Problems With Rodents

Rats and mice are responsible for enormous losses in food, either by directly eating the foods, or by rendering them inedible through contamination. Contamination occurs via the droppings (of which often more than 50 per day are produced), urine (which tends to be sprinkled on surfaces over which they travel) and hairs.

Gnawing can be the cause of serious damage to a range of materials, such as doors, skirtings and other parts of buildings, upholstery, books, food containers or packaging, and parts of equipment or machinery. Gnawing of wires and cables, may result in equipment breakdown or costly fires.

Rodent

Rats may carry fleas or organisms dangerous to the well being of humans. Transmission of disease may occur by a variety of means:

  1. Contamination of food or utensils with rodent urine or faeces. Eg. Salmonella food poisoning, choriomeningitis, mild meningitis, Weil’s disease, infectious jaundice, tapeworm.
  2. Contamination by direct contact with urine or faeces (ie. entry of bacteria through scratches or cuts). Eg. Weil’s disease.
  3. Indirect contamination via blood-sucking insects such as fleas. Eg. murine typhus fever, bubonic plague.
  4. Indirect contamination via pets to humans. Eg. favus, skin disease (fungus from mice to pets to humans).
  5. Contamination by a direct bite. Eg. rat-bite fever, relapsing fever.
  6. Indirect contamination by eating an intermediate carrier. Eg. trichinosis (worm-infested rodent eaten by pig, pig eaten by human).

Solution

We would be delighted to offer you any of the above services, or assist with identifying and exterminating any other pests not listed on our website.

Please feel free to contact us regarding your requirements, and we can tailor a specific treatment schedule for your business.

Rodents

Features

Rats and mice are competent climbers and can scale rough walls, pipe work, trees and vines, and are even able to ‘tightrope-walk’ across cables and the like. Rats (especially Norway rats) are very accomplished swimmers. They have a reputation of being able to negotiate the S-bends in toilets.

  • Sight, poorly developed. They cannot determine images sharply.
  • Smell, very keen. They use odour trails and can detect strange odours in foods.
  • Taste, very keen. They can detect strange tastes and may associate ill feeling with certain tastes and/or smells in food.
  • Hearing, very keen. Their hearing range extends in ultrasonic range.
  • Touch, very keen.

Habits

As social animals, rats and mice live in groups, in nests constructed of any soft materials available (eg paper, fabrics, insulation).

Indoors they may construct nests in wall voids, in roof voids, under floors and even within stored foods.

Out doors they may nest in burrows adjacent to waterways, under buildings, in trees and vines, in garbage dumps, rubbish heaps and other places where food and shelter are within reasonable range.

They are mostly nocturnal, but may feed in the day if the population is very large, food is short, or there is little disturbance or danger.

Rats are creatures of habit, tending to use the same routes of travel to and from food sources for as long as possible. Their fear of new objects in their well-known environment can be the cause of their apparent disinterest in a new bait station (at least for the first few days of its appearance).

Mice are curious and adventurous, and often investigate new food sources within a very short time after their appearance.

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Type

Features

Nesting Habits

Feeding Habits

Photo
General

Norway Rat

 Heavy-set with small close-set finely haired ears and a blunt nose. Its fur is coarse, red-brown with a tail that is shorter than its body and head. Their droppings are about 18mm and blunt. Burrows, swims well, occurs in sewers, lives outside and inside, nesting in various places. Omnivorous — garbage, meat, cereals, fish Norway Rat

Roof Rat

 Slender with large, prominent, almost hairless ears and a pointed nose. Its fur is fine, grey, black, brown, may be white beneath with a tail of uniform in colour and longer than their body and head. Their droppings are about 12mm and pointed. Does not burrow, climbs well, poor swimmer, rare in sewers, often in high places (roofs, etc). Omnivorous — vegetables, fruits, cereal grains Roof Rat

House Mouse

 Slender with fairly large, hairy ears and a pointed nose. Its fur is fine, brown to grey with a hairless tail that is as long as its body and head. Their droppings are about 3-4mm. Burrows as well as nests in furniture, occurs outside and inside, not in sewers. Omnivorous — cereal grains House Mouse