City rats and mice may encounter more physical barriers to movement than do country rodents. The home range of rodents is simply the normal limits of their movements. The home range generally contains food, water, and shelter Rodents will usually leave this area only under stress. For mice, this distance is as little as 10 - 20 feet, and for rats as little as 50 - 100 feet. Since over 80 percent of each individual rodent's movements will normally be within these distances, control efforts must be spaced so that individual home ranges are encountered.

Rodents in cities are extremely used to human odor and activity. Just the presence of people or the cleanup of an area will not necessarily disturb many rodents, without some killing or removal techniques. Rodents have few natural enemies.

Unwanted rodents can be more than a nuisance; they can inflict serious injury through bites and the transmission of disease. They also steal our food, damage commodities, and weaken structures. Unchecked, their population will continue to grow at an alarming rate.

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Bedbugs
The most frequent bed bug encountered in the United States is Cimex lectularius, the common bed bug. They range from one-fourth inch to five-eighths inch in length. Nymphs and adults have piercing-sucking mouthparts and are incapable of flight. However, small stubby wing remnants can be observed on the prothorax of adults.

It is important to differentiate between the common bed bug and other cimicids that feed on bats and birds because control efforts can be targeted at the wrong sites and infestations can continue.

Bedbug females lay between 200 and 500 eggs during their lifetime in batches of three to four eggs per day. These eggs hatch after six to 17 days. Nymphal bed bugs molt five to six times before becoming adults. Under the best conditions, the life cycle is complete in four to five weeks, but since ideal conditions are rarely found it can take four to five months. Adult bed bugs can live 10 months or more without food (blood).

Bed bugs tend to live in clusters similar to German cockroaches. Adult bed bugs generally travel 15 to 20 feet, or less, from their harborage sites.

Common bed bugs feed on human blood just below the surface of the skin with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Those bitten by a bed bug may develop small, white to red, hard welts at the bite site. These bites itch intensely. Bed bugs have an odor that is pronounced and in sever infestations has been described as an "obnoxious sweetness".

Bed bugs feed exclusively at night. They take approximately three to five minutes to engorge on blood. Once feeding is complete, they return to their harborage. Feedings take place every few days and nymphs require approximately six blood meals for complete development.

Inspection for bed bug infestations must be thorough.

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