Rat-a-through-ee

Okay, lame titile for today's blog, I know.  But seriously, people have this behind their building and they wonder how come there are rats running around at night?

Rats are known to be able to get through holes that are no bigger than the diameter of a quarter.  Obviously this is a well traveled pathway.  The wood has been gnawed.  The dirt has been trampled.  The rats abide.

This is actually a tougher situation to fix than we might think.  We can't just plug this leak, because there are leaks all around this wooden fence.  But there is a lot we can do.

First, we need to think about reducing the population.   Who cares if there is a rat tunnel if there are no rats to use it?  So let's get some bait stations going to start eliminating some of the clan.

Second, if this tunnel is near by then we need to do some investigating and find the burrows.  Once we find one (or more), we need to treat it, and treat it in a systematic, smart way, because we don't want the problem to spread.  (I'll talk more about treating burrows in a future blog.)

Finally, we need to consider seriously the option of changing the landscape.  Can we replace the fence?  Can we replace the dirt with rocks or gravel?  Can we do some renovations to make these guys a lot less comfortable in our backyard?  I'm sure we could, so let's consider that if the problem persists.

Rats will break on through to the other side.  But let's not make it easy on them.  It shouldn't be child's play.

Reminder about the gaps

Perhaps someday, in the not too distant future, restaurants will not need doors.  But for now, doors are an essential part of every building, and just like they provide access for human beings, they also provide access for nonhuman beings.

When a door is closed, does it look closed to you?  Therein lies the problem: it may be closed only to you, and not closed to other, small creatures, especially rodents.  Rats and mice are often so fearless and so motivated that you will literally catch a glimpse of them running in through your front door and then dashing behind some object.  It will make you pine for the days of doorless restaurants.

To prevent these sort of unwelcome visitors, you should periodically do the following:

1)  Open and close your doors and see how they look.  Can you see a visible gap?  Do the doors close all the way or do they get stuck ajar?  Can you fit a screw driver through the gap?  If you can, then a rodent can fit through.

2)  Invest in new door sweeps every so often.  Door sweeps are very effective when installed properly.  However, like anything, they wear out over time and need to be replaced.  Check yours to make sure they are still doing the job.

3) Consider in stalling an add on piece of equipment that you can put on over night to give you additional coverage.  This could be something a like a piece of plexiglass that you attach via velcro over the middle of the two doors every time you leave for the night.

4)  Other measures that your pest management professional can help you with include applying repellants to the doors to drive rodents away, as well as installing discreet devices to monitor and intercept intruders.

5)  Make sure your drawbridge is up at night, and keep the moat stocked with predatory reptiles to hunt the rodents.

You can't just think about the inside of your restaurant, you have to think about the outside as well.  Your doors are your restaurant as much as your ovens.  In the meantime, let's keep brainstorming about our brave new doorless society.

Avoid a void

A void is typically defined as an uninhabited area.  Well, we might say "allegedly" uninhabited.  Even your dining room banquet seats can have large empty spaces where invaders (space invaders?) can dwell, find harborage, and cause damage to your goods and reputation.

All voids need to be inspected and treated regularly.  Every void should have:

1) Visual inspections
2) Monitoring systems in place
3) If necessary, traps to catch and / or kill active pests
4) If necessary, products to eliminate active pests.

You can't avoid having voids in your locations, but you can avoid many of the problems if you purpose to reclaim these "unvenued spaces."

Feeling drained

Let's admit it, nobody really likes to think about drains.  Oh sure, we're all glad that we have drains in our life.  Nobody is saying get rid of drains.  But to think about them is kind of nasty.

To help keep your establishment pest free, not only do you need to think about your drains, and clean your drains, but I would recommend that you periodically feel your drains.  You should actually get down and put your gloved hand inside each drain and feel around.  It will give you insight into all the potential problems that your drains can cause your entire restaurant.

In the above pictures, these drains actually look pretty good sanitation wise. There is a little build up of gunk, etc., but not too much.  But in the bottom picture, you can see that a dirty rag.  How did it get there?  When will it be taken out?  How long until flies start using it as an ideal breeding site?

By getting down and reaching in to the drain you can remove the rag and remove a host of other potential problems.

Give them an inch, they'll take a mile

All it takes is one.  One open container.  One missing lid.  One spot in the bar that didn't get swept and mopped and wiped down.

Fruit flies are incredibly aggressive.  They can seemingly pop up over night.  And if you give them any excuse, any opportunity, any advantage, they will take it.  Give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

The key word with flies is sanitation.  They love filth.  To control them you must control filth.  If you give them any excuse to live and breed, before you know it they will thrive.

How often do you go through your stock?  When was the last time the storage items were pulled out away from the wall and inspected?  Remember that thing that you were going to "get to later"?  Did you ever get to it?

