Mice
The House Mouse and Long-Tailed Field Mouse, seek the warmth and shelter of buildings for nesting sites and food. Their presence is usually detected from their dark-coloured droppings or damage to stored foods, packaging or woodwork.

Mice become sexually mature in eight to ten weeks, and a pair may produce eight litters each of 16 young, in a year.

Mice contaminate far more food than they consume and they are capable of carrying many diseases, particularly food poisoning. The average mouse sheds 70 droppings in 24 hours and urinates constantly..

Mice are erratic, sporadic feeders, nibbling at many sources of food rather than taking repeated meals from any one item. They do not need free water to drink as they normally obtain sufficient moisture from their food.

Areas favoured by mice are food storage and preparation areas such as kitchens and pantries. Airing cupboards, sub-floor areas, enclosed pipes and baths in bathrooms and loft areas are also favoured areas. It is important to remember that mice feed from many different places during the course of a nights feeding. Control will therefore be achieved by placing a large number of small bait points rather than fewer bigger bait points. Tamper-resistant bait boxes and non spill wax baits are available in high risk locations.

The usual follow-up time after the initial baiting programme has been established is seven days, although some situations may require more frequent visits. A minimum of two visits will be required to achieve control.

Regular contracts are available for food storage and catering premises.

Rats

Rats pose many of the same issues as mice but additionally they carry the very real risk of Weils disease (Leptospirosis).

Rats may occasionally nest in your house, in the loft or under the floor. However, they prefer to live outdoors in undergroung burrows or under outbuildings etc.

Control is usually easy to achieve using pasta or wax based rodenticides. Outdoors it will necessary to use bait boxes, or direct baiting of the burrow, to prevent poisoning of non target species.

Squirrels

The grey Squirrel can nest in your wall cavities, between false walls and in the loft, The squirrel may use roof insulation for nesting materials and may chew boxes and other items stored in the roof space, in some instances they have been known to chew electric cables and roof joists causing a potentially hazardous condition, at the same time causing the problem of noise. The Grey squirrel is a non indigenous species and is not protected. Infact it is illegal to “live trap” a Grey Squirrel and release it back into the wild.

At EPC we only use “killing traps” as a control method. This by far the most humane method of control and unlike with the use of poison the body is always recovered.