The best way to treat rodents in the summer

The best way to treat rodents in the summer

Rodent infestations are commonly thought to be a winter problem, however, this is not the case. These days they are a year round pest and are common in the spring and summer. In winter they tend to escape the cold weather and nest in the home, however, in the spring and summer more often than not they are outside in the gardens. They can cause untold damage to the garden and pose risk to human health by transmitting nasty and harmful diseases.

When treating rodents externally in the garden it best to use poison as using traps runs the risk of catching and trapping non-target species such as birds and pets. The three main types of poisons are grain bait, block bait and paste bait. Here at Pest Expert all of our poisons contain the maximum strength rodenticide Brodifacoum, this is a single feed rodenticide which after one dose will kill a rat or mouse. All three types of poison are highly palatable and lethal to rodents, but they have slight differences.

The block bait is best used when there are non-target species in the area as they can be fixed in place on a rod inside the bait station and cannot be dislodged meaning non-species cannot access the poison. Grain bait is best used for mice as they kibble, meaning they like to pick the grains up with their paws and feed that way – this aids uptake. Paste bait has an added attractant so in instances of there being alternate food sources at play, paste bait will be the one to go for.

We do come across rodent infestations internally in the summer too and the same principal can be applied internally. However, internally you have the option of also using traps in areas that are secure.