In short, neophobia protects the rat from the consequences of careless curiosity. From the rat’s perspective, the hole may be already occupied by a snake or some other predator. a bait station) which suddenly appears in a rat’s runway will initially be approached very cautiously. So as you might imagine, any sudden changes in the living space is met with suspicion and caution, at least for a time until the rat re-habituates to the changes. In this way, it can run from one point to another using the shortest route and in the least possible time, minimizing its exposure time to predators and danger. Thus, the rat depends on its previous experience of being able to move quickly and accurately around its living space. Their principle means of avoiding predators is their use of familiar pathways under cover and quickness to get to a burrow or other place of concealment.
In their natural world, rats are subject to predation once they leave the nest. Neophobic behavior serves rodents as a survival strategy. This behavior is called neophobia (fear of new). The avoidance of strange objects as well as strange animals of the same and other species is actually common throughout the animal kingdom, including among people. But what is it about some rats which makes them so challenging and difficult to control? Are these troublesome rats “smarter” than the rest of their colony members, and do they “know” how to avoid lethal devices and baits? Let’s examine the “smart rat” phenomena a bit closer. The industry is full of similar elusive rat stories. And recently one rat on a commercial jet liner cost nearly a half million dollars in downtime for the airline because the rat did not respond to any control strategy, and the plane had to be fumigated.
On one occasion, for example, it took me three weeks to take out a single rat from a granary. Have you ever had a rat you couldn’t capture? Most pest management professionals encounter this problem every so often.
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