November 2009
A Word From Our President
Members of the GBRPCA,
It's nearly 2010, where has 2009 gone - time has flown by. 2009 was an up and down year for most PCO's, starting with the unstable Real Estate Market, the Crazy ant has invaded our area, the Bed Bugs has arrived, and the Formosan Termite has been seen throughout the Greater Baton Rouge area.
Just a reminder the the GBRPCA is holding our technician recertification on Nov. the 5th at Franks in Prairieville, we have a great line up of speakers.
Nominations are being taken for the 2010 board. Please volunteer your time to serve.
Thank you for being a part of our Association.
Mitch Bourgeois
Winter and Rodents
Keys to Rodent Control
The key to mastering rodent problems is following a controlled step-by-step approach. Traps and specific baits are used but, just the application is not enough to ensure control. Proper control is achieved through thorough inspection, high sanitation conditions and exclusion.
Upon inspection: Signs of activity will be visible (droppings and markings) for both the common house mice and easier to spot with rats. Rats will leave more prominent activity marks. For example, chew marks on surroundings, droppings, tracks, runways, holes in household goods and burrowing.
To achieve high sanitation: rodents are attracted to food products within their reach. Do not store such products on ground levels in the house, garage or any accessible area. Since water sources attract rodents as well eliminating access to such sources will aid in your rodent free sanitation. Ideally home goods should be about a foot off the floor and more than a foot and a half from surrounding walls or corridors.
To achieve exclusion: once location of holes is determined, seal the holes with one of these options: hardware cloth of a certain width, thin metal, metal wood or specific foams. Any holes that span the size of a standard pencil be prepares for mice. Any holes that span the sixe of a quarter be prepared for rats. Make sure your door sweeps are places around most gaps in your doors, windows, pet entrances or any openings.
Trapping: Traps (mouse traps, snap traps both baited and unbaited) and glue boards can be very effective. Glue traps are most effective for adolescent rodents and are less effective on mature specimens. Mouse traps and Rodents traps use different materials for bating. Mouse traps bait better with common materials such as string, dental floss or even fruit and seeds. Rat trap can be baited with various poultry, fish or even the common cereal brand. Rats are very aware of their surroundings and are skittish around new applications. A wise choice would be to leave the stations unbaited till the rodent becomes familiar with the new object.
Baits: There are various rodenticides available. They come in many forms such as pellets, full packets and blocks. When used indoor, especially in residences, the boxes used should be tamperproof to offset the accidental trapping of anything but the rodents. Pellet baits are used more often in outdoor trapping around the rodent burrows. Use a long object such as a spoon or straw to insert the pellets and seal it off.
Liquid baits are effective also and are handled with the same precautions as dry baits. Mixing the liquid baits with a sweet liquid can increase the curiosity of the rodent.
Tracking Powders: These powders are most useful in burrows and singular runways such as voids in construction.
Clean up: As with all rodent control strategies clean up of dead rodents as well as any droppings or surroundings should be disposed of promptly. A proactive approach to rodent control would include a liquid treatment of all past nesting locations which should not only eliminate future infestation but, also any pests the rodents were carrying.
*Some of this story by Dr. Richard Kramer
Next General Meeting
Our next general meeting will be held at Cafe' Americain on Tuesday, November 17th at 6:30pm. More details will be posted so check back for guest speaker and other information.
Cost to attend is $17.00 for association members and $22.00 for non-members.
Our guest speaker will be Tyrone Dudle of the Louisiana Dept of Agricultre and Forestry. Mr. Dudley will give a presentation on the procedures for complaints filed with the department.
Thank you to Lee Stout for this month's submission on rodents.
Please send any future newsletter submissions to webmaster@gbrpca.org so we can put them in the next issue.