While temperatures warm up around the country, Florida has had its typical summer-like weather for quite a while and rodents have been out and about regularly. Recently three South Florida restaurants were closed temporarily due to rodent infestations.

The closures, ordered by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, were ordered in order to allow owners to clean up and then be re-inspected. Some of the issues that were cited include the following:

• Fifteen rodent droppings in a metal tray on a dry storage rack.
• Four rodent droppings in a kitchen.
• Rodent activity found several rodent issues throughout the one restaurant alone.

In addition to the rodent problems, the restaurants had standing water issues and several roach problems, from live roaches on the premises to droppings found around food storage containers that had no lids or protection.

Allowing a rodent – mouse or rat – to gain access to a restaurant is not simply a nuisance but it becomes a costly problem to the establishment. Rodents can gain access through openings in the siding but more typically, they get through the small openings under doorways as metal doors often get propped open against sidewalks or with concrete doorstops that end up damaging the door.

A mouse or rat can squeeze under door and enter a restaurant through the size of a quarter – and immediately it has access to the three things it needs to survive: food, water, and shelter.

Prevention is the best form of pest control. Burrtec manufactures door sweeps that can prevent mice and rats from entering a home, office or warehouse facility.

Burrtec USA is a leading manufacturer of door sweep solutions, providing quality exclusion products to PMPs and building material suppliers. It is the North American division of Burrtec Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pest control producers. To learn more about Burrtec, visit our U.S. website.

The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) announced that it expects a surge in rodent infestations – as well as mosquito and tick activity – due to the warm weather being here to stay throughout the country.

Florida specifically was singled out for being a target for these problematic pest issues. In addition, NPMA issued a list of the top cities at risk for vector-borne diseases in spring and summer.

Chicago topped the list, followed by Cleveland, Dallas, the state of Florida, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Much of the cities or Florida were focused on a less than colder winter warming sooner and thus creating more rodent growth opportunities.

The biggest issue facing rodent infestations is the lack of prevention. While most customers are contacting PMPs at the time of a pest sighting, at that point there are active issues that are being handled versus preventative.

Burrtec manufactures door sweeps that can prevent mice and rats from entering a home, office or warehouse facility.

Burrtec USA is a leading manufacturer of door sweep solutions, providing quality exclusion products to PMPs and building material suppliers. It is the North American division of Burrtec Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pest control producers. To learn more about Burrtec, visit our U.S. website.

A new report shows just how intense the rodent infestation problem is globally, as the market is expected to grow more than five percent through the next six years – tremendous growth for one segment of the pest control market.

The rodenticides market itself is specifically projected to reach $8.6 billion by the year 2031, with rats and mice being targeted as threats to global public health and food supplies, according to the SNS Insider report.

Unfortunately for those being hit hard by mice and rats, the report suggests the issues will continue to affect economic capital and food reserves due to the need for rodent control. Also, there will be heightened concerns about the spread of rodent-borne diseases because of the destructive impact of rodents on homes, buildings, infrastructure, and utilities necessitates robust pest control solutions.

The best way to control rodents is to prevent them in the first place. That’s also a big aspect of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Rotating chemicals, using different types of control methods (baits, traps, glue boards, etc.), and educating consumers are all important too.

But the key is to utilize premium door sweep products because most rodent infestations start with mice or rats entering a home or building through an opening the size of a quarter! Burrtec door sweeps are the solution.

Burrtec USA is a leading manufacturer of door sweep solutions, providing quality exclusion products to PMPs and building material suppliers. It is the North American division of Burrtec Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pest control producers. To learn more about Burrtec, visit our U.S. website.

Despite advances in products and attention to the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), rodent activity has been surging over recent years, according to Dr. Bobby Corrigan, who happens to be a member of the Pest Management Hall of Fame.

“Interestingly, there seems to be a tremendous surge in the urban rodent situation the last 10 years, and it shows no signs of letting up,” Corrigan said. “Both rats and mice are in high demand and I think if you talk to the pest control operators of the world and you look at the sales of over the counter baits and traps, that all confirms the surge.

“We’re not sure of all the factors but in any way there’s no doubt in pest control as a business you are seeing the numbers for these services upwards of 25-30 percent over the last several years.”
This means that all products and techniques are essential to the overall success of rodent control industry wide.

“We used to think well there’s something – a rat in the garage or there’s mice in the house, and we need to get something to kill it,” Corrigan said. “Now, we know these rats or mice are carrying diseases, serious diseases, and a mouse in the house, if we keep it simple and take an ordinary ranch house in suburbia … that can be a big deal.

So, the whole thing is – what is your professional service to control rats and mice. I’m a fanatic but we shouldn’t be letting them in our stuff to begin with. It’s not as simple as showing up and putting out poisons or baits and saying “we just baited or trapped” like we’ve been doing for 100 years. Why should we be putting out poisons when we should be getting them out of the house to begin with – keeping the house clean and so forth (is the priority).”

One way to start preventing rather than controlling rodents is to use the industry’s premium door protection resource – Burrtec’s door sweeps.

Burrtec USA is a leading manufacturer of door sweep solutions, providing quality exclusion products to PMPs and building material suppliers. It is the North American division of Burrtec Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pest control producers. To learn more about Burrtec, visit our U.S. website.

The basic rules of preventing pests from becoming ongoing issues revolve around three things – food, water, and shelter.

The Environmental Protection Association (EPA) suggests protecting those three to gain maximum protection from all types of pests, ranging from ants, roaches and mosquitoes to mice, rats, and other invaders.

Storing food properly and making sure the waste is securely disposed of will help prevent pests from considering your home or business a source.

The same applies to water, making sure that water sources are not left in the open to allow mosquitoes, roaches, and other pests to breed into an infestation.

But shelter – this is the one part of pest control where you can easily prevent pests without having to control them. Did you know both rats and mice can squeeze under a doorway through a hole the size of a quarter?

So, a damaged warehouse or garage door can let rats and mice in, thus creating the start of an infestation. There’s a simply better way.

Install Burrtec door sweep products onto each door (takes a few minutes – provides peace of mind!) and you’re protected.

Burrtec USA is a leading manufacturer of door sweep solutions, providing quality exclusion products to PMPs and building material suppliers. It is the North American division of Burrtec Co., Ltd., one of Japan’s largest pest control producers. To learn more about Burrtec, visit our U.S. website.