With harvest season complete, a lot of grain and legume storage facilities are starting to see pressures from rodents. Spokane Operations Manager Theresa Tassell noted, “The rodents aren’t coming in from the outside of the building – they’re being brought in from the field.”
Commercial pest prevention companies like Sprague anticipate a spike in activity this time of year. Attentive technicians collect data, which will trend upward with indoor rodent activity. “We already have preventative equipment in place,” explained Tassell. “We know we’re looking at a developing problem if we see, for example, a 25% increase in captures. Then we know to escalate it to extra temporary traps.”
To prevent these Trojan horses from becoming a problem at your facility, it’s imperative to inspect crops as they come in. Keep a careful eye out for rodent evidence, which includes
- Rodent droppings
- Hairs
- Chew marks
- The actual pest
“It’s easier to prevent rodents than to control them,” Tassell warned. “One mouse becomes a lot of mice very quickly.”
How very true – one mouse can easily become 60 within three months if left uncontrolled.