MARKET OVERVIEW: Focus On Rodent Control

Editor’s Note: Earlier this year, at the International Conference On Urban Pests in Charleston, S.C., LiphaTech Inc. and PCT magazine invited a distinguished panel of pest management professionals to participate in a roundtable discussion on key trends in the rodent control market. Participants in the 90-minute session included Paul Hardy and Frank Meek, Orkin Pest Control, Atlanta, Ga.; Bill Clark, Bill Clark Pest Control, Beaumont, Texas; Pat Hottel, McCloud Services, Hoffman Estates, Ill.; Darrel Hutto, Horizon Professional Consulting Services, Houston, Tex-as; Kim Kelley-Tunis, McCloud Services, Indianapolis, Ind.; Dr. Richard Kramer, American Pest Management, Takoma Park, Md.; Bob Kunst, Fischer Environmental Services, Mandeville, La.; Phil Nichols, Middleton Lawn & Pest Control, Orlando, Fla.; Dr. George Rambo, George Rambo Consulting Services, Central, S.C.; Don Rivard, Rivard’s Resources: IPM, Waltham, Mass.; Jim Sargent, Cope-san Services, Milwaukee, Wis.; Gerald Siegfried, J.C. Ehrlich Co., Reading, Pa.; Dr. Eric Smith, Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co., Lynchburg, Va.; Tom Rogers and Zia Siddiqi, Acurid Commercial Services, Atlanta, Ga.; and Dr. Gerry Wegner, Varment Guard Environmental Services, Columbus, Ohio. Excerpts of the discussion are featured here.

One of the most significant changes to occur in the rodent control market in recent years has been a growing reliance on IPM with a renewed emphasis on building rats and mice out of structures, while managing the local environment to eliminate conditions conducive to rodent activity. This trend has been particularly apparent in the residential pest control market where homeowners have expressed growing concerns about the use of rodenticides in and around structures.

Paul Hardy, technical director of Orkin Pest Control, says the vast majority of rodent-related calls to the company’s “Ask Orkin” help line relate to the toxicants used to control rats and mice. “The number one question asked by consumers when it comes to rodent control is rodenticide safety,” he said. “And if they’re concerned about rodenticides, then I’m concerned about rodenticides. It’s an important consumer issue.”

Consequently, Orkin shies away from using rodenticides inside residential structures unless it’s absolutely necessary. “We usually try to solve the problem with a trap or a glueboard before we go to a rodenticide,” Hardy said, a sentiment shared by Bill Clark, president of Bill Clark Pest Control, Beaumont, Texas. “Outdoors, you have greater flexibility about the control measures you can use,” he said, “but indoors we’re much more cautious because of the threat to pets and children.”

Dr. Eric Smith, director of technical services for Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co., Lynchburg, Va., agrees that rodenticide baits should be “a last resort” in treating residential structures because of liability considerations. However, he says, if a pest management professional chooses to use a bait in these locations, he or she must determine the LD50 of the rodenticide and the amount of bait required to harm a 22-pound dog or other non-target animal. “Those factors will drive a lot of what you do in selecting a rodenticide,” he said. “The fact is sooner or later a dog is going to chew up one of your bait stations. So, you want to make sure that if they chew every station on that property it’s not going to make any difference in the health of that animal. That’s why it’s so important for a PMP to review the LD50 of all the rodenticides in their control arsenal.”

While safety is a concern in residential accounts, “our biggest problems are with mouse problems in older homes that have very intricate construction or recent additions to the home,” according to Dr. Gerry Wegner, technical director of Varment Guard Environmental Service, Columbus, Ohio. “In those structures, there’s no way we can eliminate every 3/8-inch gap where mice can gain entry, so they’re very challenging accounts.”

In such situations Varment Guard uses tamper-resistant bait stations containing extruded block-style baits, as well as carefully placed snap traps, to eliminate the problem, while educating the customer about both the benefits and risks of rodenticide use. “We let our customers know up front that rodents can die indoors and there can be an odor problem,” he said. “It doesn’t happen all that frequently, but it can happen. We try to counter the falsehood that was promulgated years ago that if a rodent eats rodenticide it’s going to go outside and die. That’s an urban myth.”

Wegner also cited homes with extensive ground cover and lush landscaping as problematic. “When ground cover around a home is so dense it’s difficult to achieve 100 percent exclusion. Oftentimes, our exclusion efforts are only 80 to 90 percent effective, resulting in future rodent problems. Unfortunately, it’s the 10 to 20 percent of a home we miss that usually causes the problems.”

