It's the middle of winter, when rodents like mice and rats actively search for warm shelter and food--even finding refuge in commercial spaces. These uninvited guests can cause significant damage, carry diseases, and can be a risk to your business' reputation. To help you stay on top of winter pests, Turner has curated SMART solutions to protect your business and clientele.

How Rodents Get in and Where They're Likely to Stay

Rodents are resourceful and can squeeze through small openings. Mice can fit through holes as small as a dime, while rats can enter through gaps the size of a quarter. Common entry points include:

• Cracks in the foundation
• Gaps around doors and windows
• Vents and utility lines
• Damaged screens or doors weeps

Once rodents get inside, it's important to act quickly. They are known to reproduce rapidly, making them difficult to remove without professional intervention. You will likely find them in areas with adequate water supply (such as kitchens or bathrooms), on counters & food prep stations, in cabinets & drawers, food storage areas, or near entrance and exit points of your storefront.

Risks of Rodent Infestations for Your Business

These unwanted guests can pose both structural and health risks to your business, such as:

• Property Damage: Rodents chew through electrical wires, walls, plastics, and furniture, causing costly damage to your business' supplies and investments.
• Contamination: They contaminate food and surfaces with droppings, urine, and saliva, spreading diseases like hantavirus, salmonella, and leptospirosis.
• Reputation: Active rodent infestations can spell unprecedented threats to your business' good standing with the health department and your customers. Signs of rodents often lead to failed health inspections-- which are public record-- and can drive customers away, or worse, shut you down.

Tips to Keep Rodents Out This Winter

You can take several steps to keep these pests out of your commercial space. First, you can start by sealing any openings or cracks that may allow them to get in. These include:

• Doorways and door sweeps
• Windows and screens
• Utility entrances
• Plumbing
• Walls
• Roofing

Rodents are also notorious for seeking out food supplies. You can limit their access by:

• Storing food in airtight containers.
• Cleaning up spills and crumbs immediately.
• Using sealed trash bins with tight-fitting lids.
• Sweeping and mopping regularly.

Signs of a Rodent Infestation

Unfortunately, prevention isn’t always enough to keep these pets from sneaking into your business, especially in winter. If rodents are already present, you may notice:

• Droppings on the floor, counter spaces, or near areas where food is often present.
• Gnaw marks on wires, wood, and food packaging
• Holes in your walls or other signs of entry
• Hearing small footsteps or scratching
• Consistent, strange odors

If you notice any of these signs, you likely have an infestation-- even if you haven’t seen a rodent out in the open yet.

Call on Turner's Professionals for Commercial Pest Control

Rats and mice are a serious risk to the health of your customers & employees and your business' reputation.

That’s why the experts at Turner Pest Control are your trusted team to provide quality year-round commercial pest management and prevention services.

One of our cutting-edge approaches to rodent control is Turner’s SMART monitoring system. Our SMART pest control technology is carefully designed to offer advanced, continuous protection against rodents tailored to your building's layout specifications.

Unlike traditional methods (like traps and poison), SMART monitoring is proactive AND reactive. SMART monitoring’s advanced sensors detect rodent activity in real time throughout your business. Once the activity is detected, the system alerts our pest control team to take immediate action and investigate. Additionally, SMART is safer than your standard rodent control: our pesticide and poison-free traps humanely trap pests.

Contact us today to schedule your free inspection and discover how our innovative solutions can keep rodents out. Call us at (904) 495-7698 or fill out our online contact form to receive a free quote.