Flies will be flies.  We have to be so clean that they'll have no choice but to look elsewhere.

Just when you thought it was safe to go to bed

What we are dealing with here, is a perfect engine, an eating machine.... All this machine does is crawl, and eat, and make little bugs.  And that's all.

The bed bug really is amazing.  If you weren't so disgusted and freaked out right now you probably would agree with me.  Every time I study bed bugs I'm more and more impressed with their design, behavior, and abilities.

How about the fact that as they bite they inject an anesthetic into their victim so that the biting is undetectable?

How about the fact that the bed bug eggs come covered in an adhesive so that they can stick and be transported great distances?

How about the fact that they detect your carbon dioxide as you sleep and so they know when it is time to eat?

How about the fact that they can transport themselves into people's brains and can possess your dog and are currently developing their own nuclear reactor?  Okay, that last one is not true.  Sorry.  Just trying to lighten the mood.

But yes, the bed bug is as amazing as the Great White Shark.  Both have a taste for blood, both freak people out, and both are as horrifying as they are fascinating.  But the chances of you having to deal with bed bugs in your life time is much greater than ever having an encounter with a Great White.  So what can you do?

First, you've got to be aware of the problem.  Be aware of your surroundings.  Keep your eyes open.  As soon as you suspect something get an inspection.  It's even a good idea to have regular inspections scheduled.

Second, there are a number of preventative measures you can take, from mattress covers, to monitors, to barrier treatments, etc.  You should be as preemptive with this as you are with any other possible problem.

Finally, I think it's time to de-stigmatize bed bugs.  You didn't do anything wrong to get bed bugs any more than you did something wrong to get nipped by a shark.  It just happens.  There is nothing to be embarrassed about.  Alert the right people as soon as you think there is a problem, because if you're embarrassed to say something your problem is only going to get worse.  And if it get's too much worse, you're gonna need a bigger exterminating bill to pay.

I hear you knocking, and you can come in

Aside from the fact that this abstract art would look great hanging over my couch, this is a reminder to us that we need to get down to "their level" if we want to see what the pests are up to in our restaurants.  This is the back door of the kitchen leading out to the trash area.  The gap between the bottom of the door and the floor is more than enough for rodents to squeeze their way through.  But you wouldn't notice it unless you took the time to get down on your knees.

This is absolutely a door sweep situation, maybe even one on each side of the door.  Also, just because there is a constant supply of restaurant rubbish out back doesn't mean that we can't also get a bunch of bait stations out there to reduce the population.  And as I'll be talking about later this week, I would even get snap traps out there along the trash cans in a further effort to reduce the population.

I kind of see a setting sun over a sandy beach.  Or maybe a melting marshmallow floating in hot chocolate.  How much do you want for this painting?

Inside the Machine

It's Monday morning, so I wanted to start out with something mellow and go easy on every body.  Here we have the inside of a dish washing unit.  This actually isn't too bad of a situation, because it looks like the organic matter in here is relatively fresh, maybe even from last night, so it's probably cleaned out every day and doesn't have too much of a chance to decay.

The problem, however, is that pests don't need much time to get involved and get established.  These lemon peels, pieces of fruit, etc. will immediately be detected by any fruit flies in the area, and then they'll be off to the races. Another point to be aware of is that the hoses, springs, and corners can all get a buildup of gunk inside of them, and that will definitely be more difficult to keep clean.

These situations need 1) Regular cleaning daily, 2) Deep cleaning weekly, 3) White glove inspections monthly, 4) Mock health inspections quarterly.  If you stay on top of it, you won't have to worry about what's inside of it.

Burrows in the boroughs

Isn't it interesting that the word for a rat's home (burrow) and the word for that 1/5 of NYC where you live (borough) are pronounced the same?  Humans and rats live in "boros."  Here is a picture of some nice rat burrows in the basement of a restaurant.  You can see how they tunnel right along the wall.  If these cement blocks are hollow then the rats are probably using channels to travel upstairs to grab some grub.  It's a seamless plan.  The old school Coke bottle adds to the whole feel of rat-ness.  At least someone took the time to caution the rats about the slippery floors.

These burrows need to be treated with products, bait stations need to be placed in nearby locations, various types of traps should be set, and the trash should be removed.  Obviously they are comfortable here, so aggressive measures need to be taken to get them out of the "boros" and into the 'burbs.

Ew York City will return on Monday, July 14, 2014.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Creeping with the Enemy

Are your efforts to provide pest elimination actually backfiring and working against you?   This rodent trap is a useful tool to catch mice and to monitor pest activity.  Unfortunately if it is not maintained it can backfire on you and become a breeding site for flies.  We had just taken over this account and found this thing in bad condition.  Don't be a double agent.  Keep things clean, well maintained, and functioning properly for you, not against you.

