Rodent Trapping In Forklift Traffic Areas

Inside warehouses and other commercial accounts where preventative perimeter “curiosity” mouse traps are needed, it can be frustrating, difficult and costly to maintain standard metal or plastic mouse traps in areas subject to high forklift activity. In these areas the traps are regularly bumped, nudged or “totaled” by forklifts.

Even a minor “bump” by a forklift truck usually results in a trap with warped panels, gaps or split plastic panels. Keep in mind that gaps of only ¼-inch will allow a mouse to escape from the traps and such “minor” gaps render a trap ineffective. Moreover, “dinged” traps are difficult and annoying for the technician to service and also are time-consuming when they need to be repaired.

Heavy metal protective covers for the curiosity traps are available from manufacturers or machine shops. These covers significantly protect the mousetraps from the occasional minor contact. However, upon direct collision or heavy contact with a forklift truck, both the cover and the trap are usually demolished, resulting in a 20-pound lump of scrap metal (although they then make good boat anchors).

For those areas with high forklift activity, there may be a better way — PVC. Heavy-duty 1½-inch diameter PVC pipe cut to approximately 12-inch lengths with an inexpensive cardboard glue trap placed inside produces a sturdy mouse and insect trap (as well as offering monitoring capabilities). The beauty of the PVC pipe is, of course, its strength. It can withstand repeated typical forklift truck contact. In warehouses that have constant forklift truck/mouse trap interactions, the PVC trap can offer significant savings throughout the course of a year, as well as ensure that a working trapping device is always in place.

Furthermore, because of its shape and size, the PVC trap also fits snugly against the wall/floor junction where mice and insects typically travel. Like cockroaches, rodents prefer to travel along walls and between objects. They also gravitate toward corners and other protected areas for feeding, grooming and harborage. The PVC trap can also be installed on ledges, overhead beams and other locations where conventional traps and monitors do not fit.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION. Here are some specific tips for using the PVC trap: To affix the trap in place and prevent it from being easily moved, two 1-inch strips of heavy-duty Velcro® fabric can be attached to both ends of the trap. The opposite faces of the Velcro can be glued to the wall surface.

A self-adhesive inspection label (available with many of the standard multiple-catch traps and bait stations) can be affixed to the outside of the trap. The label should be affixed to the rear side of the trap to facilitate the inspector lifting and closely inspecting the trap interior in order to initial the service date.

The glueboard should be recessed into the PVC pipe so that approximately 1½ to 2 inches of the floor of the PVC pipe entry area remains uncovered by the glue trap. In this way, a mouse that is cautiously exploring this new “hole” in its path will not be initially repelled by a sticky surface grabbing the mouse’s facial or leg vibrissae (the sensory organs responsible for exploratory touch mechanisms in the rodent).

The PVC trap is also ideal for use in locations where repeated minor wetness beneath the bases of the metal traps causes corrosion and eventual malfunctioning of the metal mousetraps. Substantial wetness however, will render the PVC glue trap ineffective due to the moisture neutralizing the glue surface.

The PVC trap is not appropriate in cold storage areas, as the glue does not perform adequately in cold temperatures.

If the PVC trap is installed into areas subject to a significant amount of floor dust or debris, the traps will need to be checked weekly to replace any dusty glue boards.

It is also important to point out that the PVC trap is not an appropriate trap for the entire warehouse. This is because glue traps in general tend to be less effective than non-glue traps. Still, in most warehouses, where the occasional mouse is the typical scenario, a PVC glue trap in working condition in high forklift activity areas is certainly a more effective mousetrap than a beat-up, warped, spun-out or gappy curiosity trap.

For every technician who has had to “wrestle” with damaged metal traps time after time due to a careless (or determined?) forklift driver, the PVC trap may offer a small personal victory while conducting the tedious work of running hundreds of mouse traps inside large warehouses. Think of the PVC trap as an “anti-fork-lift trap.”

Dr. Robert Corrigan, a contributing editor to PCT magazine, is president of RMC Pest Management Consulting, 5114 Turner Road, Richmond IN 47374, 317/939-2829.