CASE
HedeDanmark
Mads Poulsen is the former Operations Manager of the Pest Control Department in HedeDanmark, and despite the department being fairly new in HedeDanmark, Mads has many years of experience within the pest control industry.
Background
HedeDanmark is an international business with many years of experience working with business, service and landscape contractors. About two years ago, Mads Poulsen helped start up the pest control department in HedeDanmark, and was instrumental in making the decision to work with digital traps.
HedeDanmark believe in digitalisation and that non-toxic pest control is the future. Therefore, they decided on a digital solution from the beginning, instead of traditional traps, which would likely be replaced with digital traps at a later date.
“We take action when an alarm goes off, and this makes our customers feel that we keep our promise, and we are continuously monitoring the traps”
Mads Poulsen
HedeDanmark
Challenges
Mads Poulsen has worked in the pest control industry for many years, and has tested many digital devices, like motion sensors for rat control. Sensors can capture movement even if the rat only nears the station without going into the trap, however, he believes that sensors are often too sensitive.
“In my experience with sensors, the alarm often goes off too easily and sends a message to the PCO’s mobile or mail, even if it’s just a snail, a leaf or a pieced of litter that has triggered the sensor, whereas when we use TrapMe, we know for certain, that if the alarm goes off, it’s because a rat has been caught,” says Mads.
According to the law, PCO’s are not allowed to use rodenticide before they are sure that rats are active in the area. Therefore, monitoring rodent activity requires carrying out physical inspections, looking for signs of fresh activity, together with checking non-tox blocks and traditional traps in bait stations. Months may go by before the PCO inspects the area and checks the stations again.
Mads also experiences that traditional snap traps have some limitations:
- “Someone may accidentally kick the bait station, triggering the trap, right after the PCO has left”.
- “A rat can get caught in the trap the day after the technician has been there”, causing unpleasant odours and attracting other pests.
- “There may be other factors like a snail, which makes the trap snap”.
There can be many reasons for ineffective rodent control, but one of the main reasons is that activity goes unnoticed for weeks or months, allowing rats to breed and become established in the area.
With TrapMe we know the status of the trap within five minutes of the trap being triggered, we can react immediately and check the area. All our technicians are dog handlers and often take the dogs along on inspections. Dogs are naturally good rat catchers and can be trained to quickly locate the hiding or nesting sites.
Using fewer bait stations
HedeDanmark have found that installing TrapMe allows them to install fewer bait stations with digital traps than they anticipated. This was a surprise, and something Mads wasn’t aware of before choosing electronic traps.
If a trap is triggered, “we can empty and reset the trap immediately, our experience shows us that catching rats immediately often stops any infestation before the rats have time to become established”.
Using the TrapMe portal allows Mads to follow the progress of the treatment continuously and see when the treatment has been successful.
”When a rat or mouse is caught in the bait station, the station retains the smell of the rodent and then it won’t be long until another rat is caught in the box, and then another. When it stops, the problem is solved,” says Mads Poulsen and we can return to monitoring.
HedeDanmark uses TrapMe both as a preventive measure and to control rats and uses the digital platform to track the progress and success of the operation. As Operations Manager Mads has a round-the-clock overview of the traps and can employ PCOs and resources where and when they benefit most.
”It’s no secret, that digital traps are a great advantage to us, we can continuously keep an eye on the situation through the portal and react immediately when necessary.
We don’t waste time checking empty traps, but when there is a problem, we react right away, giving the customer a good experience. Our staff have the time to address the situation professionally and take corrective measures and solve the problem,” says Mads.
Effective prevention and control of rats 24/7
Good and effective service to your customers
Monitoring the progress of rat control on the TrapMe Portal
Quick action reduces the risk of rats becoming established in the area