Rodents in the kitchen: What shall I do?

[ybot123]

I've just noticed signs of rodents in my kitchen (mainly droppings and chewed food packets), and I'm freaking out a bit. I really want to sort this out quickly before it gets worse, but I’d prefer to deal with it myself first rather than hire pest control. This is also my first time having any rodents inside in 20 years - I've had them outside before.

 

Does anyone have advice on the best DIY methods or products that work? I'm really keen on not using chemicals if possible as it is a commercial kitchen. I've come across these natural mouse repellents, but I’m not sure which ones to go for. Has anyone tried them? Or do people think I should just go for mouse traps and bait stations.

 

Thanks in advance for any tips! 😊

[gfweb]

Are you in control of the whole building?  It'll be tough if you aren't.

 

If its a commercial kitchen the health dept may dictate what to use.  Don't screw around with "natural" stuff and risk getting shut down

 

Start by plugging every hole..every space around a pipe where t hey can enter.  Might involve pulling out dishwashers etc.

 

Traps aren't really practical because you have to keep emptying them.  Poisoned bait is very effective.

Edited Saturday at 10:32 PM by gfweb (log)

[rotuts]

Mouse Traps

 

or a 

 

Night Cat.

Edited Saturday at 10:53 PM by rotuts (log)

[Alex]

Poisoned bait is fine, although we've always used traps -- this one, in particular. They're easy to set and release.

[Maison Rustique]

Traps. Using poison works slowly and gives the opportunity to kill birds or cats or other animal who might catch and eat them. At some point my husband bought a bunch of electronic pest repellents and I've got them set in the garage, basement and near a door. They must be working because this is the first winter I haaven't seen signs of them making their way into the house. I do want to set some traps, too. Now that I am without cat, I need a back-up.

[JeanneCake]

If it's a commercial kitchen, is there a requirement to have the kitchen under contract with a pest control service?  In our state/town, it is a requirement, and we have a monthly visit from pest control.

 

You may want to use sticky traps along the walls (our pest control guy tells us that rodents travel along the walls, but I don't know why they do that.  All the "tin cat" traps are placed along the walls in our kitchen).  I've seen light bulbs that act as a rodent repellent so you might want to consider leaving a light on around the entrance(s) with one of these bulbs, or as @Maison Rustique suggests, the plug-in variety of electronic ones.

[TdeV]

My pest control guy had me change the position of the traps so that they are now perpendicular to the wall with the baited bit in, right up to the edge of the wall. This way the rodent, running along the wall, will be face first into the bait.

[pastrygirl]

4 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

Traps. Using poison works slowly and gives the opportunity to kill birds or cats or other animal who might catch and eat them.

 

Poison also lets them crawl away and die in some hidden spot that you won't know about until you smell their rotting corpse.

 

Snap traps with peanut butter bait have worked for me.

[gfweb]

Whatever you use is imperfect. Traps need tending and mice learn how to get the bait without snapping it. Poisoned bait has the worry of killing the cat (though I've never actually heard of this happening...there is probably a dosage effect as well as the mouse metabolizing the poison).

 

Plugging entry holes is the one universal  measure.

[TdeV]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

Plugging entry holes is the one universal  measure.

 

I would just have to remember to not leave the garage door open. 😁

[Tropicalsenior]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

I've never actually heard of this happening

Unfortunately I have. We had a neighbor that put out poisoned meat for the rats. Our cat found a piece and brought it home. He was a persnickety little character and wouldn't eat it but the next door neighbor's dog did eat it and died. She was a beautiful little Cocker Spaniel and everybody in our condominium loved her. Needless to say, when the culprit was discovered, she was persuaded to never do anything like that again.

[TdeV]

Moved to a new (to us) house in 1998. The dog found poisoned bait under the house, though not immediately.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Tropicalsenior said:

Unfortunately I have. We had a neighbor that put out poisoned meat for the rats. Our cat found a piece and brought it home. He was a persnickety little character and wouldn't eat it but the next door neighbor's dog did eat it and died. She was a beautiful little Cocker Spaniel and everybody in our condominium loved her. Needless to say, when the culprit was discovered, she was persuaded to never do anything like that again.

Horrible. HORRIBLE.

 

Different that what was talking about though. I was talking about the cat dying due to eating the poisoned mouse corpses.  Proper poison bait is only accessible to the vermin.

 

Edited Sunday at 10:01 PM by gfweb (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

If you ever do put down any type of poison, make sure that you keep track of how many you put out and where you put them so you can put them in the garbage later or dispose of them safely. When we were living in Lake Tahoe the previous tenant had put out little green bottles of ant killer. The label said arsenic. I thought that I had found them all but my two-year-old found one. She was extremely premature and wasn't talking yet so she was unable to tell me whether she had ingested any of it or not. We were about 8 hours in the emergency room waiting to see whether she had any effects or not. Fortunately she didn't. To this day, I will not have any type of poison in my house. I have had really good luck with the sticky paper traps. I put cheese and peanut butter in the middle. It seems to get them every time. Once in a while they also catch me but at least they aren't going to kill me.

Edited yesterday at 03:02 AM by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Re unintentional damage, we have been close to two pet deaths in which the victim ingested part of a poisoned rodent or fowl.   Deterrents (like Irish Spring soap, mentioned upthread, are a far safer and more humane solution.

 

[BeeZee]

We sometimes get mice in the office when it gets cold, they come in via the warehouse which has poorly fitting doors (and those aren’t getting fixed any time soon). I soak cotton balls in peppermint oil and put them in little plastic cups lying down along the floor. Side benefit of having a minty fresh smelling office!

[liuzhou]