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.