Are the pests getting smarter? The short answer is Yes. But the better short answer may be, pests aren’t necessarily getting smarter, they are just adapting to the old ways being used to exterminate or remove them.
Many creatures are capable of learning, and adapting. This is a natural order of evolution. Not only are pests developing and becoming more resistant to pesticides and other chemicals due to biological evolutions, more intelligent pests are evolving psychologically. The brain is molded over the years and this results in animals functioning differently from one another. The rat, for example, has been long studied and believed to be smarter than their rodent counterpart, mice. Although recent studies have shown the only big difference in their brains was that rats learned slightly faster than mice. Also from an evolutionary standpoint, neither rats nor mice may have gotten smarter, just able to adapt to their living situations.
Studies
Rats are clever and adaptable. In a 2017 article, researchers revealed from New York University found that when rats were frightened during the day, the fear centres in their brains re-activated at night when they slept, meaning this activity was potentially strengthening their memories. Researchers note that rates store maps of their experiences in their brains in both hippocampi. After exploring an area, it was observed the rats would replay these sequences in their sleep, going over the paths they had traveled while awake. Researchers believe that rats have a strong ability to store long term memory. Many tests and experiments have revealed rats are more than capable of using tools for things like setting off traps or in lab experiments. When given the choice between food and freeing another rat trapped somewhere, the rats will choose to free the trapped rat.
Rats are also a social creature so they can communicate what foods and places are safe, and what to avoid, like the poisons and traps that have been left; and because they are able to effectively communicate this type of information, paired with the fact that rodents can produce at an alarmingly fast rate, it makes battling rodent infestations that much more difficult.
Rats can easily avoid traps. They are fairly effective when it comes to learning what is dangerous. The traps become ineffective if a rat witnesses another rat get caught in a snap trap or narrowly escaping one themselves. They can also learn certain foods are unsafe if contaminated with something dangerous or poisonous that may cause that rat to become acutely ill. Poisons don’t work particularly well against rats as they are very patient. They will taste and test foods in small portions and wait and see if those foods make them sick. If it doesn’t, then they will consume the rest. This is called delayed learning. On top of learning, rats can develop resistance to poisons over time.
What does this mean?
What all this really means is we have to change the way we handle pests. Because they are adapting, using the same tools and traps may not always work. Your old mouse traps or sticky papers may not be enough to keep them away any longer. You’ll need to be more prepared and obtain more knowledge on the situation when it comes down to catching and removing rats from your home.
Catching a Smart Rat
As mentioned, rodents are smart and will handle your traps differently. Remembering that some are smarter than others, having the ability to learn and adapt, you will need to have the right tools and knowledge to be able to rid yourself of such rodents if the situation ever presents itself. Keep in mind a few tips when dealing with these clever pests.
- Understand their behavior
Rats are smart, but also very curious. They will move cautiously and carefully so how you go about setting up traps will have to be adjusted to how the rats are behaving. If a rat escaped one of your traps or does not fall prey to certain baits and chemicals, you’ll have to adapt as well.
- Let them get accustomed to the traps
As smart as rats are, they may not understand the cause and effect of a trap unless directly experiencing it themselves. They can forget and become desensitized to disarm traps and build their comfort levels around these traps.
- Be patient
As mentioned constantly, rats are smart and adaptive. It may take longer than desired to trap your pest but you need to be vigilant and patient.
Some pests are smarter than others. They all have different ways of thinking and in order to keep your home safe from all unwanted guests, you’ll have to think how different bugs and rodents may think and act.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
Speak Your Mind