How to Keep Your Facility Rodent Free
Key Takeaways
- Rodents are extremely skilled climbers but prefer to travel along floor-wall junctions
- Rodents can squeeze through hole that are as small as ¼-½ inch in size
- Rodents prefer darker places
- Evidence of rodents can include droppings, grease marks, or gray rub marks along their high traffic areas from the oil on their fur
Why Are Rodents a Threat to Your Facility?
Rodents are recognized as a significant threat to food processing and distribution facilities of all types. Keeping rodents out is essential when making sure your facility is staying safe and compliant. It is common to trap an occasional mouse or have feeding in exterior bait stations, but rodent infestations cannot be tolerated in or around good and distribution facilities. As winter weather approaches, rodents actively try to move indoors. This is why it’s important to have a well-designed industrial pest control program to help reduce the risk of an infestation.
Below we share some common rodent behaviors and tips to support a rodent-free facility this season.
How Do Rodents Behave in Industrial Facilities?
Rodents are excellent climbers and are active at all levels of elevation.
Common rodent travel routes include:
- Wires, pipes, and beams
- Vegetation lines
- Floor-wall junctions
Knowing this allows us to set up traps and bait stations in the right areas to stop them in their tracks. While we can’t predict their every move, recognizing and inspecting the most attractive travel routes and potential harborages can allow for efficient placements for traps and outdoor bait stations.
How Are Rodents Entering Your Facility?
With our industrial pest control experience, we know they can enter through holes of ¼-½ inch in size, roughly the width of a pencil. Because of this, a simple and proactive measure you can do is close all doors tightly and seal any openings/holes to prevent rodent access. This helps remove entry points before the rodents have the opportunity to enter the facility.
Where Are Rodents Hiding?
Rodents tend to prefer shaded, shadowy places, and prefer nocturnal activity. There may be facility lighting or warehouse arrangement designs that can help pest prevention efforts and promote brightness, or unavoidable shadowing areas. These shadowed areas are good for trap and bait station placements, with the knowledge that this is typically where rodents will be traveling.
What is Evidence Your Facility Has Rodents?
When it comes to inspecting for evidence of rodents, the best inspection tool is a good flashlight. Rodents will leave droppings everywhere they are active.
Ultraviolet or UV inspection lights is best for discerning which of the potential rodent travel routes are actively being used. Any regularly used travel routes or holes will often feature grey rub marks from the oils in the rodent fur, which are more easily seen under UV lighting.
Why is Early Rodent Detection Important?
Catching rodent issues early is important to help prevent infestations from occurring. It can take time to treat for rodents, so the earlier the process can begin, the better. Rodent threats can come from below ground and up to roof areas, so you need to make sure that you are prepared with preventive measures and a proactive Integrated Pest Management program at your facility.
How IFC Can Help?
IFC has specially trained experts to assess all types of facilities for potential or active rodent infestations. With over 80 years of providing pest management and sanitation solutions for the food processing and distribution industries, we can help tackle all rodent or pest issues that you may have.
Contact the experts at IFC and cross rodent control off your list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How frequently should facilities be inspected for signs of rodent activity?
A: Facilities should be inspected on a regular basis for signs of rodent activity or other pests. Inspections should be increase during the peak months of rodent activity in the winter.
Q: What are the differences between interior and exterior rodent control?
A: Interior rodent control focuses on strategic placement to trap rodents that have already entered your facility, while exterior rodent control’s goal is to intercept the rodent before it enters your facility. Effective plans have been known to use both as partners.
Q: Can rodents cause damage beyond product contamination?
A: Yes, rodents can cause damage other than product contamination. Rodents are known to chew through wiring, insulation, and product packing materials. These can cause a safety and fire risk to any facility.
