Commercial Rodent Control: Prevent Mouse Damage and Eliminate Rat Infestation

We all want to protect our property from rat infestations, but the stakes are higher for a business. If a homeowner discovers they need rodent control services, others respond with compassion and support. For a company, however, the sighting of a single mouse or a few rodent droppings risks viral social media rants, 1-star reviews, and potential health code violations. For many businesses, commercial rodent control services are a matter of corporate survival.

The Dangers of Rodents to Your Business

Mice and rats are filthy, flea-ridden critters that pose multiple dangers to your business beyond health risks.

Property Damage

Rodents’ incessant gnawing can cause immense property damage. Rats and mice gnaw through wood, drywall, insulation, and flooring. They can get through soft metals, plastic, and even brickwork, compromising a building’s structural integrity and destroying stored food products and other goods. They love chewing on wire insulation, risking not just short circuits but also electrical fires. PVC pipes and HVAC systems suffer from rodents’ chewing as well, leading to costly repairs.

Contamination and Disease

Rodents and the fleas they bear carry many dangerous diseases, bacteria, allergens, and parasites. Further, mice and rats urinate and defecate as they move around your property, leaving and tracking their waste everywhere they go. They can contaminate food, paper products, clothing, upholstery, bedding, building materials, and more.

Health Hazards

While health code violations are typically reserved for food preparation and storage facilities, like restaurants, cafes, food trucks, grocery stores, and food processing facilities, they also apply to healthcare facilities, schools, daycare centers, and residential facilities. Even beauty salons, lumber yards, and construction sites risk violations of OSHA regulations and sanitary standards due to the health hazards posed by rodents.

Losing Customer Trust

Customer trust is the lifeblood of any business. Efficient rodent control is essential to prevent the loss of trust and reputation damage that can occur with a single mouse sighting, let alone a rat infestation.

Spotting an Outdoor Rodent Problem

Every rodent problem and rat infestation begins outdoors. Rodents find shelter, food, and water on the outdoor property. As they exploit these resources, they create nests and breed, moving ever closer to the buildings before they ever look for a way inside. Effective commercial rodent control services first work to keep the critters out of your buildings. Then, they remove them from your property.

4 Signs You’ve Got a Rodent Problem

Watch for signs of rodents on your property:

  • Burrows and Nests: Look for small holes in the ground with surrounding dirt or debris, indicating burrow entrances. Rodents dig burrows for shelter and nesting. Nests might also be found in hidden areas, using materials like leaves, twigs, and shredded paper or fabric.
  • Gnaw Marks and Damage: Rodents need to gnaw constantly to keep their incisors from overgrowing. Gnaw marks may be found on wooden structures, garden hoses, outdoor furniture, and even vehicle wiring.
  • Uprooted Plants and Crop Damage: In landscapes and crop fields, signs of rodents include uprooted plants, nibbled fruits and vegetables, and hollowed-out produce.
  • Droppings: Rodent droppings are a clear sign of infestation. Mouse droppings are small, about ¼ inch, and pointed at both ends. Rat droppings are about ½ inch and banana-shaped.

Mouse Prevention for Commercial Businesses

Rodent control and preventing rat infestations take a coordinated approach. In addition to commercial pest exterminator services, denying mice and rats access to the resources that they crave is critical.

Keep Pests Out: Secure Trash and Food

All food and waste must be sealed in rodent-proof containers, indoors and out. Empty the trash often, keep the tightly closed trash bins well away from buildings, and promptly wipe up any spilled garbage. Cleanliness is critical. Regularly clean floors, countertops, and appliances inside while keeping the trash bins clean and tidy outside.

Seal Entry Points

Scrutinize the exterior of your buildings, sealing all potential entry points rodents might use to enter your premises. Look for holes or cracks in the walls, gaps around doors and windows, and spaces where the walls meet the roof or foundation. Look closely — an adult mouse can (and will) squeeze through an opening the size of a pencil! Ensure that all vents and chimneys are properly screened.

Reduce Outdoor Clutter

Outdoor clutter of any type can be highly attractive to rodents. It can provide shelter from predators and adverse weather and give rodents cover as they move closer to your buildings, where the bigger payoffs are housed. Further, many types of debris catch and hold standing water, providing drinking facilities. Weeds and overgrown plants also provide shelter.

Rodent Problem? We’ve Got Your Back. Call the Experts.

At Mosquito Joe®, our pest control services include both residential and commercial rodent control services. We are your rat and mouse prevention solution for two critical reasons. First, we know rodents. Our service professionals will identify the rodents plaguing your property and use specific techniques and treatments to eliminate them. Second, we know our customers and their needs. We understand the specific challenges businesses have with rat infestations, and we tailor our rodent control strategies to afford maximum protection.

Like you, we rely on customer satisfaction to remain in business. We make it our highest priority. The Neighborly Done Right Promise™ and our Mosquito Joe Satisfaction Guarantee back everything we do.

Request a free quote today. Our rodent control keeps the mice and rats out of your business.

