Tricky mice easily get into small spaces in Princeton, NJ commercial building

Challenge

I was dispatched to one of our commercial properties, an apartment complex in Princeton, NJ that contacted with Cowleys to handle all of their pest control needs. Unfortunately, there was a large influx of mice entering the building. Totally unacceptable! Mice are overwintering pests, and once temperatures start to drop, they look for warm, private locations to escape the harsh outdoor elements. Because of their diminutive size, they can find their way into homes and buildings through the smallest of gaps and cracks in either the foundation or through improperly sealed doors (garage doors that don’t fully close are a favorite entry point!). Since mice have no collarbones, if a mouse can fit its pointy little snout and head through an opening, the rest of its body will follow.

With any rodent inspection, I start by inspecting the building’s exterior perimeter looking for possible entry points. To do it right requires a careful, systematic inspection. With this building, the mice had it easy. One of the rear exit doors was propped open with a rock, an electrical outlet box had been popped out leaving a huge opening, and there were serval areas where pipes going into the building had significant gaps around them. I took photos of all of these potential mice entryways and prepared notes on each of the problem spots. Once finished, I met with the property manager to review my findings. 

The property manager was quite surprised that mice were given such easy opportunities to gain access to the building, and could not believe that they had been overlooked. He assured me that maintenance would seal all of the openings and that management would notify the residents to keep all exit doors closed at all times. Apparently, some residents made their own shortcuts to enter and exit the building rather than using the formal entranceway. This was not only an open invitation to rodents but was a security problem as well for unwanted human visitors. 

Solution

To resolve this rodent infestation, I set up some rodent bait traps and flue boards in the utility room and other sensitive areas where there were droppings and other signs of mouse activity. I’m confident that with the access points sealed and the traps set, residents here would no longer be dealing with any further mouse sightings! I’ll return in two weeks to re-inspect and set additional traps as necessary.