White rats are solving mice problem

They have started using a pair of domesticated white rats to scare the mice away.

Rodents are a huge problem in India, consuming tonnes of grain intended for human consumption every year.

The experiment has now attracted the attention of animal experts, who think it could be a solution to the problem.

Despite all the modern weapons available to them, the police in Haryana had until now failed to combat the population of rodents feeding their way through official documents and other critical evidence.

The situation was particularly bad in the central district of Karnal, where armies of mice have, over the years, destroyed many court records.

"Innumerable rodents have invaded the Moharar Maalkhana [record room] and we have been helpless," said the senior superintendent of Karnal, Arshinder Singh Chawla.

"These rats or mice are voracious eaters and have chewed up vital papers, clothing and even the jute [rough fibre] sacks we normally use to store narcotics, illicit alcohol and weapons confiscated from criminals and crime scenes," he said.

But now, Mr Chawla and his men seem to have found an unlikely solution to their problem in a pair of albino relatives of the pest rodents.

Rodents eat their way through tonnes of food in India every year"About a month ago, a man from Ambala [a nearby town] suggested that we use domesticated white rats," the officer said.
Willing to try just about anything, the Karnal police purchased two white rats from a laboratory animals supplier for 200 rupees ($4; £3).

"It is working like magic," he said.
"My men have been releasing them in the Maalkhana every night and the pests have just disappeared.

"And the best part is that our guards don't touch the documents or the poppy husk, we keep them well fed on a diet of fresh milk and roti," said Mr Chawla. more