24 Oct Rodents

Our team at Quest for Pest were recently called to a property in the Northern Gold Coast suburb of Ormeau Hills. The family had seen what they thought was a mouse. We conducted a thorough inspection including roof void and yard. We confirmed the presence of roof rats. The juvenile roof rat is sometimes mistaken for a mouse due to their size.

It is important to identify the rodent species prior to baiting as rats and mice have very different feeding habits.

Rodents are mostly hidden pests, if you have seen 1 or 2, there is always a much higher hidden population. They don’t like being out in the open so you will usually hear them before you see them.

The main issues with rodents are:

• Health risks, they carry harmful diseases and parasite
• Property damage, they love sharpening their teeth on your precious wiring. Approximately 30% of house fires are caused by rodents chewing wiring in the property
• Food waste, if they have eaten some of your food, they have had to crawl over that food so the whole kitchen could be contaminated.

Rodents are prolific breeders, being sexually mature at 2 months for rats and one month for mice. They each have numerous litters per year and given a favourable environment, they will multiply rapidly.

To ensure you don’t have a re-colonisation a comprehensive control strategy is required otherwise you could expect re-infestation in 2 – 4 months.

Some of the things you are looking for are small holes along with a dirty rub mark. Small droppings similar to gecko droppings without the white point.

• You can reduce your risk by cutting grass and foliage around the house. Spraying for weeds if necessary.
• Removing rotting vegetables from vegie patches
• Emptying bins regularly
• Keeping up maintenance of the building, eliminating access points
• If you have a compost bin, make sure it is rodent proof

If you think you have rodents or would like to reduce your risk, please give us a call for an assessment and treatment.