How to block the rodent highways in buildings

Rats and mice are agile creatures and can readily climb pipes, cables, inside ducting and even brick walls in their constant search for food and shelter. They can grip on any slightly rough surface to explore new places and gain access to hidden spaces around a building to use for harbourage and as high ways to search for food and water.

Roof and ceiling spaces are common areas where rodents and other pests find safe places to shelter or use as a route into a building. These spaces are often difficult to access for pest control and cleaning and require particular care to prevent falls from height.

According to the UK Health and Safety Executive, falls from height, from ladders, platforms, scaffolding, roofs or through ceilings, are one of the most common causes of accidents and account for over 60% of accidents resulting from falls. Pest control professionals often have to access difficult places to survey and manage an infestation.

Now we have introduced a new trap, the Rentokil Rodent Ceiling Trap, for use in these high spaces. It is designed to improve the safety of the pest control technician and offers a non-toxic way to deal with rats and mice. To find out more read on!

How to check for rodent infestations in commercial properties

Rats and mice are well known to be a risk to businesses across the globe. They carry diseases and parasites, cause damage from gnawing building fixtures and fittings such as electrical wiring, and contaminate food and surfaces with dirt, droppings and urine. Air is contaminated with the hundreds of hairs that they shed each day as well as dried droppings and urine in dust when it is disturbed.

It is vital for businesses to have a pest management plan in place to prevent rodent access to buildings and deal with infestations rapidly and effectively. A variety of tools are available for this purpose but their use needs to be planned carefully, especially in large complex buildings.

An important first step in managing a rodent infestation is to do a survey to verify that you have an active infestation of rats or mice and to determine the extent of the infestation. This will show where control and prevention activities need to be carried out.

Signs of a rodent infestation in your business

• Characteristic sounds: squeaking and sounds of little feet scraping on ceilings or under flooring
• Sightings: sightings of live or dead animals are an obvious indication
• Nests: they are often found in lofts and other hidden spaces
• Smell: rats and mice produce a characteristic smell. They also urinate frequently, leaving an ammonia smell
• Droppings: rats can produce around 40 droppings per night and mice around 80
• Footprints: rats and mice leave characteristic footprints in general dust or special powders and gel laid down to detect them
• Smear marks along runways: rats and mice leave dirty, greasy smudges along their runs
• Gnaw marks: rodents can gnaw through many materials to enlarge holes and wear down their constantly growing teeth

Innovative pest management to prevent rodents in your business

There are a number of actions to take and tools that can be used, depending on the specific circumstances of an infestation. For businesses, especially, it is vital to use an experienced pest control professional to plan the most effective set of control measures using integrated pest management principles and the most appropriate tools.

A pest control company can also assist with compliance with any standards and regulations, such as for food safety, use of pesticides and wildlife.

The Rentokil Rodent Ceiling Trap

The Rentokil Rodent Ceiling Trap is a new snap trap designed to fit unobtrusively into a ceiling panel where it is not easy or possible to access from above. It greatly improves the safety of the technician in servicing the trap.

The trap can be fitted from below without needing access to the ceiling or roof cavity above and is designed to be serviced from ground level, reducing the need to work at height.

The Rodent Ceiling Trap has a switch to adjust it to catch rats or mice and a red button that drops down when the trap has been activated. This is visible from below, making it easy to check when the trap has been activated and reduces the amount of servicing and disruption caused to staff and operations in a business.

This new innovative pest management solution is only one of the several methods Rentokil provides to businesses from a range of sectors across the globe to successfully reduce the risk of rodents, helping to protect staff, customers and brand reputation as well as supporting auditing and legislation compliance.