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What To Know About Dengue Fever

 
Dengue fever (pronounced DEN-gay FEE-ver) is a painful mosquito-borne virus that is spreading rapidly throughout the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), by June 24, 2024, over 9.7 million cases of dengue fever were reported throughout the Americas. That is more than double the cases seen in all of 2023.

Also known as “break-bone fever,” dengue fever flourishes in tropical and sub-tropical climates, making regions like Hawaii, Southern Florida, the Gulf Coast, the Southeastern United States, and parts of Southern California particularly susceptible to outbreaks. People living in or traveling to these locations or popular international destinations like Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Bangkok, New Delhi, and Cancún must guard against infection. It is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.

How Dengue Fever Spreads & Why You Don’t Develop Immunity

Dengue fever spreads to humans primarily through the bites of infected female Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These mosquitoes feed on human blood typically by day but also at night so they can lay eggs to breed more biters.

There are actually four closely related viruses known as dengue fever. All are transmitted by blood-sucking female mosquitoes. If you contract and recover from one dengue virus, you develop some immunity to that same virus but have no protection against the other three. Once you have had dengue fever, you are more likely to experience severe and possibly fatal symptoms the next time you get it.

Symptoms of Dengue Fever

Most people who contract dengue fever experience only minor symptoms that resolve within one to two weeks. For others, dengue is a painful and debilitating experience.
Dengue fever symptoms typically occur roughly four to 10 days following infection, including symptoms such as:

  • High fever (104°F/ 40°C)
  • Extreme headaches
  • Severe pain in muscles, bones, and joints
  • Pain behind the eyes
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Fatigue
  • Swollen glands
  • Rash appears two to five days after the fever’s onset
  • Mild bleeding (nose bleeds, bleeding gums, bruising)

Severe Dengue Fever Symptoms

For some people, mild dengue fever symptoms are mistaken for the flu. However, serious complications like dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) with more severe symptoms can develop, including:

  • Severe stomach pain
  • Persistent vomiting
  • Systemic bleeding, such as from the nose, gums, internal organs, and under the skin
  • Trouble breathing or catching breath
  • Severe fatigue
  • Restlessness and irritability

In extreme cases, Dengue hemorrhagic fever leads to shock and death. Thankfully, it is rare. People with weak immune systems and those getting infected with dengue a second time are at greatest risk from severe dengue fever symptoms and DHF.

Dengue Fever Treatment

We have no treatment or practical cure for dengue fever. The symptoms can typically be managed at home, though severe cases require hospitalization. Keep well hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids. Rest and treat pain with acetaminophen. Avoid using anti-inflammatory drugs if you suspect dengue, as they can increase the risk of bleeding. It’s important to seek medical treatment and get the guidance of a trusted doctor if you suspect you or someone else has Dengue Fever.

How to Reduce The Risk of Dengue Fever

Although incidents of dengue fever are rising rapidly worldwide, there are just two ways to reduce the risk of contracting it. The best way to prevent dengue fever is through mosquito control and avoiding getting bitten. The other way is through the dengue vaccine, which has very limited availability.

Mosquito Protection

Learning how to prevent dengue fever is similar to preventing Zika, West Nile, and other mosquito-borne diseases — it’s all about avoiding mosquito bites.

Effectively combating mosquitoes is a multi-step process. It requires making your yard and home less attractive to mosquitoes by eliminating all sources of standing water and keeping the grass cut short. Wear loose-fitting, light-colored protective clothing such as long sleeves, long pants, socks, and shoes. Additionally, add mosquito-repelling plants to your garden or wear insect repellants. Professional outdoor pest control services are also vital to help protect your family from itchy bites and mosquito-borne illnesses.

Mosquito control works alongside your efforts to deny the biters essential breeding grounds. It requires an all-hands-on-deck approach to protect yourself, your family, and even your pets from these pests. Remember that every itchy mosquito bite leads to more biting mosquitoes! (Blech!) Even when you don’t get dengue fever or Zika from a mosquito bite, the dirty, nasty things inject you with their saliva and feed on your blood!

Dengue Vaccine

There is only one vaccine available in the U.S. — Dengvaxia®. It is approved only for children ages nine through 16 who have been infected with dengue previously.
The limited use and availability of dengue vaccines make professional mosquito control and home-protection practices all the more critical.

Fight the Spread of Dengue Fever with Mosquito Joe®!

Mosquito Joe is your go-to biter-fighter and pest-control partner. Whether your mosquitoes carry dengue fever or just the usual bag of itchy-making yuck, we make sure they steer clear of you and yours. We customize our comprehensive pest control services to meet the specific needs of your family and property. During our visit, we seek out the spots where mosquitoes hide and breed on your property so we can send them packing.

We know you’ll be pleased with our service because the Neighborly Done Right Promise™ and the Mosquito Joe Satisfaction Guarantee back everything we do. No job is done until it’s done right.
Request a free quote today! Let’s beat those biters and make the outdoors fun again!

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