ABSTRACT
Nonlethal approaches, semantically at least, should include antifertility chemicals and repellents which, by affecting one or more of the several senses, deter animals from occupying an area or eating a food material. It is difficult to justify to animal damage control specialists the use of "nonlethal" controls against such prolific, elusive, and aggressive competitors to human welfare as rodents. While methods that kill outright like toxicants, fumigants, and deadfall traps can be clearly defined, most "nonlethal" methods will indirectly cause mortality by limiting survival success of a rodent population by such means as modification of the habitat. An amazing amount of folklore has been generated around "nonlethal" methods. Religious incantations were thought to drive rats out of an area. Habitat modification will be discussed as it applies to rural or agricultural situations as contrasted to urban environments or man-made structures where it is generally referred to as "sanitation and rodent proofing."
