Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Nearly half a century ago anticoagulant rodenticides changed the nature of rodent control. Warfarin, and succeeding first-generation compounds, provided effective and increasingly safe baits for reducing commensal rodent populations. Environmental deficiencies were overridden by these "miracle" chemicals, but excessive and irresponsible use selected for resistant populations. Second-generation compounds with a single-feeding characteristic have controlled such resistant populations, at least initially. But use extensions to crop and field areas have been held back by registration requirements, costs, and concerns over local effects on predators. New compounds, formulations, and applications in the near future are likely to be quite limited.