5 Rodent Prevention Tips for Businesses

Rodents are a nightmare for any business owner. They can destroy inventory, contaminate food, and ruin a business’s reputation. Once they’re established in a structure, they can be very hard to get rid of.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to get ahead of an infestation before it can start; rodent exclusion is the most powerful tool you can use against these pests. When combined with professional rodent control, mice and rats will have a hard time setting up shop in your business.

Read on for five rodent prevention tips from the Assured Environments team.

1. Seal Up Gaps

The most effective way to prevent a rodent infestation is to prevent rodents from entering the building in the first place. The easiest step for business owners is to seal up any gaps or cracks in the structure. Think small; mice and rats can fit through any gap the size of their head, and when a gap isn’t big enough for their head, they’ll chew until it is.

They can chew through just about anything. For significant structural gaps, you should consider a “sandwich” made of two layers of high-density foam with stainless steel mesh in the middle. This is especially useful for floor expansion joints.

Also, check the weather stripping around your doors. Door gaps are an easy entry point for rodents, and weather stripping is easy for them to chew through. Door guards and sweeps are a great choice for sealing your doorways.

2. Reduce Harborage

“Harborage” refers to places where pests can hide. Your landscaping might make ideal rodent harborage; any low-lying shrubs provide an excellent home. If you have plants near the walls, make sure they don’t touch the structure itself. Leaving a six-foot gap between the structure and your plants is recommended. This makes it harder for rodents to travel inside the building.

3. Check Incoming Cargo

Mice and rats are hardy. They can survive for days without food and water, and they don’t need much space. They’re more than happy to hitch a ride on a shipping pallet, so if you’re in the distribution business, inspect any incoming shipments carefully before unpacking them.

Signs that you might have rodent hitchhikers include:

• Gnaw marks:It doesn’t matter if your inventory is edible or not; rodent have to gnaw constantly to keep their constantly-growing teeth under control.
• Nests: Rodents won’t wait long to set up a home. Even an empty nest could be a sign that rodents have infested your goods.
• Droppings: This one speaks for itself. Rodents eat, so they produce droppings.
• Spills: Rodents may chew through packing material and cause inventory to spill. This is especially visible in food shipments.

4. Have a Rodent Monitoring Program in Place

Professional inspections are an excellent way to stay on top of the rodent population in your building. Even if you don’t think you’re dealing with a mouse or rat infestation, they could be hiding out of sight. Remember that they don’t need much space! They can easily make themselves at home in wall and ceiling voids or your sub-slab. Pest control pros know all the out-of-reach places where rodents hide and can help you keep them out.

Rodent-monitoring traps can also go a long way toward keeping an infestation at bay. Consider placing them in shipping and receiving areas, food service areas, parking garages, and basements. It’s also a good idea to install them around your outdoor garbage bins. Even a single rodent could create a full-scale infestation, so it’s important to be thorough.

5. Keep a Lid on the Trash

Mice and rats aren’t picky about what they eat; they’re more than happy with our leftovers. Since people don’t hang around their garbage cans, they can be an easy food source for rodents. Keeping an easily-accessible rodent restaurant right next to your building isn’t a great idea; they could decide to venture inside in search of more food.

Therefore, it’s important to keep dumpsters and recycle bins tightly closed. If rodents can squeeze inside, they’ll find these bins an excellent source of food and nesting material. Keeping them out means they’ll look somewhere else.

Count on Assured Environments for Rodent Exclusion Services

For the best possible protection against rodents, count on the Assured Environments team. We’ve been serving businesses in the New York area since 1934 and our pest control techniques have kept up with the changing times. We’re always on the cutting edge when it comes to keeping your business safe from pests.

Give us a call to set up a free inspection!