Apartment complex in North Bergen finds rats - Rodent control company in North Bergen
Challenge
When I arrived for a routine servicing of one of my commercial properties, a large apartment complex in North Bergen, I met with a property maintenance worker for a status update and any issues that had arisen since I was last there. He informed me that a resident reported seeing a rat next to one of the buildings. Needless to say, a possible rat infestation is one of our most serious pest control emergencies, and I immediately moved that complaint to the top of my “to-do” list for the day. Before doing anything else, I inspected the area of the reported rat sighting.
Rodents, including mice and rats, require food, water, and harborage for their survival. These are the root causes as to why a rat or mouse infestation develops in the first place. For a rodent control program to be successful, sources of food, water, and harborage for rodents need to be identified and, whenever possible, they should be eliminated. If they can’t be eliminated, they should at least be monitored and controlled.
For this particular property, to make the area around the building less inviting to rodents, I determined a few important corrective measures that needed to be taken by management: Remove bird feeders from exterior areas to eliminate food; reduce vegetation overgrowth to eliminate harborage; and fix the ac unit’s water condensation drainage problem to eliminate their water supply. All of these issues contributed to an ideal rodent harborage and breeding area for this apartment complex. Unless and until these issues were resolved, any rodent infestation would be difficult to eliminate. I presented my findings to the property manager. He was grateful that I identified these problems, and he assured me that they would be corrected immediately.
Solution
As part of my routine servicing, I had already placed exterior rodent bait stations around each building. Bait stations not only trap and kill the rodents, they also allow me to monitor infestation levels between visits. I inspected the stations closest to the rat sighting. Fortunately, the stations did exactly what they were intended to do. I observed dead rats that had eaten the bait. To me, every dead rat as one less rat that could potentially gain entry into the building. The only thing worse than a rat infestation around a building’s perimeter is dealing with an infestation inside. Fortunately, we stay on top of all of our customers that, for a variety of reasons, are susceptible to rodent infestations. If there is a problem, we work hard to “nip it in the bud,” so an exterior infestation problem does not escalate into an interior one.
The white rock in the picture is actually one of our landscape rodent rocks bait stations. Bait stations are more effective when they are constructed to naturally blend in with their overall surroundings. Rats are intelligent, suspicious animals and tend to avoid out-of-place items that they don’t recognize. Color is also important for a bait station’s success. We use white stations in areas exposed to direct sunlight. Black stations collect heat, raising inside temperatures that can destroy the bait. Bait stations are always used in our rodent control programs to increase the effectiveness and safety of the baits. Tamper-resistant bait stations protect the bait from the elements; provide a protected place for the rodents to feed; keep non-target species, including pets, away from he baits; and make it easier for the pest control technician to determine the amount of bait consumed, and to refill as needed. Proper placement of the stations is just as important. They must be conveniently placed where there is active rodent activity, preferably between the rodents’ food supply and their shelter.
The other pictures show the overgrown vegetation and the water condensation from the ac unit. I can’t stress enough how important it is to remove rodent attractants. The best step for rodent control is prevention: When you remove a hospitable environment for them to live and breed, they’ll choose a different location.
