Rodents

Rats

Rats are the biggest cause of structural damage to your buildings while being a serious health risk to humans by spreading disease. Rat’s ability to transmit disease including Weils disease and murine typus with potentially fatal outcomes. Rats are known to carry dangerous organisms including salmonella bacteria, viruses and parasites. Risk damage to our buildings can be costly and rats are commonly known to gnaw through cable and building fabric, undermine foundations and damage water courses. The consequences are extreme including the threat of fire, water damage and major underground and structural damage.

In Queensland we are commonly dealing with the following rat species.

• Rattus rattus – Ship rat, Black rat, House rat, Roof rat.
• Rattus norvegicus – Norway rat, Common rat, Brown rat, Wharf rat, Sewer rat.

Mice

Be aware that Mice carry diseases such as salmonella and they can transmit a type of Leptospirosis. Their constant dribble of urine contaminates food and feedstuffs. They are a particular problem in warehouses, shops, hospitals, and domestic premises. Being so small they easily enter a new location through gaps as small as 6mm, mice build nests which are hard to find, populating an area with new colonies quickly with devastating effect. Because mice can reach sexual maturity 42 days after birth, population grow much faster than those of rats, which take about twice the time to reach maturity. Mice are an extreme problem in buildings because they live indoors. They are more liable to cause fires by gnawing cables and they can damage insulation in animal housing causing costly heat loss and expensive replacement.

In Queensland we are commonly dealing with the Mus domesticus or common house Mouse species.