Does every restaurant have rodents lurking in their facility? Here we will answer that and talk about why and how rats or mice end up in a restaurant to begin with. When a restaurant has rodents in their facility, many times they will deny that they are actually there, unless they see them with their own eyes. Truth is that rodents can be in a restaurant without the restaurant immediately knowing that they were there.
Seeing a rodent in a restaurant is enough to creep most individuals out. Having rodents in the restaurant can also be a huge problem, as food deliveries made by third party companies late at night or early morning can be sabotaged by rats when the restaurant isn’t open during the wee hours.
So, how do restaurants end up with rodents?
A dirty restaurant isn’t always the reason why these sewer crawling pests end up in a restaurant. It is usually the easy access that they have to food, water, and shelter that brings them to one and makes them want to stay. So, it is actual a careless restaurant that ends up with them. Rodents can get into a restaurant by any openings from the outside of the facility to the inside of the building. These holes and cracks that lead into the inside of the restaurant do not have to be large either; or even the size of the rat or mouse.
Usually a rat or a mouse can nearly get through any opening that they can get their heads through believe it or not. However, just because a rodent can fit their head through, doesn’t always means that they can get the rest of their body through too. Many times they can though. This means that any restaurant that has openings that lead directly from the outside to the inside of their facility can have rats or mice passing through and searching for food, or living there.
This means that older restaurants that neglect repairs to worn out doors, windows, and cracks that are forming over time in the ceiling, floors, or pipes, can have rats or mice. These rodents can enter in through the ground or the ceiling of the restaurant. They are also nocturnal, which means that they won’t come out most of the time until the restaurant closes.
A restaurant usually takes precautions to prevent access to food by storing all food 6 inches from the ground, placing the food in metal walk-in coolers that can’t be chewed through, and keeping the restaurant clean. Even though restaurants can have rats or mice lurking in them at night, many restaurants do not have rats or mice in their establishments.
Many restaurants fear health inspectors shutting down their restaurant (even if it is for a short period of time). This means that many restaurant are already aware that there is a possibility of having a rat infestation. From the many years of working in various types of restaurants, only one of them has clearly had rats that eventually made a home in the restaurant. This same restaurant had old broken down doors and cracks in places that made it easy for rodents to get in during the night.
Majority of the employees working at this specific restaurant were also careless of their customer’s and the health of the restaurant, which led to rats eventually making the facility their home. It was evident that the rats were there when the bread that was delivered was seen with an eaten out tunnel going through it. The rat had eaten through the plastic and then through the bread, making a distinct tunnel.
Also, cities that are known to have rats or mice everywhere, will also have rats and mice near the restaurant. They will be in the thrown out garbage at night. Fortunately, seeing rats or mice on the outer part of the restaurant isn’t a guarantee that they will be on the inside of the restaurant too.
Many individuals accept that rats or mice can be on the outsideof the restaurant, especially in the cities that already have them everywhere. However, the real problem is when these rodents are inside of the restaurant, as at that point it has become a health hazard. Rats can carry a plethora of different diseases that can be spread to food, surfaces, cups, dishes, and other places.
Unfortunately when a restaurant finds out that they have rats or mice in the facility, majority of the time they will try to handle the problem on their own and hide it. This means that they will continue to try to run business as normal with/or without calling pest control. They will also assume that cleaning the restaurant even more, when it is already cleaned daily well enough, will make the rodents poof and disappear. As stated, clean restaurant or not, rodents can be there; and they will continue to thrive as long as they have a way to get to the food and water in the restaurant.
As stated, rats and mice also show up in restaraunts, because they have easy access to get into the restaurant from the outside. Even if the rats or mice can’t reach the food that they know is there and find, they will still invade the restaurant if possible, trying to get their paws on it.
If the rats or mice continue to have easy access into the restaurant, then they eventually nest up and infest the restaurant. In a few months, hundreds of rodents can be found in a restaurant hiding in the walls, ceiling, or ground from just a few breeding if they are left unchecked. This can be a real problem when the restaurant is operating from a building that is rented out and attached to other neighboring restaurants and facilities.
The presence of rats can be detected easily by their droppings that they leave behind. Droppings are asure sign that they are getting access to food. They can also be detected by sounds of crawling and scratching in walls, the ground, or the ceiling. If you want to avoid restaurants that may have rodents, then you should watch out for these signs. Also look for potential noticeable openings in the establishment that make it easy for rodents to get in. Obviously, finding a mouse trap means that the restaurant has a rodent problem. It isn’t there just in case rodents were to show up in the near future.
As stated, they can fit in very small places. Small rats and mice can fit through seemingly impossible holes and crevices that are around half an inch or less. All restaurants have a nearby place where they throw their trash and the garbage man picks it up. Remember that these spots are easy access for all pests, so any opening from the outside of the restaurant is just inviting these pests into the restaurant from this area and other places.
If you spot rats or mice in a restaurant, you should immediately notify the health department. Most restaurants do not take these matters seriously until an outside source knows what is going on. This isn’t to say that some restaurants do, but from our experiences many don’t. Even if the managers and owners of the restaurant make it seem like it is being handled and it is okay, it is not okay. Rats can end up biting employees, and worse, spreading diseases and contaminating food.
