Photo Album: Mice Find Easy Entry into Sayreville, NJ Commercial Building

The kitchen staff in a restaurant in Sayreville, NJ, had observed mice scurrying about the restaurant during business hours. Management immediately contacted Cowleys. Needless to say, this was a serious health hazard that needed to be addressed immediately. For any commercial business, especially restaurants, resolving rodent activity is top priority. Since mice are nocturnal, they mostly forage during the quiet of night. They prefer to come out when the lights are off and there is no noisy human activity going on. However, mice are sometimes seen during the day, especially there is a large infestation and mice are competing for food. The fact that a number of the kitchen staff had observed mice was of concern to me since mice are, by and large, secretive creatures. Usually, with mouse infestations, we are first contacted after a few signs of mouse activity are found. The most common indicators of mouse activity are droppings, urine odors, gnawed holes in drywall, holes in cardboard food containers, smelly mouse carcasses rotting behind appliances, and greasy rub marks.

Gap big enough for rodent entry.

With any rodent infestation, I first conduct an inspection to determine possible entry points into a structure. Entry points must be located and sealed to prevent re-infestations. Finding mouse access points around a building's foundation can be a challenge because of the small size of these rodents. Mice are able to squeeze through the smallest of gaps and cracks - even holes as small as the diameter of a dime. With this building, there were quite a few weaknesses for mice to exploit to gain entry. I immediately noticed problems with the door sweeps.

Gap under door.

From a mouses's perspective, an open door is far different than how we view an open door. For a mouse, a "closed" door can still be open as long as there is some gap - and usually that gap is at the bottom of the door. A common way for vermin to gain entry is damaged, worn, or missing door sweeps. Here, the front door sweep was cut too short and did not extend the entire bottom of the drawer and the back door sweep was not properly installed. it was crooked leaving a gap that was easily big enough for a mouse to enter.

Large entry point

I also noticed that an outdoor pipe entering the restaurant was not properly sealed. Gaps around pipes and wiring that enter buildings are common routes for mice to gain access indoors. Management assured me that these access points would be timely fixed.

Gap in pipe.

To resolve the infestation, I set up large capacity low-profile metal mouse traps in inconspicuous areas throughout the kitchen and dining room. I often use these types of mouse traps in food preparation businesses because they contain no poisons. Also, these are live traps that do not kill the mice, so you don't have to deal with disposing of dead mice.

Photo Album: Mice Find Easy Entry into Sayreville, NJ Commercial Building

Gap big enough for rodent entry.

Gap under door.

Large entry point

Gap in pipe.

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