Prevent Rats

How to prevent rat infestations

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Here are some easy tips to keep the risk of rat infestations to a minimum.  But do remember rats are intelligent creatures and will find ways around all your best efforts if there is some tasty food and a warm nesting spot on offer.  So, always keep vigilant.

Rats will win any limbo dance competition paws down.

Look for and block any gaps around pipes and under sheds, as rats only need a gap of 15mm to gain entry to a structure.  Seal any likely looking spots up with wire wool embedded in quick-setting cement.

You should focus on low level gaps first as these are the most likely areas for rats to enter. You can then consider any higher up vents or gaps.

Whilst low level gaps are the obvious places to seal, don’t overlook gaps higher up.  Rats can climb very well. Check around pipes and windows.  Of course, it should go without saying to check any cellars or basements – the traditional ‘home’ for rats.

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Rodent control food industry

Rodent Control in the Food Industry

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We can’t help with a virus, at least not directly, but as we all look towards getting back to a normal working routine. Any business linked to food – growing, transporting, storing, distributing, preparation, or for sale on or off premises – needs to be acutely alert for mice.

With footfall down over a number of weeks and months now… well, you know the saying: when the ‘cats’ been away, the mice have been out to play so now is the time for the food industry to revisit rodent control.

The Food Safety Act 1990 and The General Food Regulations 2004 (as amended) provide the framework for all food legislation in Great Britain. It enforces certain provisions of Regulation (EC) 178/2002 in Scotland and Wales, which means that any business that provides food that is not of the nature or substance or quality demanded by the purchaser, “shall be guilty of an offence”.

That means penalties and repercussions – some that could close your business for good.

So what should you be doing?

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Wasps Nests

Wasp Nests

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Have You Got a Wasps Nest Nearby?

As the days get longer and warmer (we hope) this is the time of year you need to do a quick check around your property, because insects are on the look out for a new home.

First, take a look at the windows and brickwork: can you see wasps taking off and landing? Or there might be a Masonry Bee or Miner Bee?  You won’t want some of them as your new neighbours.

Wasps

Wasps especially can build and develop colonies that run into the thousands, and are defensive – so prone to sting with little warning. The adult workers are busy all day going back and forward ­– past your open door or window, on those rare Scottish summer days when the sun is shining – collecting food to feed their growing larvae. They bring back all kinds of insects from green fly to small moths.

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