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Insects & Rodents

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Mice

  • Mice prefer to live in warm conditions and do not like water. Due to their small size, mice find it more difficult to warm up.
  • Large adult mice can sometimes be mistaken for juvenile rats, there is key features of activity and physical attributes which we can identify the difference via a survey if required.
  • Mice do not drink water, as they get the moisture from their diet.
  • Mice are known, as a sporadic feeder, which is key to how we conduct our treatments to control the infestation.
  • Mice only need to consume 3g of food per day to survive.
  • Mice are nocturnal, where they search for their food mainly at night and sleep during the day. Where there is competition for food or shortages, mice can be seen during the day light hours too.

Rats

  • In London there are 2 species of rats, the Brown Rat and the Black Rat.
  • Apart from their colour, there is a difference in harbourage points.
  • Brown rats prefer to burrow and find entry into buildings by gnawing hard materials. Black Rats are very good climbers and their jumping ability is better than the Brown Rat.
  • Rat droppings are considerably bigger in size compared to mice droppings.
  • Rats are also Nocturnal like mice, where they search for their food mainly at night and sleep during the day. Where there is competition for food or shortages, Rats can be seen during the day light hours too.
  • Both species of Rats are Neophobic, which means they fear new objects for a number of days. This knowledge of behaviour helps us with how we plan a successful treatment.
  • There are 14 rodent species in Britain and 1500 in the world. Most of the pest species in the UK have been introduced as far back as the 5th century.

Why do we need to control?

  • Diseases
  • Damage to goods
  • Structure damage
  • Human Fear
  • Vector of Ectoparasites (fleas)

Diseases: There is a long list of diseases associated with rats and mice:-

  • Typhoid and Dysentery
  • Salmonella
  • Foot and mouth
  • Weils disease – (leptospiral jaundice) This disease is found in stagnant water where rats have urinated. The symptoms are flu like and can kill in weeks

Squirrels

  • There are 2 types are Squirrels in the UK, the Red Squirrel and the Grey Squirrel. We cannot treat Red Squirrels as they are a protected species by the Wild Life And Countryside Act 1981 but we can treat Grey Squirrels.
  • Squirrels cause serious structural damage, internally and externally by gnawing on things such as cables, pipes, wood beams, insulation and eaves.
  • Urination and droppings contaminate things such as stored items in loft spaces and loft insulation. Insulation is regularly by Squirrels to build nests for breeding.
  • The droppings are very similar to rat droppings, which a detailed survey must be carried out to identify. Our technicians are experienced to help support you by identifying the species without actually seeing the pest in your loft.
  • The noise made by Squirrels in a loft space can be very loud and disturbing, as they jump around and gnaw at items in the loft.

Diseases

Rodents can cause risk of diseases and the spread of contamination such as: Weil’s disease, Salmonellosis, Plague, rat bite fever, tetanus, and Q fever. Some diseases transmitted by rodents can be lethal if not treated medically by a DR. Anyone working with rats or where rats are living, the risk of contracting one of these diseases is higher if protective clothing is not worn.

Damage to property

Rodent’s incisor teeth continuously grow, which they need to keep them short by gnawing hard objects. Materials such as wood, metal, cement and plastic are good materials for rodents to gnaw on, to keep the teeth short. Cables and pipes are high-risk materials, where rodents gnaw and cause leaks and potential fires.

Bad reputation/ damaged food stocks

Rodents can damage food crops and stored food if not correctly controlled or stored. Food in fields is at high risk of rodents feeding from crops, as it is very difficult to store some crops in safe areas away from rodents foraging. Damaged crops lead to a loss of earning opportunities to farmers. Un-noticed damaged stock or contaminated stock in food preparation, food serving or food selling premises can also take a loss of earning or bad reputation. Environmental Health officers have the right to issue fines and even close premises down if there is no signs of labeling contaminated food sources by pests. Due-diligence needs to be proven by businesses in the food industry, to prove a pest free environment or on going control measures are in place.

Emergency call outs!

If you have an emergency which needs attending to urgently, please contact BioPest so that we can arrange for one of our Service Technicians to visit you.