Rats
About rats
Rats are attracted to buildings by the possibility of shelter, food and the opportunity to breed. Although rats do not invade premises as often as mice, they are serious threat.
Why are they such a problem?
Rats are extremely fast breeders with a short gestation period. Rats have an average litter size of eight and produce up to six litters per year. That’s fifty offspring or more per year. Unless a rat problem is tackled fast, it can quickly get out of control.
Rats' incisor teeth grow continuously so and they need to gnaw or chew on fairly hard surfaces on a daily basis. They may gnaw through electrical or computer cables which can cause serious disruption in commercial buildings.
Rats can carry leptospiral jaundice (Weil's disease) in their urine. Their urine is difficult to see and it may contaminate food preparation surfaces and other kitchen equipment. Restaurants and other businesses handling food can quickly lose custom or be closed by Environmental Health departments if they are infested with rats.
Rodents also contaminate food and paper products by gnawing and with their droppings. They can climb inside cupboards, vending machines and food stores and damage the goods inside. They can also chew paper and boxes to make nests.
What happens during our visit?
On the first visit our technician will arrive at a time that has been arranged with you (traffic allowing) so you will not have to wait in all day for an appointment and you know that they will not call at an inconvenient time.
- The technician will inspect your property for signs of rat activity.
- After the inspection poisons will be placed around the property as needed.
- The poisons are placed in tamper resistant bait boxes in out of the way areas to prevent accidents.
- The technician will also offer advice on proofing (filling in any entry points that the rats are using to gain access to your property) and also advise on how to manage cleaning and food storage to prevent rats being attracted to your property.
- At the end of each visit the technician will provide you with a written report so you can keep a record of what was found during the visit and what proofing is needed.
- On the second visit, about two to three weeks later, the technician will inspect the baits, record how much of the bait has been eaten and refresh the bait where needed. They will also check that the proofing advice given at the time of the first visit has been carried out is starting to take effect.
- On the third visit about six weeks after the second visit, the technician will attend to make a final check of the property. The technician will look for and remove any dead rodents and take the bait boxes away to leave a safe environment, with all old poisons safely disposed of.
