Keeping Rats Out of Your Business

To say that there is a rat crisis in post-Pandemic America is an understatement.

The rapid growth of rat populations in American cities during and after 2020 has been one of the most unexpected and unsavory business challenges to emerge in recent history. Rats can have a devastating impact on a wide variety of businesses. There are numerous justified fears about rat infestations, fears businesses can’t afford to ignore.

The first fear is sanitation. Rats are notorious disease carriers and their mere presence can put the health of your customers at risk. On top of the pathogens they can carry on their fur, claws and teeth, rats leave unsanitary, disease-rich urine and feces wherever they go.

The second fear is destruction. As rodents, rats have a powerful gnawing instinct, which can lead them to chew on all manner of materials, from wooden shelving to electrical wires.

The third fear is appetite. Rats invade businesses primarily in search of food and shelter, and they are incredibly resourceful when it comes to getting what they want. Rats have been found in cupboards, refrigerators, freezers, and even baked into bread. By getting into your food and water supplies, rats can both deplete and contaminate your products.

How Rats Get in Your Business

More than anything else, rats are opportunistic. They like to travel in concealed areas where they are safe from predators and other threats including humanity. Rats will take advantage of virtually any pathways available to move quickly and safely where they cannot be reached by anything that would do them harm. Believe it or not, rats are capable of squeezing through gaps as small as a nickel. Rats will scurry through gaps in the floors, across suspended ceilings and up and down wall voids. They can even squeeze their way through a wide variety of pipes found in sewage systems. While it’s exceedingly rare, it’s not impossible for rats to find their way into your bathroom through sewage lines and into the toilet.

The Truth About “Sewer Rats”

While the term “Sewer Rat” is well known, it’s not an actual breed of rodent. The majority of so-called Sewer Rats are actually the Norway Rat. Sewer Rats aren’t a proper term for a species so much as an explanation for the common and filthy tendency for rats to live in sewers.

Sewer systems provide the food, water, and shelter that rats need to survive. Often, when there is a significant rat problem in a municipal center, it is centered below ground and in the city sewers. Treatment programs that focus solely on rats at ground level frequently fail because they fail to take this phenomenon into account. Rats will leave the sewers in pursuit of food or to escape from flooding that can occur from storms, blockages, or other reasons.

Catching rats in the sewer isn’t a simple process. Until recently, rodenticides had to be placed in sewers to control subterranean rodent populations, but recent advances including Anticimex SMART technology made non-toxic solutions possible.

?

The SMART Pipe Solution

The SMART Pipe is an advanced, environmentally friendly, solution to business and municipal sewer rat problems. These traps are inserted into sewer lines and capture rats where they live. When a rodent is caught, the system automatically alerts the Viking offices which allows us to understand where the rat pressure is highest and place our traps and countermeasures more effectively. This process is purely mechanical and has no need for traditional baits or treatments. The system is active 24/7 and requires minimal maintenance helping to ensure continual rodent management below ground. Other components of the SMART system work above ground to provide an advanced and comprehensive rodent management system.

Rats breed quickly, alarmingly so, so the post-pandemic rat problem may be here to stay. That doesn’t mean it has to stay in or beneath your premises. Handling rats in your place of business isn’t an impossibility. It’s just a challenge without the right knowledge and equipment. Call Viking or your local Anticimex company to get SMART Pipe to protect your sewer lines and send your rat problems down the drain for good.