Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Title
Polynesian Rats
Document Type
Article
Date of this Version
July 1994
The Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) is
smaller than either the Norway rat (R.
norvegicus) or the roof rat (R. rattus).
Polynesian rats have slender bodies,
pointed snouts, large ears, and relatively
small, delicate feet. A ruddy
brown back contrasts with a whitish
belly. Mature individuals are 4.5 to 6
inches long (11.5 to 15.0 cm) from the
tip of the nose to the base of the tail
and weigh 1.5 to 3 ounces (40 to 80 g).
The tail has prominent fine scaly rings
and is about the same length as the
head and body. Female Polynesian rats
have 8 nipples, compared to 10 and 12
nipples normally found on roof rats
and Norway rats, respectively.
Polynesian rats are native to Southeast
Asia but have dispersed with humans
across the central and western Pacific.
Today, these rodents inhabit almost
every Pacific island within 30o of the
equator. They occur from the Asiatic
mainland south to New Guinea and
New Zealand, and east to the
Hawaiian Islands and Easter Island.
Polynesian rats accompanied early
Polynesian immigrants to Hawaii and
today occur on every major island of
the archipelago. The Polynesian rat is
not present in the mainland United
States.
Exclusion:
Not practical for Hawaiian sugarcane
fields.
Cultural Methods:
Synchronize planting and harvesting
of large blocks of fields.
Eliminate or modify noncrop vegetation
adjacent to sugarcane fields.
Develop potential resistant sugarcane
varieties.
Repellents:
None are registered.
Toxicants:
Zinc phosphide.
Fumigants:
Not practical in and around sugarcane
fields.
Trapping:
Not practical in and around sugarcane
fields.
Shooting:
Not practical.
Biological Control:
Not effective.
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