Rodents are extremely important pests to closely monitor and control as they can cause great financial and potential health risks. Food spoilage and loss on an enormous global scale can be attributed to rodents through contamination and physical damage or consumption. It is estimated that from one fifth, to one third of the world’s food supplies never reaches the mouths of consumers, due to losses attributed to rodents. 

Rodents are known as vectors of many human diseases such as Bubonic Plague, Typhus, Rat Bite Fever, Leptospirosis and Salmonellosis. They are notorious for causing damages to household items for homeowners. Wires, cables, equipment, stored products, machineries etc, are also damaged by rodents due to their gnawing habits and thus causing economic losses to businesses.

Rodents  are nocturnal creatures and they venture out from their breeding and resting places at night in search of food and water. They have poor vision but they have sensitive whiskers to guide them when running along the walls. 

The common species of Rodents in Singapore are mainly: 

• Norway Rat 
• Roof Rat
• House Mouse

 

Norway Rat

• Also known as sewer rat or brown rat
• Brown or grey in colour
• Typically nests in burrows 
• Tail is shorter than the body
• Good swimmer

 

Roof Rat

• Brown or Black in colour
• Tail is longer than the body
• Nests in both indoors and outdoors
• Can be found harbouring in false ceilings, attics, store rooms and other less disturbed areas
• Good climber

 

House Mouse

• Looks like roof rat but it is smaller in size and the belly is grey in colour instead of brown.
• Have a pointed snout, large ears
• Good climber
• Usually lives within stored materials

 

Rodent Treatment

The control of rodents is directed towards preventing rats from living in and around buildings and human dwellings. The usual control measures involve improvement in environmental sanitation, rodent-proofing buildings and the use of trapping and poisoning techniques. For effective and lasting control, different methods, either in combination or in sequence, are used.

Baiting:

All the bait in our rodent stations are secured to ensure rodents will not take the Rodenticide bait away with them. This is critical in food handling premises as it reduces the risk of cross contamination. Securing the bait allows peace of mind to our clients as the Rodenticides will not fall out of stations and affect untargeted animals or pets.

Bait stations are strategically positioned depending on the individual site, programme, requirements and secured into place. The rodent stations are usually installed around the perimeter of the building, fence lines, near entrances and in areas where the rodents may breed, hide or forage for food. 

Trapping:

Rat traps are of little value in controlling large infestations of rats but they are useful in dealing with small rat family groups living in domestic and office premises. Traps are also the preferred method of capturing rodents where the use of rodenticides is undesirable : such as where the poisoned rat dies in inaccessible areas and causes odour problem. The most common traps used are cage traps, snap traps and glue boards.

Rodent-proofing

Rodent-proofing is the technique of denying rodents access to buildings and food supplies. It involves the use of physical and chemical barriers to keep rodents from entering a property. Physical barriers may be as basic as sealing up any cracks and crevices or using a wire mesh to screen openings such as windows and air vents. Chemical barriers are repellents that are distasteful to rodents and whose odour the rodents are extremely sensitive to.