Saint-Hyacinthe, a major city in the Montérégie region established on the Yamaska River and recognized as an agri-food hub (the “technopole”), is home to many warehouses and distribution centres in its industrial sectors. It was in a logistics warehouse of this type, located in an industrial area near Highway 20, that the operations manager reported the presence of mice in the palletizing areas and in the employees’ break room. Rodents represent a serious and multidimensional risk in the storage environment: contamination of stored goods, damage to packaging leading to product loss, fire risks related to the biting of electrical cables and communication pipes, and potential non-compliance during quality audits of industrial customers. Our team in Saint-Hyacinthe conducted an emergency assessment the next morning and established a customized integrated control program for this demanding industrial context.
Complete inspection of the industrial site
The inspection covered the entire building of several thousand square meters, conducted outside of shift hours so as not to interfere with operations: loading and unloading docks, receiving and shipping areas, pallet storage aisles, electrical equipment rooms, changing rooms, staff rest area, administrative office and full outdoor perimeter. Technicians found droppings along load-bearing walls in several storage aisles, characteristic gnaws on corrugated packaging stored directly on the floor, and nests hidden behind stationary pallets in low-traffic areas at the back of the warehouse. The rodent infestation inspection identified loading docks as the main vector of entry: worn rubber dock seals and gaps under sectional doors allowed mice to enter freely during nighttime ventilation operations. A main power cable for the emergency lighting system had gnawing that had partially exposed the driver, representing an immediate fire hazard that was reported to management as a priority. These technical observations have precisely guided the priorities of intervention and sealing.
Integrated control program adapted to the industry
Our mouse extermination program in Saint-Hyacinthe for this warehouse combined several structured and documented levels of intervention. A network of secure bait stations, numbered and geolocated on a detailed site plan, has been deployed on the interior and exterior perimeter of the building. Mechanical multi-catch traps were placed in the high-traffic areas identified during the inspection, including in the corridors between the rows of pallets and in the electrical rooms. A formalized weekly monitoring system was set up, with a paper and digital control log to document each visit, each capture and each bait survey, in accordance with the requirements of the quality standards to which the warehouse’s customers regularly audited the installation. For another example of intervention in a commercial storage environment, see our Mouse No. 5 project.
Structural closure and operational recommendations
The caulking of the entry points to this industrial site included the replacement of all defective dock seals with high-density neoprene models resistant to UV and loading oils, the installation of low-cut aluminium brooms on all sectional doors with a ground clearance of more than one centimetre, and sealing numerous openings around wiring and conduit through perimeter walls. The storage areas have been reorganised with the agreement of the management to eliminate dead zones inaccessible to inspections and to impose a rule of raising goods to at least fifteen centimetres from the ground. A two-hour training session was provided to site managers and some staff for the early detection of signs of rodent activity and good storage practices, thus enhancing the effectiveness of the programme in the long term. An ongoing pest prevention plan , including monthly visits and archived periodic reports, has been adopted by the manager. Nova Extermination is the trusted partner of industrial companies in the Montérégie region for professional pest management and compliance with regulatory and quality requirements. The results of the program were confirmed in a customer audit conducted six weeks after the start of the intervention, with no observations of rodent-related non-compliance.