Christmas is coming and the goose…
Well, we all know the rest of that song.
As winter really comes upon us, though, this is also a time when mice are getting fat in our offices. Perhaps it’s time for a new New Year’s resolution.
Mice are attracted to our offices for exactly the same reasons they like our homes – peace, warmth, and food.
It is going to be difficult to persuade your employees that turning the heating off is a good idea. By the same token, making your employees work 24-hours a day so there is no peace and quiet for the mouse to enjoy might also mean you lose all your employees. Certainly, productivity will be down and they will consider you a Scrooge.
Which leaves food. More and more, employees are eating lunch at that their desks. This means crumbs all over the place; discarded crusts in bins, etc. This is an all-you-can-eat buffet for the mice, when they search the office at night.
But small things can make big differences. One client called us in when their office was overrun with mice. It soon became clear the problem was food at the desk. The solution: food in plastic containers and, preferably, eating it away from the desk. In this instance, the company issued its employees with the food containers and, almost immediately, the mice disappeared. They had been infesting the office because there was free food. Once that food was gone, they went searching elsewhere.
At the same time, we also recommend ‘proofing’ your office to ensure the rodents can’t get back into the building. This means finding the entry points and then either blocking them completely or fitting something that will make entry difficult. You’d be amazed at how easily rodents of all types can fit through tiny holes – a mouse can fit through a gap the width of a pencil. I recently reposted a video on my LinkedIn account showing a rat going through a tiny hole. See the video here.
Rats or Mice – which is the biggest urban pest?
We’ve all heard the myth that in a city you are never further than 6ft from a rat. In fact, Dr David Cowan, science leader at the National Wildlife Management Centre in Sand Hutton, Yorkshire, has worked it out that the figure is probably closer to 164ft.
In reality, our cities belong to the mice. My colleague, Technical Manager Chris Davis, believes London is really a mouse city and we are just renting buildings from them. Unlike rats, mice like being inside. They are happy to share our heating, our shelter, and our food. A rat would rather be outside.
Keeping rodents out of your building can be difficult. All rodents are clever and will exploit any weakness in our buildings. During one recent investigation, our technicians found that mice had colonised an office communications room and were using the purple wiring as a motorway system around the building. Ingenuous.
If your office has a mouse problem, you might find you need to do some detective work to find out where they are and how they are getting inside. Professional pest controllers use a range of specialist equipment, including tiny cameras under floorboards and special ultra-violet dust. This will attach itself to the feet of the mice, leaving a trail wherever the mouse goes. To see a video of mice under kitchen cabinets, click here.
Why get rid of mice?
Firstly, they are incontinent and will urinate on everything they walk over. Secondly, they will leave black curved nuggets all over the place, nibble at food packaging, and gnaw through wiring, which can cause electrical fires. So, there are hygiene reasons and safety reasons for making sure your office is mouse-free.
Cleankill Pest Control can offer a free pest survey to businesses to help them stay pest-free.
To learn more by contacting us.