Intelligent Pest Control took on a client who had previously been looked after by another pest control company. The previous company had not reported any mouse activity to the site as their bait stations were not showing any signs of bait being taken. It became very clear once we got to know the site that mice were very active and leaving their calling cards in the form of damaged stock, droppings, dirty smear marks and the occasional sighting. It was not clear to us whether the previous company had not picked up on these points, or they had chosen to ignore them.

We had a well-established mouse infestation to control and having adjoining buildings, which did not have and did not want pest control we could be looking at an ongoing problem. The site concerned was that of a food producer and stored lots of different food products, so it was not clear if the mice were choosing an alternative food source because they had so much choice, or that they just did not like our bait.

We found the food they were eating which turned out to be desiccated coconut; the coconut was then removed and stored in sealed containers and a small amount of the damaged stock was collected and mixed with liquid bait and left in its place. None of the bait we had mixed up with the coconut was taken. We then tried different types of cereal base poison but still with no success. The next step was to try a gel bait placed in tubes for the mice to run through which relied on the gel making contact with the mouse’s fur and then when the mouse was grooming it would consume the poison. This method had some early success but the mice soon started to show wariness around the tubes.

After discussing our unusual mice with a number of experts within the field of pest control it became clear we were dealing with a type of mouse known as the Birmingham mouse which inhabits inner-cities and has evolved in a number of areas.

Firstly they had lost a natural enzyme in their stomachs which meant they could no longer consume their natural diet of cereals; therefore they were now feeding on fast foods (high proteins). Secondly these mice had evolved to no longer rely on the systematic way of moving around which relies on walls to guide them and they were now moving around more erratically. Finally, they were showing signs of shyness and a new found awareness to what was being put in front of them. With this new-found knowledge we went back and tried tempting the mice with high-protein oily foods but with no success. Whilst we were trying to solve the problem we had to reassure the client that their mouse problem would be resolved.

The next step was to resort back to old-fashioned methods so we decided to stop trying to tempt the mice with treats and installed some break-back mouse traps in tamper-resistant boxes so staff would not see the traps and not be able to get their fingers caught in them. Again, there was early success but the mice soon became shy of the boxes so the only thing left to do was to remove the traps from the boxes and make the staff very aware of their locations and that they should not interfere with them.

A large numbers of traps were located around the site covering all area where the mice would be moving. In the first few weeks mice were removed from the traps on alternate days and the signs of their movement were reduced to minimal levels, in the following months the site was cleared of all resident mice. The site continues to be covered by traps instead of bait stations, but it’s a system which, after much deliberation, works and our client is now very happy.

Another satisfied customer