Wild rat, Rattus norvegicus is one of the most important pests in rodents. It is the transmitter of a large number of infectious diseases to domestic animals (Dedovic et al., 2012). The chain of toxicoinfection to farmer's food infected by rat urine and feces and also contaminated forage which poses a risk to animal health (Daniels et al., 2003). Different methods were used for reducing economic damage caused by this rodent species. Magnetic radiation is one of the most potent methods for control rats (Pierre et al., 2007). The effects of electromagnetic radiation in biology have been intensively studied on animals (Zwingelberg et al., 1993). It is not shown any toxic effect against rats at low intensity (Boorman et al., 1997). Acute effect on rats become apparent at the higher radiation strengths (Houpt et al., 2003). Moreover, magnetism sciences have developed and become ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History

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Wormwood extract (Artemisia herba-alba) was evaluate as a repellent for the house sparrow, Passer domesticus under laboratory and field conditions. Fungal species belonging to P. domesticus feces and the antifungal activity of A. herba-alba extract against these fungi were also investigated. The results showed that the highest concentration (10%) has the highest repellent effect with wheat consumption mean of 0.16 g and 0.15 g compared to the control (plain wheat) after four days of the laboratory and field experiments. It is worthy to mention that the lowest concentration 2.5% exhibited a high repellent effect at the first day of experiment and subsequently lost its repellent ability. Among the pathogenic fungi in feces, Rhizopus stolonifer (the most predominant fungus 31.7%) followed by Fusarium subglutinans (23.8%), Paecilomyces variotii (12.4%), Cladosporium sphaerospermum (9.2%), Aspergillus flavus (7.3%), Aspergillus niger (6%) and Aspergillus versicolor (5%). Whereas Penicillium digitatum was the least isolated fungus with occurrence 4.6%. The susceptibility of these fungi to A. herba-alba extract increased by increasing the extract concentration. The highest concentration 10% showed the highest antifungal activity against A. versicolor with mean of inhibition zone 24.3 mm. However, the lowest concentration 2.5% of this extract did not show any antifungal effects against P. digitatum, R. stolonifer and A. niger. It is concluded that wormwood is a promising biologically safe bird repellent and effective antifungal agent against pathogenic fungi of bird feces. It is economical for use than synthetic pesticides that one expensive and relatively difficult to obtain.

Pigeon droppings represent the most important source of pathogenic fungi of plants and other living organisms. The occurrence of fungi in samples of feral pigeon droppings was screened. Moreover, the antifungal properties of Artemisia herbaalba extract against these fungi was investigated. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of this extract were determined. The results revealed that Alternaria alternata recorded the highest frequency in the collected samples while, Cladosporium sphaerospermum was the least isolated fungus. Artemisia herba-alba extract showed the highest antifungal effect against C. sphaerospermum fungus by MIC and MFC values of 1.5% and 3%, respectively. However, A. alternata, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizopus stolonifer were the most resistant fungi to the extract by MIC value (6%). The highest MFC value (10%) was showed against A. niger, Mucor circinelloides, Penicillium citrinum and R. stolonifer fungal isolates.