Lots of rats in the lots

A little "vacant lot" in one of the "outer boros" has been seeing rats.  Upon investigating we find numerous conditions that are helpful to the rats, namely human clutter and human trash.  Trash containers like these are not good for outside areas, unless they are going to be kept closed with tight fitting lids.  Also, the very presence of clutter is conducive to rodent activity.  Clutter provides shelter, nesting areas, and gives them items on which to gnaw.

The best bet to conquer this problem is 1) to have a day of Spring cleaning, throwing away everything in the lot, 2) having someone keep an eye on the lot to make sure sanitation is kept up, 3) replace these trash cans with those big rectangular hoppers that have the lids attached so there is less temptation to leave them uncovered, 4) install a good amount of rodent bait stations, maybe even more than you need at first, so that you can reduce the population, 5) check for burrows and treat them as needed.  Also, if your budget allows, drones can be used to perform periodic fly overs to attack the rats.

The bottom line is: if you don't care about your lot in life, you will have lots of rats.

You deserve better than "better than nothing."

Straight out of a horror movie come the Water Bugs, these large American Cockroaches, right up through the piping and into your bath tub (hopefully you are not sitting in the tub at that very moment).  This overflow drain was apparently the source of access for the bugs, and so the resident took it upon himself to tape up the slot with masking tape, and then put steel wool around the bottom gap.  It looks ugly, won't last long, and it might even cause damage to the tub.

To minimize Water Bugs getting into your bath tub: 1) have your Pest Elimination team inspect and make regular treatments to bathrooms, kitchens, and all areas where pipes come into your apartment, 2) if you have a tub or sink that you don't use regularly, you should periodically run water down the drain to prevent Water Bugs from harboring in these tunnels, 3) invest in the proper caps or lids or plugs for your drains, overflows, etc., and keep them on at all times.  Masking tape is better than nothing, but you deserve better than "better than nothing."

Blockade to sanitation

This is a typical sight underneath a kitchen's appliances.  We see broccoli, snap peas, and other healthy choices, but also a lot of decaying organic food matter (DOFM) that has built up over time and is ideal for pests to feed and breed.  Also, notice how the steel coil forms a blockade above the crevice and literally blocks attempts to do deep cleaning.  This is a dream situation for flies, roaches, and rodents, and a nightmare for friends of clean kitchens everywhere.

One option is to see if the coil can be tied up a few inches above the floor.  A second idea is to dedicate an extra hour each week to have your team do a deep cleaning in these areas (that means get on your hands and knees, use a flash light and something abrasive to scrape everything out, and get the job done like your care about self-preservation).

These problems only get fixed on purpose.

Happy Fourth of July

Red, White, and Blue, the colors of our nation.  And in this picture they are the colors of conditions conducive to fruit flies and other pests.  Cardboard soaked with syrups is a dream for flies.  While it may seem impractical, time should be taken to wipe these cardboard boxes clean.  And let your team know the importance of minimizing spills.

Ew York City will return on Monday.

I want to wish all of our readers a safe, peaceful, pest free Independence Day!

The Abyss

Where are they coming from?  Why do I keep finding wretched creatures of the night in my restaurant bar?  Are there any answers?
Maybe.  One possibility is situations like this above.  This pipe feeds into a wall, and it continues all the way to the nether regions of your building far below your cool little gastropub.  Rodents, Water Bugs, Chuppacabra, and almost anything else can make it's way through this entry point.
This needs to be sealed, preferably with something that is going to be gnaw resistant, but that also will stand up to the moisture and temperature changes that it will be put through.  Also, we want to apply our products to the void before it is sealed, so that we can give our unwanted visitors something to taste.  How many of these invitations to terror are in your abode?

Look closely

What are those?  Are they mouse droppings?  Are they just debris or dirt from the kitchen appliances?  Can you be sure of your answer?
If you have to look twice, then there is cause for concern.  Health inspectors are not infallible, and I would assert that in the history of the NYC Health Dept there has been more than one instance where something that was not "rodent excreta" was called "rodent excreta."
The bottom line is: you cannot be too clean.  You cannot be too diligent.  You cannot work too hard at keeping your restaurant's sanitation as clean as humanly possible.  Why take a chance?
Incidentally, if memory serves, the one on the left was indeed rodent excreta and the one on the right was a food particle.  But since this picture was taken over a year ago, I cannot be certain.

Many ways to say the same thing

No matter how many times we tell people, no matter how much cleaning we do, no matter the distance between us, pest conducive conditions (PCC) will always exist in the world.  Here is the corner under a kitchen oven.  Notice not only the large pieces of food debris, but all the decaying organic matter (DOM) in the grout.  That buildup can attract pests, vermin, and serve as a breeding ground for flies.  When was the last time you looked under your oven?