Poison-resistant house mice
It is now feared that super rats have been chatting with their long lost relatives the “mice” and passed along trade secrets. The chemical used to eradicate rats have been changed out over the years as they have become resistant to the poisons used. Now it appears that mice too have breed their way to becoming resistant to some of the baits that are used. It has been noted that some mice will not eat the cereal-based bait commonly used to eradicate them, while others would not go into boxes and traps. Some eat the poison but aren’t affected by it and some, despite having a reputation for being curious, will not go into traps yet some behave oddly and avoid rodenticides. It appears that some mice now lack a particular enzyme, which made it impossible for them to digest the cereal in the poison. Now scientists say that German and Spanish mice have found a rapid method of overcoming the poisons by cross-breeding with Algerian mice that are, according to the researchers, an entirely different species. The researchers say this type of gene transfer is highly unusual and normally found in plants and bacteria.
The Current Biology report says this process could yield mice resistant to almost any form of pest control. Now we are into the fall, cold, wet weather will drive more rodents into buildings and the humble house mouse maybe the one that will cause the real headache.
