Consumption and mortality of the white-footed mouse (Rodentia: Muridae) and Ord's kangaroo rat (Rodentia: Heteromyidae) when fed carbaryl-bran grasshopper (Orthoptera) bait.

Two species of wild rodents (Ord's kangaroo rat, Dipodomys ordii Woodhouse, and the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) were fed 0, 2, and 20% (AI) by weight concentrations of carbaryl-bran grasshopper bait in the laboratory to determine whether the bait would be consumed, the total quantity of bait consumed within a specified period, whether mortality would occur, and whether bait would be consumed if other foods were readily available. Consumption tests showed that bait ingestion was inversely proportional to concentration. No mortalities occurred at the 0% level, whereas the 2 and 20% concentration treatments resulted in 18.8 and 97.0% mortality, respectively. The apparent repellency of 20% bait indicated that starvation may have caused the deaths. Food preference tests disclosed that D. ordii and P. leucopus preferred natural forage rather than treated and untreated wheat bran in the laboratory.