Rodents & MICE
Here at We care pest control, controlling rodents both externally and internally is something we specialise in. We’re dealing with daily residential callouts from distressed customers, whilst supporting commercial clients with ongoing Maintenance contracts.
Our aim here at We care pest control is to be proactive; working directly on the initial rodent clear up, whilst implementing preventative measures from our proofing or hygiene recommendations.
Helping With Mice
The most common species of mouse that is encountered in both domestic and commercial, more commonly known as the House Mouse. The House Mouse is between 60-90mm, excluding the tail, and weigh less than 25g. They can vary in colour from light brown to grey. Mice breed very rapidly: a sexually mature female can produce between 5-10 litters of between 6-8 young each year. With a warm nesting site and an ample food source mice can breed all year round. The ability to survive on tiny amounts of food, and the fast-breeding rate mean that mouse infestations develop quickly. Mice have a compulsive need to gnaw in order to keep their incisor teeth worn down and electrical cables, water and gas pipes and woodwork may all be seriously damaged by mice. In buildings mice will live anywhere, if you can push a biro (about 7mm) into a gap then a mouse can get in! They will eat anything and have even been known to chew on soap and candles! One mouse will produce around 80 droppings each day. The damage that they create, not only by gnawing but soiling products with their urine and droppings, is tremendous.
Once we’ve established type of mouse, we will then decide the best action including traps or professional use rodenticide, or a combination. Note: Field mice will be trapped 100%
Neighbours
Occasionally rodents can gain entry via another home or business and move across wall cavities, floors, lofts, basements and voids into your home or business. If all entry points have been sealed and drain confirmed ok on your home or business, you will then need to speak with neighbouring properties about the situation, we usually find speaking to neighbours supports the process anyway.
You can also escalate to local authorities / environmental health if they don’t take any action for advice / support. Terrace blocks are usually the most problematic, with some blocks having over 20 different homeowners, landlords and tenants to get on board.
Recommendations
After the initial inspection we will provide a detailed report with all our recommendations.
Repairing rodent entry points into your home or business is usually the most common recommendation, ranging from a small gap around the waste pipe to a collapsed drain.
Repairs
The repairs need to be done using the correct materials or new rodents will gnaw back through, we can supply and install also to ensure everything is done correctly but can also offer free advice. Removing any harbourage points like overgrown hedges, piles of wood / waste can support and make the area less inviting by removing these harbourage points.
They also love setting up home under sheds / decking / summer houses, rodent mesh can be installed to prevent easy access. Damaged drain inspection covers are another common route into gardens, so we would recommend replacing or repairing any damaged covers. Cover any household waste where Rodents can get access to it, close dustbin lids and cover compost heaps.
If you feed garden birds, try, and limit this, over 90% of all residential callouts last year had bird feeders in the garden, providing rats with an easy food source. Rodents need a good water & food source, some jobs are resolved by simply removing the food and water source, if they are well established though, they won’t mind traveling to next doors bird feeder. If we suspect rats are gaining entry into your home or business via a drain fault a CCTV drain survey will be recommended.
