What we will do on the island
Find the way in and close it, not just put bait down. Rodents come back to a property that still has the hole they used last time, and proofing is the part of the job that decides whether you see us again next winter.
Treat mice and rats as the different problems they are. A mouse travels a few metres from a nest and will investigate anything new; a rat is heavier, more cautious and often working from outside the building entirely. The same approach does not work on both.
Use the least we can get away with. Rodenticide has consequences for whatever eats a poisoned rodent, so trapping and proofing do as much of the work as they can, particularly in gardens and outbuildings where something else is hunting the same animals.
Why rodents matter here in particular
Older buildings and rodents get on well. Stone and solid brick, suspended timber floors, open eaves and service runs cut through later all leave the gaps a mouse needs, and a mouse needs less of a gap than most people believe.
Properties on the edge of farmland or open ground see rats move in as the weather turns, which is a seasonal pattern rather than a sign of anything wrong with the building.
Holiday accommodation has the additional difficulty of standing empty between lets. A quiet property with a food cupboard is an attractive place to nest, and the problem is usually found by a guest rather than an owner.
Where we will cover
The whole island, PO30 to PO41: Newport, Ryde, Cowes, East Cowes, Sandown, Shanklin, Ventnor, Freshwater, Yarmouth and Bembridge, along with the villages between them.
We are not putting a date on it, because a date we miss is worse than no date at all. What we can say is that the list below is the first thing we will work through.