How To Keep Rodents From Invading Your Yakima County Restaurant

If you own a restaurant, you know that rodents are not good for Yakima County business. They can drive customers away when they appear, or they can give your restaurant a bad reputation when food gets contaminated and customers get food poisoning. Rodents can also cause you to fail health inspections and lead you down a frustrating road that could lead to a closure of businesses. You know this. But what you might not know is how to keep rodents out. That's what we're going to take a look at today. There are several ways you can manage rodent activity and exclude rodents from your property. Let's look at them in order of importance.

Keep Things Clean

When a mouse or rat finds its way into your restaurant and is unable to get a meal, it may decide to look elsewhere. While mice and rats can live in a structure that has no food, they don't prefer it. Rodents eat several times a day. A little mouse will eat 15 to 20 times a day. Therefore, sanitation is key to managing rodents.

Sealing Entry Points

It is best to not have mice or rats get into your restaurant in the first place. One way to keep them out is to do a detailed inspection of your exterior and seal any potential entry points that you find. Keep in mind that an adult mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime. And, while an adult rat needs a hole the size of a quarter, it can make a tiny hole larger by gnawing on it.

Protecting Vulnerable Spots

Mice and rats are equipped with the ability to chew holes in building materials. When you seal entry points, you remove the enticement for rodents to get inside. But this might not be enough. If a rodent senses heat coming out of a warmed structure or smells the aroma of food, they may start gnawing their way inside. Routine inspections of your exterior are necessary to locate areas that are being targeted. When you find these vulnerable spots, consider using metal flashing, hardware cloth, or some other strong material to stop rodents from accomplishing their task.

Removing Attractants

When mice or rats come onto your property, there are certain conditions that will inspire them to stay. If you address these conditions, you can make it less likely that rodents will find a way inside (or gnaw on building materials until they find a way inside).

• Rodents are drawn to the scent of garbage. Trash management is key to rodent control. Remove trash weekly and clean trash receptacles and dumpsters to remove strong odors.
• Rodents hide in man-made objects or underneath piles. Remove any objects that don't need to be on the ground around your restaurant. Norway rats are particularly drawn to objects that are in a pile. They'll create burrows underneath.
• Rodents find shelter under structures. If you have a shed or outbuilding with an accessible void underneath, use fencing material to keep rodents out. Install the fencing material at least one foot under the ground.
• Rodents have a preference for hiding in natural materials. If there are piles of leaves, stacked branches, stones, wood, or some other organic material, it is best to remove these to remove hiding places.
• Rodents get into landscape vegetation and hide. When you trim vegetation near the base, it makes your landscaping less conducive for rodent activity.

Control Products

There are products used to target and control rodents, such as traps, glue boards, etc. Unfortunately, mice and rats are difficult to control. They have natural abilities that help them to avoid danger. Here are just a few examples:

• Rodents may chew their appendages to escape traps, this can lead them to die inside wall voids.
• Rodents can develop an aversion to bait, and avoid baits.
• Rodents can travel around treated areas or smells they don't like.
• Rodents can smell skin oils left on traps when they're placed by hand.
• Rodents can learn that traps are dangerous.
• Rodents reproduce quickly and may be able to grow their populations faster than you can cull them.
• Catching rodents is only one piece in the control puzzle. A rodent control strategy needs to include many methods in order to keep rodents out.

Rodent Control In Yakima County

In light of the ways rodents can present a threat to your business and the many ways they can avoid your attempts to control them, it is best to have a pest management professional guide you in selecting a. For assistance with this, reach out to Prosite. We employ highly-trained and fully-licensed pest management professionals. Our team can guide you toward the right commercial pest control solution for your rodent control needs. Connect with us today to learn more.