Whether you run a five-star restaurant or casual diner, a rodent infestation can seriously harm your bottom line. Rats and other vermin are attracted to your restaurant’s food, so you have to be proactive to keep them out
Thanks to their prolific breeding habits, a minor rodent incursion can quickly transform into a major infestation if you aren’t careful.
Thankfully, you can prevent a pest infestation in your Seattle business through the right rodent proofing. With assistance of a professional rodent removal service and a few preventative tips, you can avoid unwanted rodent problems.
Top Tips for Rodent Proofing Your Seattle Restaurant
In an average month, 14.8 million households in the United States will report seeing a rodent. Like the rest of the country, Seattle also has a rodent issue. Out of 50 of the largest cities in the United States, Seattle ranked eleventh for having the most rats.
As a restaurant owner, there are a few preventative steps you can perform that will protect your business from this tiny scourge. From sealing the holes and gaps in your restaurant to maintaining a cleaner work space, the following tips can prevent rodent-related problems from developing.
Secure Garbage Receptacles
Rodents have a keen sense of smell, so they can easily smell waste in open dumpsters and trash cans. If these areas are easy to access, the rats will want to hang around your restaurant to enjoy the plentiful food. To avoid unintentionally encouraging a rodent infestation, you should install tight-fitting lids on your dumpsters and trash receptacles.
Additionally, garbage can reduce the effectiveness of any rat baits that your restaurant uses. If the rodents can smell an alternative food source, they won’t need to eat the bait.
Ensure Proper Food Storage
Besides preventing garbage access, you also need to stop rodents from accessing your restaurant’s food. For example, dry food should ideally be placed in glass or metal containers. Fruit, dairy, vegetables, and similar products should be kept in a refrigerator. All of these items should be at least six inches off of the ground and away from the wall to make it easier to see any rodent droppings.
Keep a Clean Workplace
While this isn’t always easy in a busy Seattle restaurant, maintaining a clean workspace is incredibly important for preventing rodents. Clutter gives rodents places to build nests and breed, especially if food and water are nearby. Because of this, it’s important to clean out boxes, organize storage areas, and remove any signs of clutter.
Seal Gaps
One way you can prevent an infestation is by sealing up any openings in your walls, ceilings, or floors. A mouse can fit through any hole that its head can go through. This means that the typical mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime, and rats can go through gaps as small as a quarter.
Remove Cardboard
Rodents enjoy chewing on cardboard, and they often use it to make their nests. As soon as a box is empty, it should be broken down and taken out of your kitchen.
Tidy Up Your Landscaping
To prevent rodents, mow the lawn and trim the bushes near your restaurant. By removing weeds and groundcover, you can eliminate hiding spots for the mice around your building. This won’t stop rodents completely, but it will make it a little harder for them to take up residence in and around your restaurant.
Signs You Have a Rodent Infestation
Rodent infestations are incredibly common at Seattle restaurants. If you notice any of the following signs, you may need professional rodent proofing and removal services.
- Nests: Once rats move into an area, they will quickly search for cardboard, paper, and other materials to make their nests. These nests are frequently built inside of walls or in dark crawl spaces.
- Droppings: You can easily see where a rat has traveled because rodents always leave behind a trail of droppings. These brown pellets are an obvious sign that you have rodents. Because the droppings can spread diseases, it’s important to have your employees use respirators and gloves as they disinfect the affected area.
- Unusual sounds: As rats move inside your walls and floorboards, you can hear them scratching and nibbling. Rodents are more active at night, so pay attention to any unusual noises you hear after your restaurant is closed for the evening.
- Grease marks: Because of how greasy and dirty rats are, you can sometimes see grease marks left behind after they have traveled through the area. These marks are a good indication of where you should place traps.
- Burrows: While some rats prefer above-ground nests, other rodent species like to burrow underneath the ground. When you search for signs of rodents, keep an eye open for these hidden tunnels and nesting spots.
- Bite marks: Rodents love gnawing on anything they can get their paws on, but they seem especially drawn to insulation, walls, and wires. To determine if you have an infestation, check these materials for bite marks.
- Ammonia odors: Because rodents urinate as they move, they leave a strong scent anywhere they go. Their urine smells like ammonia, so pay attention if you notice an unusual scent in your restaurant.
How To Rodent Proof After an Infestation
If you already have a rodent infestation, it’s important to act quickly to eliminate the problem. A typical rat can produce 6 to 10 babies in every litter. Because rats can have 6 to 12 litters per year, this means an average rat can produce more than 100 babies each year. Left untreated, a minor infestation can quickly spiral out of control.
To resolve your infestation, reach out to our team for a site inspection. We’ll help you determine the extent of the damage. During the inspection, a specialist will discuss where the rodents are most active, entry points, and problems that are attracting the mice.
After we have completed our inspection, we will recommend the best course of action for eliminating rodents from your dining establishment. A combination of baits and traps will generally work to control the infestation. We also recommend ongoing monitoring to ensure your rodent issue doesn’t return.
Prevent and Treat Rodent Infestations at Your Seattle Restaurant
At Attic Projects, we have years of experience in treating rodent infestations. Rodent activity tends to increase in spring because warmer weather is when the breeding season begins. Because of this, Seattle restaurants need to get a headstart on all of their rodent proofing before spring is fully underway.
If you’re looking for rodent proofing and elimination services, Attic Projects can help. To learn more about our services, reach out to one of our team members today.