Peoples perception of rodents as pest and their control in Ibadan, South-western Nigeria: A case study of University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State

Abstract

The prolific rate of rodents in the University of Ibadan is becoming alarming and thus there is need to investigate their perception of rodents as pests by the people residing within the University premises. The study design employed was descriptive and data was collected using self-structured research questionnaires. A total of One hundred and twenty (120) questionnaires were administered and retrieved from the respondents.  The results of the findings showed that majority of the respondents 96(80%) were aware of the rodents’ presence on campus. Ninety eight (81.7%) of the respondents had knowledge of rodents as pests while 50 (41.7%) respondents perceived food materials as what are mostly damaged by rodents. Fifty five (45.9%) respondents indicated that the extent of rodents damage to their belongings was serious while 45 (38.3%) reported it to be insignificant. Use of rodenticides was the method mostly adopted by 66 (55%) respondents to reduce rodent damage followed by setting of traps by 37 (30.8%). There was no significant difference between the methods employed to reduce rodent damage (p˃0.05) by the respondents. It can be concluded that rodents are recognized as pests that cause damage to human belongings in the study area and methods of control perceived to be mostly used to reduce rodent damage are the use of rodenticides and setting of traps.