

Falke said there was increased activity particularly in Bastrop, Lee, and Brazos counties, as well as Fayette County.
“I’d say in general that certain geographic regions of Texas have had increased rat and mouse activity this year, particularly the south central and southeastern part of the state to the east of the I-35 corridor,” said Linda Tschirhart-Hejl, a Wildlife Services biologist based in

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