10 replies to this topic

[dmcmullen]

Hello all, we have a 120k sf food warehouse. Obviously, there is quite a bit of food. We have had a rat in our facility for a couple of months. We have a very well know pest control company here every 2 weeks. We have rat snap traps spread out all over our facility. We cannot catch this thing. It loves chewing holes into bags of flour, it does not care about the baited traps that are baited with peanut butter and flour sprinkled on top, which seems to be its favorite thing to eat. Has anyone had similar issues? I would love some feedback on what we can try. No companies in my area have the rodent dogs. Help, thanks 

[nwilson]

Possible solution to consider which does take some patience.  You should be able to track the movement of this 'furry friend' by following tracks and droppings.  Look behind and on racking, etc.  Next get some PVC pipe and place in line of the typical pathways the rodent uses.  You can strap to a rack or place against the wall.  Let the PVC pipe hang out for a few days so it becomes part of the landscape and look for activity inside the pipe.  Once you start seeing activity in the pipe place a snap trap or a glue board in it.   

 

A plant I worked at had organic corn flour and a giant field behind the facility, it was always a challenge as we got monthly hits on exterior traps and some made it in.  We tried a lot of things and a colleague mentioned this method that worked for them and it worked for us 90% of the time.  Being diligent, tracking activity daily, cleaning up the droppings, rotating stock, its a battle for sure.  

[dmcmullen]

Thank you NWilson. This "furry friend" is not our friend, lol. I will give your suggestion some thought. Thank you.

[Brothbro]

Has the pest company determined the specific type of rat you're dealing with? You may have a roof rat which likes to come in through small holes in the walls where pipes run along your roof. Sometimes pest control teams focus too hard on the ground-level entries and don't consider other entry points.

 

That said those rats are smart, I'd push them to keep changing strategies until something works. They shouldn't be just sitting on their hands until something falls into a trap.

[dmcmullen]

Thanks BrothBro, it is a Norway rat. A very smart Norway rat, I wish he would go back to Norway, though.

[Scampi]

You may want to think about upping the visits.....................

 

they are wiley and very difficult to remove

 

We had one last year-----------------what did it in was running into the wheels of a power jack and then run over.........guess he got too brave!!!

 

Stack foods that are in sacks or boxes in rows on pallets in a way that allows thorough inspection for evidence of rats. Keep stored materials away from walls. A 12-inch, white band painted on the floor adjacent to the wall will aid in detecting droppings of rodents and other signs. Sweep floors frequently to permit detection of fresh signs.

 

Norway rats will often "test" baits...and this is why they are more effective on mice than rats.

They eat small bits to see how their system accepts it or rejects it.
They feel the slightest ill, they don't go back.

[Lynx42]

At a non-food facility, we had better luck with bird seed on a sticky trap than peanut butter or snap traps. Worked overnight.

 

Can you dust the floor with something that will allow you to see the tracks and were they go?  I've heard there is flourescent powder that will stick to fur and you can use a UV light to see it.  We haven't had a rat or mouse in the building since I've switch to the food warehouse, so I'm not sure the options if conventional options don't work. 

[Andy_Yellows]

Is the 2-week visit frequency the normal contract amount? I presume they're coming more regularly at the moment as follow-up visits, every 1-2 days I'd imagine? Have you considered putting some gluten free flour down in and around the vicinity of the products being damaged most-often in a bid to track the direction it's coming from? We did that and it worked well. Failing that, is it feasible to re-locate the most at-risk products so the rat has to go on a search which might lead it into a trap?

[Setanta]

Two weeks isn't often enough with this active problem. Nwilson's suggestions sound like a good start.

[Alex A.]

Had similar issue, we couldn't get rid of a mouse. Our pest control team increased the visit frequency and started using a fluorescent gel. With UV light they were able to track its movement and see the entry points the mouse was using. We blocked/fixed the entry points and had no activity afterwards. 

[Dorothy87]

Hi  

 

The only one thing that helped me recently to get rid of this little creature was a fluorescent gel, this took us to the point of entry.  We had a roof rat, who was using a gap tiny !!! little gap between ceiling and roof windows..