Preventative methods and Rodent Control

IT DOESN’ T matter if you are a large Multi-National company or a home owner, the approach to Pest Control is, or at least should be, exactly the same.

(1) You need to stop them getting in.

(2) You need to remove the things that attract them e.g. food, water and harbourage

(3) You need to ‘ knock down’ the existing population

(4) You need to remain vigilant and keep an eye on the progress of your treatment programme and be mindful of the potential for re-infestation as time goes on.

All these steps should be done in tandem. Focussing on just one or two elements will most likely result in a continuation of the problem or rapid re-infestation. underground access points, adjacent vegetation (trees, ivy) etc. So before you start worrying about, ‘ how to get rid of a pest is in a particular part or my home?’, firstly you need to work out, ‘ how did it get in?’ and ‘why is it there?’. Once you have established how it got in you can then address this by appropriately proofing you home. In the same way.

Materials like expandable foam are really only temporary solutions and rodents can easily burrow their way through these substances. Good old fashioned sand and cement or weld mesh (6mm or smaller) are the best options. Even with this, if you have displaced a rodent from its home they will pretty much everything in their power to get back in. This is why it is so important to get all aspects of your IPM programme correct. somewhere warm to harbour and breed. The best way to prevent infestations is to eliminate or remove these. Keep gardens well maintained. Bin areas should be kept clean with bin lids closed at all times. Remove standing water. Make sure that buildings are properly sealed. Keep external door into building shut when not in use.

Businesses that store produce and manufacture food or food ingredients are very attractive to pests. However all buildings provide potential harbourage and breeding sites and some of the resources a rodent needs in order to flourish.

Rodent infestation has a number of effects on Business and People. Firstly there are the legal ramifications to think about. There is financial loss through damage, of product, property, brand and reputation. Rodent infestation on a business premises can severely affect the moral of the staff as well as the risk of exposing them to diseases and pathogens carried and spread by Rodents. Rodent activity could also result in contamination of product, down time of production or reductions in sales due to closure. to ‘close’ at defined times depending on the environmental sensitivity of the particular site. Autogate facilitates safer and more efficient rodent control treatment programmes with a greatly reduced environmental impact compared to conventional baiting programmes.

Trapping can also be used and this can be very effective against small populations of Rodents.

Lice, slaters and millipedes are arthropods and considered casual intruders by Rentokil. Key to control is look at landscaping around your buildings. Consider removing vegetative overgrowth from the building. Remove leaf litter regularly. Wood mulch in flower beds can increase the risk of these casual intruders if your building has proofing issues. Bases of external doors should be properly sealed using draft excluders, bristle strips and/ or bumper seals.

Ultrasonic noises emitted by young rodents can act as distress signals and very high levels of ultrasound can exert serious effects on the endocrine and reproductive systems of animals including rodents. Unfortunately, ultrasound is absorbed by solid objects and rapidly attenuates in air. Therefore, most commercially available ultrasonic devices propagate the noise over only relatively short distances, and sound “shadows” occur behind obstacles. Moreover, ultrasound is reflected by hard, smooth surfaces, and this can significantly reduce the intensity of the sound. This means that several sources of ultrasound. Ultrasonic plug-in devices have limited success at repelling Rodents. If Rodents are already in a Building then it is very unlikely that these devices would make them move on.