May 3, 2012 – A Small Step for Rats
QUESTION:
I have a Food industry customer where I have 100+ bait stations installed outside. We regularly install the station anchored on a concrete block that measures 15" x 15" x 2" and weighs about 30 pounds. My customer is questioning that this type of anchoring system will deter the rodent and push him to go around the concrete block and not enter the station, rather than climb those 2" from the ground to the station entrance. In tropical setting like we have here in Costa Rica I believe that setting the station this way will prevent humidity, protect the station from being moved, and also helps keep it clean inside. How can I overcome my customer´s objections.
ANSWER:
It can sometimes be difficult to change the mind of someone who strongly believes he is correct, but rest assured that you have a good authority on your side. At a recent National Pest Management Conference Dr. Robert Corrigan spoke on various topics regarding rodent control. He mad specific mention to exactly what you are asking, and his studies showed that rodents - both rats and mice - are not deterred whatsoever by having to step up or even jump up to enter a rodent station. In fact, he has stated that The House Mouse, upon encountering a bait station, will commonly hop up onto the top of the station and urinate on it, thus marking that station with chemical messages present in the urine. For other rodents this urine is like reading someone's Twitter page - it is packed with personal information about that previous rodent and the population in general.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
I have a Food industry customer where I have 100+ bait stations installed outside. We regularly install the station anchored on a concrete block that measures 15" x 15" x 2" and weighs about 30 pounds. My customer is questioning that this type of anchoring system will deter the rodent and push him to go around the concrete block and not enter the station, rather than climb those 2" from the ground to the station entrance. In tropical setting like we have here in Costa Rica I believe that setting the station this way will prevent humidity, protect the station from being moved, and also helps keep it clean inside. How can I overcome my customer´s objections.
ANSWER:
It can sometimes be difficult to change the mind of someone who strongly believes he is correct, but rest assured that you have a good authority on your side. At a recent National Pest Management Conference Dr. Robert Corrigan spoke on various topics regarding rodent control. He mad specific mention to exactly what you are asking, and his studies showed that rodents - both rats and mice - are not deterred whatsoever by having to step up or even jump up to enter a rodent station. In fact, he has stated that The House Mouse, upon encountering a bait station, will commonly hop up onto the top of the station and urinate on it, thus marking that station with chemical messages present in the urine. For other rodents this urine is like reading someone's Twitter page - it is packed with personal information about that previous rodent and the population in general.
So please continue to feel comfortable using the concrete blocks as your securing devices. This helps to keep you legal and in compliance with the product labels that require securing to the surface as one aspect of a tamper-resistant station. If these slight increases in the height of the station were actually a problem for rodents we would not be seeing major manufactures, like Bell and LiphaTech, coming out with stations that include the heavy base or plastic molds just for holding paving blocks under their stations.
Another comment that Dr. Corrigan made that is of interest, and which may be important for you with this food industry account, concerns the question of whether or not bait stations around a structure are so attractive that they bring rodents to that structure that otherwise might not have been a problem. His studies indicate that this is not the case. The rodents do not detect the bait from very far away, so rats and mice in surrounding areas are only going to find the bait when they get very close to the station anyhow or when they get inside. The rodent also perceives that station as a hiding place - a secure cubbyhole that it can get into for a moment while it is investigating a new surrounding. We realize that rats and mice are subject to being preyed upon by other animals, and they know it. They instinctively forage in fear of being eaten, so any available opening will quickly be investigated. Once inside the station, if bait is found, they also begin to feed. They are opportunistic feeders and must get close to recognize it as food.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