The key factor in selecting a course of action for American Pest Management, a highly regarded pest control firm based in Takoma Park, Md., is determining “where that rodent is likely going to die,” according to Technical Director Dr. Richard Kramer. “If we feel the rodent is likely going to die within the structure, then bait will not be used in that scenario so we can avoid the odor problems that people oftentimes find more onerous than the rodent problem itself. If we’ve gotten to a point where trapping is not working and the customer is willing to accept the collateral issue of odor, then we may use a rodenticide inside. It depends on the situation.”

Whatever treatment regimen is ultimately selected, Kramer said it’s essential that all control options be thoroughly explained and reviewed with the customer prior to implementation.

A PROFITABLE MARKET. Rodent control in commercial accounts is the most lucrative segment of the rodent control market, but it’s also the most challenging. “When designing a rodent control program for a commercial facility, we first determine the account’s specific needs,” observed Bob Kunst, owner of Fischer Environmental Services, Mandeville, La. “Not every account is the same, so you need some flexibility built into your treatment protocols. If we determine a rodenticide needs to be used in a specific account, we determine the type of bait that is most appropriate and we decide if the bait is going to be used on the interior of the structure or just on the fence line.”

Zia Siddiqi of Acurid Commercial Services, Atlanta, Ga., says when it comes to rodent control – like anything else in business – the customer often gets what he or she pays for. “For our company, the first line of defense is outdoors,” he said. Acurid relies on rodent-proofing and the installation of bait stations around the perimeter of the structure to prevent rodent entry into buildings, utilizing rodenticides, snap traps and sticky traps in tamper-resistant bait stations to prevent rodent access to structures. “We generally inspect outside bait stations once a month, but if the rodent pressure is high we’ll inspect them twice a month. If the commercial customer wants us to follow certain inspection protocols and visit the site more often, we’ll be happy to do it, but they’ll have to pay for it. We’re in business to meet our customers’ needs.”

Unfortunately, corporate quality control managers aren’t always well versed in rodent control, says George Rambo, president of GR Consulting Services, Central, S.C. “These corporate quality assurance people oftentimes don’t have a very deep understanding of rodent or insect control, so the protocols, while well intentioned, aren’t always appropriate for a particular account. In such cases, why isn’t the industry saying this is how we should do it? Somewhere along the line the industry has to take control of its own destiny.”

Bob Kunst agreed, pointing out that pest management professionals are frequently “left out of the loop” when protocols are developed by their commercial customers. “We don’t get invited to participate in the process,” he said. “We are simply given the guidelines and expected to implement them, but we don’t have any input into writing them. Too often we’re given second-tier status.”

When the PCO isn’t directly involved in designing and implementing the treatment program, the quality of service suffers, according to Kunst. “In such cases, technicians often get into the habit of simply checking, cleaning and refilling bait stations rather than looking for rodent infestations, rodent egress and rodent access…in short, performing true rodent IPM.”

KEYS TO SUCCESS. Don Rivard, owner of Rivard’s Resources: IPM, a consulting firm based in Waltham, Mass., says to successfully treat any structure for rodents – regardless whether it’s a single-family home or a commercial business – pest management professionals must provide “sufficient trapping, sufficient baiting and sufficient customer communication.”

In addition, the technician must regularly inspect and monitor the area surrounding the treated property. “In our industry, all too frequently we’re just looking at the specific problem, but the rodent population could be being fed by surrounding areas. In such cases you need to turn off the faucet of rodent activity by addressing the rodent population in the adjoining properties.”

That’s why perimeter rodent control programs are so effective, but technicians must first be trained to effectively estimate rodent populations and to use enough bait to control the problem. “Oftentimes I see insufficient baits being put out,” Rivard said. “That’s one of the most common mistakes technicians make, which brings you back to the quality of the individual providing the service. That’s why proper training is so important.”

Bill Clark, for one, is convinced exclusion and perimeter pest control programs are the way to go in these pesticide-conscious times. “As I grow more mature, I recognize that both residentially and commercially we need to do a lot better job of selling exclusion and providing perimeter baiting services that are foolproof,” Clark said. “If you’ve got a rat or a mouse in a house you’ve got a problem. The thing that I’ve grown to believe is that exclusion is the way to go, and you’ve got to be able to sell it or you shouldn’t be in the pest control business.”

“The question we must ask ourselves is, ‘Are we teaching our technicians to simply run a trap line or are we teaching them rodent pest management?’ In too many cases, they are being taught by us and/or encouraged by outside inspection service dogma to run a trap line rather than provide true rodent pest management,” observed Dr. Eric Smith of Dodson Bros. Exterminating Co. “That’s got to change if we’re going to improve the quality of rodent control service we’re providing our customers.”