Rodents can wreak havoc on your facility and the health of your employees. Rats and mice carry several diseases that spread easily through their droppings, saliva, and urine—which can quickly contaminate your building’s surfaces and food. Pests can also cause damage to your building’s infrastructure by burrowing in walls and chewing through wiring.
Commercial facilities are attractive to rodents because they provide the abundance of food, shelter, warmth, and water they need to thrive. Let’s look at some ways to prevent them from making your facility their next home sweet home.
1. Inspect Your Facility Frequently
Regular checks around vermin hotspots are essential to keep disease-spreading critters at bay. Rodents love food packages, drawers, cupboards, and areas with nesting materials such as shredded paper, dried plants, or batting. The most tell-tale sign that you have a rodent problem is an actual sighting of these little beasts. However, droppings, chew marks, urine stains, and tracks should tip you off, too.
2. Commit to Proactive Cleaning Practices
Did the lunchtime crowd leave behind a mess? Clean it up. NOW. Rodents are chomping at the bit to help you with your sweet, sticky, and savory messes. Don’t give them the chance. Make sure all of your facility’s food is sealed and properly stored—especially overnight. Remove garbage from your facility regularly. Make your abode as inhospitable to them as possible.
3. Seal Up Entry Points
Did you know rodents are master contortion artists? Their ghastly little bodies are made mostly of cartilage, which means mice can fit through dime-sized holes and rats can pass through quarter-sized openings. Get out the caulk, for goodness sake! Seal up cracks and gaps, install door sweeps, and use metal mesh to deter gnawing.
4. Check Often-Ignored Spaces
Your dark, damp storage spaces are the Shangri-La of rodent accommodations. Mice and rats can nest, multiply, and go unnoticed for months in these cozy, neglected spaces. Store bins and boxes with space in between them to easily detect rodent hijinks. Keep the grass and bushes outside of your facility neat and trim to deter al fresco colonies.
5. Educate Your Staff
Does your staff know the signs of a rodent invasion? Educate them on the clues: black droppings the size of a grain of rice or slightly larger, creepy scratching and scurrying sounds coming from behind your walls, irregularly shaped holes, whizzing furry things with long tails. Encourage them to report any suspicious activity immediately.
6. Call On the Pros
When in doubt, call in the pest-eradicating professionals—an investment it's unlikely you’ll regret. They’ll implement a pest management plan and relieve you of the dirty work. They’ll seal up holes, set traps, advise you, and discard the evidence.
Does your facility have squatters of the rodent variety? Are you determined to keep these rent-evading nuisances from encroaching on your property? Take a look at our comprehensive pest control category. You’ll find everything you need to lure, deter, and extinguish your unwanted visitors.
Product Compliance and Suitability
The product statements contained in this guide are intended for general informational purposes only. Such product statements do not constitute a product recommendation or representation as to the appropriateness, accuracy, completeness, correctness, or currentness of the information provided. Information provided in this guide does not replace the use by you of any manufacturer instructions, technical product manual, or other professional resource or adviser available to you. Always read, understand, and follow all manufacturer instructions.