Rats and Mice
Does your office or home have a rodent problem? Dukes Pest Control specialise in removing unwanted rodents; keeping your family safe from unwanted diseases they could be carrying!
If keeping your office or family safe and healthy is important, contact us today to help us protect your family.Rodent information 
Rats and mice have
no respect for economic level or status. You may be very
careful about how you store your household garbage but
if you let the apples from your tree lie on the ground
or feed your dog outside, you are inviting rodents to
dinner. Rats and mice have adapted to live in close
association with man where they cause tremendous damage
and spread disease.
The two most common rodents encountered by citizens in
Melbourne are the Norway rat and the house mouse.
Both of these rodents are good jumpers, climbers,
swimmers and gnawers.
The Norway rat is a burrower, usually nesting in a dirt burrow up to 50 meters from its food supply.
The house mouse usually nests within stored materials indoors, but can also live outside, burrowing n areas around fields and lawns. Mice often become a problem when they enter homes in the fall seeking warmth. Mice occupy a small territory, traveling only 3 to 9 meters from their nest for food.
Checking For Rats and Mice
The most important signs of rodents are burrows, droppings, tracks, runways, grawings, urine stains, odor, live or dead rodents, nests, and rodent-gnawed food. Rodents are more likely to be seen or heard shortly after dark and in the early morning.
Look for rat burrows, especially around concrete slabs and building foundations, under materials stored outdoors, and along fence rows or embankments. A rat's ground burrow will have an irregularly rounded opening, 50 -150mm in diameter. A mouse's burrow is much smaller. An active burrow entrance will be hard packed and clear of leaves and other debris. To find out if the burrow is active, loosely fill the opening of the hole with dirt. If a rat is still present, it will reopen the hole. Remove droppings and check to see if more appear. Do not completely fill or destroy burrows until after the rodents have been exterminated. Rats cannot be eliminated by blocking their burrows.
Rodents use the same runways to move from place to place. Active runways will be clean and smooth, frequently following along a wall or fence. Along well-used runways, the oils from the rodent's fur leave dirty, greasy rub marks on the areas they frequently touch.
Because the incisor teeth of rodents grow continuously, they must gnaw to keep them worn down. You may find gnawed wood or other items.
Rodent Proofing
Rodents can enter homes through open or unscreened doors and windows, ventilators, floor drains, cracks and breaks in foundations, and holes around electric conduits and pipes where they enter foundations or go through floor and walls. Rats and mice require only a small opening to gain entry.
Rats can gnaw a hole if they find a chipped or indented edge from which to start. Close all openings and cover edges that can be chewed with gnaw-proof materials such as sheet metal, cement, or hardware cloth.
Doors should close tightly with no gaps at the bottom. All windows, especially basement windows near ground level, should have tight-fitting screens.
Seal openings around pipes or conduits. Where pipes enter brickwork, seal the hole with cement,
Eliminating Food Sources
- DO NOT store garbage outside in plastic bags. Plastic garbage bags are not rodent-proof. Fairfax County law requires that plastic bags be used only inside garbage cans with tight-fitting lids.
- DO NOT allow bird seed to accumulate on the ground. Do not leave pet food outside. Store pet food or bird seed in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
- DO NOT leave ripe fruit and vegetables under trees or in the garden to decay.
- DO NOT place food scraps in compost piles.
Eliminating Nesting Sites
- DO remove any piles of debris or building material such as old bricks or boards that may provide shelter for rodents.
- DO stack lumber and firewood at least 300mm off the ground so that rats cannot burrow underneath? Do not stack firewood or any kind of material against building walls.
- DO clear brush, weeds, and heavy ground covers, especially around foundations.
Trapping
Rodent snap traps or glue boards can be useful in situations where poison baits could be hazardous to children, pets or wildlife, or where it is important to remove odor-causing carcasses.
If possible, purchase a snap trap with an enlarged bait trigger. To bait the trap, smear peanut butter in the center of the trigger. Other baits are bacon, oatmeal, gumdrops, and apples.
A glue board is a tray containing a nontoxic strong adhesive. When a rodent steps onto the tray, it is held there by the glue and can then be disposed of. Bait can be added to the middle of the glue board or the board and bait can be placed inside a bait box. Always follow the manufacturer's directions.
Place traps or glue boards only in hidden, out-of-the-way places where children and pets can't touch them. It is very important to place traps or glue boards in the pathways normally used by the rodents. Traps should be placed perpendicular to a wall or runway with bait next to the wall.
Baiting
There are single-feeding and multiple-feeding poison baits. Multiple-feeding anticoagulant baits must be eaten repeatedly for several days before the rodent dies. This offers some protection for a child or pet that may accidentally eat the bait. Single-feeding baits can kill a rodent after only one feeding although it may take up to 5 days for death to occur if the bait is an anticoagulant.
Do not place poison bait or bait packs in the open. Make sure children or pets cannot reach the bait. Place the bait in commercially available bait boxes or fasten down a board or length of pipe to conceal it and keep it dry. Be sure to read and follow all the directions on the package. Remember - baits are toxic poisons!
Rats are wary of new objects and foods in their environment, so bait boxes or traps may be avoided at first few days.
Although mice are not suspicious of new foods, they can be difficult to control with anticoagulant baits. Mice are nibblers so they may not eat enough to get a lethal dose. Also, some mice are resistant to certain anticoagulants.
If you have a problem with Rodents, Dukes Pest Management Solutions can help you! Contact us today for more information.
