Rodent Burrows and Their Fluctuations in the Mid-hill Orchards of Himachal Pradesh.

Rodent burrows in apple, peach, plum and pecan nut orchards showed fluctuation in their number and location during different months of the year, the number of burrows was low during winter (December and January) in all the four fruit crops and maximum during July to September in apple, July in peach, June and July to October in pecan nut. During peak activity, the burrows of B. bengalensis, other rats and mice were 62.73, 9.54 and 27.73% respectively in apple, 43.75, 19.39 and 37.25% respectively in peach, 40.47, 18.29 and 41.14% respectively in plum and 40.22, 20.11 and 39.67% respectively in pecan nut. The burrows were primarily on the steps. Only 12.32 and 11.5% burrows of B. bengalensis and mice respectively were present on apple orchard floor. In peach and plum, the orchard floor had the burrows of other rats too on the floor. However, in pecan nut orchard B. bengalensis had its majority of burrows (i.e. 58.11%) on the orchard floor and also near the base of the trees. Other rats and mice had their 27.03 and 35.62% burrows on the floor but these were away from the tree basins.