This was a big challenge as the rats had been left to their own devices for a long period of time. This allowed them to establish themselves and get dug well in at at least a dozen different locations on the site under floors, building banks and containers.

We had to hit them with everything we had using a strategic baiting plan. This involved baiting directly down burrows, underneath floors, containers and throughout the building.

A trapping campaign using traditional non-baiting trapping techniques checked twice daily alongside night-time shooting using low powered air rifles with high-tech night vision. This meant we had reduced the numbers significantly and a total of 258 rats were physically removed from the site within the first three weeks.

We have now formulated a monitoring/service programme, which includes twice monthly visits to the site, but we will pay this site extra attention during and after harvest due to it’s rural location.

For more information on Service and Monitoring Plans, click here