Rodent control is the biggest part of our year in Ballarat, and the season runs from the first frost in March to the end of October. Mice come off the paddocks around Miners Rest, Alfredton and Delacombe into garages and roof voids the first cold week. Rats come off Lake Wendouree, the Yarrowee Creek and the mining reserves into the subfloors, cellars and roof spaces of the old goldfields homes in Ballarat East, Soldiers Hill, Bakery Hill and the old town, and they do not leave until it warms up. Scratching in the ceiling after dark, droppings in the pantry, a smell in the roof and chewed cables in the garage are the signs.
We run a baiting program with lockable, tamper-resistant stations placed along the runs rodents actually use: the fence line nearest the water or the paddocks, behind the shed, under the house, in the cellar and in the roof void. Stations are checked and refilled on a return visit so bait is not left out. The other half of the job is the entry, and on a Ballarat heritage home that is usually a broken terracotta subfloor vent, an open chimney base, a gap under the verandah or a branch on the roof; on a new build it is the roller door gap. We tell you exactly what to seal and we work around original finishes without marking them.