Re-tail mice make the most of store racking

Rodents, in particular mice are more than happy to sneak into a nice warm and dry office. Building structures such as false floors, cable passages, ceiling vents, dry risers, internet ducts, suspended ceilings and even routing wires, can offer mice “rodent highways”, enabling them to gain easy access into a property.

But mice don’t just sneak into homes and office buildings to find safe harbourages. Shops, department stores and particularly supermarkets and grocery stores are a gold mine for mice. These places are also warm; offer shelter (from predators as well as the elements) and plenty of food for a creature that only needs a meal of about 3g a day to survive.

Mice are very adept at climbing, especially when it comes to small, confined spaces. Studies have shown that they use their backs to brace themselves against a small space and shimmy themselves up tall infrastructures. Their flexible skeletons also allow them to squeeze through gaps as small as a pencil, and their inquisitive nature means they will investigate every little gap they can find.

Shops inadvertently offer mice a range of opportunities to help them travel through a store undetected whilst foraging for food and setting up nesting sites. It is, quite simply the humble shop racking and gondola systems used by countless stores to display their wares. These are often ‘rodent hot spots’ when there is an infestation of mice. Traditional metal shop racking is littered with small vents, which are just big enough for mice to squeeze through. The close proximity and volume of racking means mice can easily navigate an entire premise, swiftly crawling between units without being detected. Not only do mice utilise these structures to navigate and forage, they are more than happy to set up home – you can often find mice nests in the bases or the narrow space inside the supports of the racking.

These secret passageways can provide a secure harbourage and allow mice to move safely around a premise, out of sight and out of mind. As these rodents are nocturnal the first indications you might notice of a mouse infestation are not likely to be the mice, but what they leave behind:

Signs of mice

• Droppings – 50/ 80 droppings a night, small and dark (approx. 3 – 8 mm in length), scattered randomly, check inside or on top of cupboards, along skirting and edges of racking.
• Grease marks – Caused by their bodies brushing against walls, floors and skirting on regular routes, dark smears around holes or around corners.
• Strong smell – Mice urinate frequently and their wee has a strong ammonia-like smell. The stronger the smell the closer you are to mice activity.
• Scratching noises – Often at night when mice are most active. Listen for noises between partition walls, under floorboards, in false ceilings, between shelving and under the base of racking units.

To help get rid of a mouse infestation everyone in the store needs to co-operate, both management and staff. Preventing and deterring mice from a premise will require:

• Mice proofing premises – seal any holes and gaps that mice could use to enter. Remember to identify any gaps that are higher up the building, not just those near the ground, as mice are agile climbers.
• Remove debris – rubbish and accumulated items stored in ‘out of the way’ corners, so that mice do not have readily available materials to shred and use in nests.

Our discreet and innovative Mouse Monitor Units provides early, accurate detection of mice activity in your premises. The MMU is a non-toxic 24/7 monitoring system, using advanced infra-red sensor technology, ideal for use in sensitive areas. As soon as the monitor detects a mouse issue, action can quickly be taken to solve the infestation. Our tailored RADAR Riddance programmes, using our bait-free, humane mouse trap have been designed to effectively and discreetly reduce mouse populations with an effective 24 hour a day trapping programme over a specific treatment period. The RADAR mouse trap is the perfect option for areas within a store where the use of rodenticide bait is not an option.