RODENT CONTROL SYDNEY

Rodents

Rats and mice are serious pets which can be encountered around our business and residential premises. Rodents are mammals, and in fact the word rodent comes from the latin word rodere, which means 'to gnaw'.

These rodents are well adapted to living closely to humans, sharing our food and shelter. Indeed, rats and mice have been responsible historically for enormous losses of food as well as losses to life due to their ability to easily transmit diseases.

There are a number of species of rodent which are especially concerning as pests:

Norway Rat

The Norway rat is also known as the common rat, sewer rat, brown rat or the water rat.

The Norway rat is the larger pest rat, and has a thick body, blunt snout, small close-set ears and a tail which is shorter than its body length. The Norway rat lives for around 9-18 months and will have 5 or 6 litters each year consisting of around 8 to 10 young. The young rats reach sexual maturity at around 4 months, which makes them a prolific breeder.

The Norway rat is very widespread, and causes huge problems around Australia. It infests factories, warehouses, farms, garbage dumps. shops, supermarkets, grain stores, sewers and pretty much any other location offering food and shelter.

Outside buildings, these rats live in burrows which lead to stream banks, under buildings, under rubbish heaps and so on.

Norway rats may enter a building just for food but they may also live in the building, nesting in voids or other secretive spaces.

Roof rat

The Roof rat is also known as the black rat and the ship rat. It is the smaller pest rat and is slender. The root rat has a pointed nose, large, hairless prominent ears. It also has a tail which is longer than its body and head.

The root rat is a poor swimmer, and is restricted to the indoors of premises. They are good climbers, which makes them well adjusted to living in cities, allowing them to access nesting sites in the upper parts of tall buildings, creating nests in roof and wall voids. As indicated by their name, they commonly infest ships and boats

House Mouse

The house mouse is also commonly referred to as the field mouse. It is small and has rather large hairy ears, a pointed snout and a partly hairless tail roughly as long as the body and the head.

House mice living indoors are often a darker grey in colour with a lighter belly, whereas those living outdoors are a more sandy yellowish brown. They tend to live for around a year, and may have 6 to 10 litters of 5 to 6 young.

House mice are small and quick, and can nest in a wide range of areas of a premises. Typically in roof or wall voids, cupboards, stored foods or furniture.

Feeding Habits

Mice and rats are typically feed on a variety of both plant and animal based foods. The Norway rat will eat all human or animal foods. They need regular access to water. Typical food sources include garbage, meat, cereals or fish. Roof rats though will eat an omnivorous diet mainly tend to eat a diet largely based on fruit and vegetable material. When they have access to foods with a higher water content, the

Mice feed mostly around dusk and at night. They are inquisitive and will eat a wide variety of both plant and animal based food. Mice do not need a lot of water, and prefer to eat small amounts of food frequently at various different locations.

Even though mice do not consume large amounts of food, they cause considerable damage due to gnawing, nibbling and contamination with urine and faeces.

Rodent Prevention

You can discourage rats and mice from entering and infesting your property by employing good hygiene practices:

• Food Storage - Keep food in metal or glass containers with tight lids.
• Clean - Tidy the home and garden of clutter which provides shelter.
• Garbage - Take out the trash and place in garbage bins away from the property.
• Pet food - Clean up pet food debris, and store per food in robust containers off the ground.
• Compost Heaps - Dont include organic food waste.
• Rodent proofing - Consider proofing cracks, crevices, holes and entry points of the building against rodents to prevent access.
• Trapping - Use traps or glue boards to capture mice.

If you have already detected the presence of rodents, it may be too late - call Pestology for expert advice on how to remove the pest.