Rodents: A Restaurant Owner's Worst Nightmare
Any business owner knows how difficult it can be to turn a profit. But this can be especially challenging for restaurant owners. With the price of food, supplies, and labor, it can be a real effort to stay out of the red. Add the costs such as insurance, utilities, and unexpected repairs, and the challenge becomes even steeper. With turning a profit being this difficult, the last thing a restaurant owner needs is to find out that mice have invaded the building.
It's A Bad Thing To Have Mice In Your Restaurant
Pests of any kind in the restaurant business can be a nightmare but mice are particularly worrisome. Not only do they affect morale of employees and customers alike, but they spread disease and can cause a host of other issues if left unchecked.
Some of the problems mice cause:
- As mentioned, mice affect morale. When kitchen and dining room staff are aware that they are not alone, and that tiny rodents are sharing their work environment, it can cause undue stress, especially for those who are naturally afraid of mice.
- Mice affect your bottom line. If a customer happens to see a mouse or signs of mice, they are apt to leave a bad review on an internet review site. So not only is it highly unlikely that the offended customer will ever come back, their negative review will affect the choices of other customers.
- Mice never stop chewing. Because of a set of ever-growing incisors, mice need to continually wear down their teeth by chewing. They will chew into food packaging, on stored items, and even electrical wires. The latter has been known to spark fires. And if mice have holed up in the attic of the establishment, they may be disturbing the insulation and chewing holes in the roof area, which will cause a loss of heat, and lead to a rise in heating costs.
- Mice spread disease. By spreading bacteria, which they carry in their fur and in their droppings and urine, mice can transmit diseases such as tularemia, salmonellosis, rat-bite fever, plague, and leptospirosis.
- Mice bring other pests. When they invade, rodents do not usually come alone. They can carry numerous parasites such as mites, ticks, and fleas, all of which come with their own set of issues. And one mouse can carry as many as 100 ticks in its fur.
- Mice contaminate food. When mice chew into packaging and leave droppings, urine, and bacteria, they can taint items with salmonella, E.Coli, and more.
Steps Restaurant Owners Can Take To Limit Dangers
- If you have a dumpster on your property, move it as far away from the building as is feasible. Rodents are famous for hanging out in dumpsters.
- Limit the amount of clutter you have around your perimeter. Mice and other pests love to hide in clutter and, if they come in close to your building, they will be more likely to find a way inside.
- Examine your foundation and walls for gaps, holes, or cracks, and seal any openings you find using a caulking gun--if you cannot have them professionally sealed right away. Mice can squeeze in through a hole the size of a dime.
- Remove food and water sources outside. If you have trash cans, make sure they are all tightly sealed. If there are areas of wetness, leaky spigots, leaky or obstructed gutters, make repairs so things stay as dry as possible. This will help to lure in fewer rodents and other animals.
- Keep your kitchen clean and make sure all food products are stored either inside refrigerators or freezers or in tightly sealed containers. If mice get in and don't find any food sources during their nighttime foraging hours, they will be less likely to hang around.
Help From Big Blue Bug Solutions
If you are in need of pest protection, Big Blue Bug Solutions is close at hand. We are here to protect business owners against the odds by ensuring that restaurants are free of unwelcome pests such as mice. With Big Blue Bug's monthly maintenance program, we will visit once a month to monitor pest activity and perform preventative treatments. And if you are already seeing mice (or the signs they leave behind) we can take care of that too. Protect your employees, your customers, and your bottom line, reach out to Big Blue today.
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