With the fall season less than a month away, facility and property managers soon have to contend with pests, especially rodents, looking to gain access in search of food and shelter.
Over the coming weeks we will dive deeper into the topic of rodent management and provide commercial facility and property managers with valuable insights on what the coming rodent season has in store and how to prevent these “diabolical,” as one noted rodent management expert referred to them, pests from threatening people, products and property.
Sprague has nearly a century’s experience of prevention and removal of disease-carrying, food-spoiling and wire chewing rodents from a wide variety of commercial facilities. Here’s what we’ve learned about their habits, behavior and actions along the way.
- House mice, Norway rats and roof rats cause the most headaches for commercial clients.
- The house mouse is the most unwelcome visitor in bakeries, grocery and retail stores. Portrayed as cute and cuddly in cartoons, they are especially a nuisance for pet food, food storage and transportation facilities, healthcare and educational facilities.
- The Norway rat is the most encountered rat species but the roof rat is gaining ground. Rats often chew through insulation and wires, and can create a serious threat to a building’s structural integrity.
We have assembled the following rodent facts for your rodent-edification:
Norway and Roof Rats
- Active rat burrows have a smooth, well-worn appearance at the entrances due to the high traffic volume.
- Rats do not like sudden changes or new objects introduced into their environment; the behavior known as ‘neophobia’.
- Norway rats will venture up to 450 feet from their nesting sites in search of food.
- Norway rats are adept swimmers and often use waterways (i.e. sewers) to move between feeding and harborage sites.
Mice
- Mice are quick, agile creatures and can travel at speeds up to 12 feet per second.
- Mice feeding habits can differ inside and outside of a structure. Indoors, they consume human or pet food (love grains); outdoors, they consume seeds, vegetation and insects.
- Mice can survive with little water.
- Mice are ‘nibblers’ and will make up to 200 separate trips from a nest to a food source taking only milligrams each visit.
Looking for effective rodent management and prevention solutions for your facility? Contact the rodent experts at Sprague for proven solutions to keep your facility rodent-free all year around.
Call 855.805.0755 or e-mail us to find out how our innovative pest management and food safety solutions can work for your company.