Once mice get into your restaurant, they can be amazingly tough to get rid of. So, if you are opening a new restaurant, you have an important opportunity in front of you. This is your chance to take mouse prevention seriously from day one so you can hopefully prevent an infestation in the first place. How do you do that? Well, you can start by following these tips.

Make Sure Your Dumpster Closes and Is Emptied on a Regular Schedule

Once mice get into your dumpster, they don't have far to go to find your kitchen. So, you want to take dumpster sanitation seriously from the get-go. Keep the dumpster a bit further from the kitchen, if possible. Make sure it is a model with a lid and door that close fully and instruct your employees to always close the dumpster after every use. Also, make sure the dumpster company comes often enough to empty the dumpster before it gets full, so you don't have "extras" outside the dumpster attracting mice.

Store Boxes off the Floor

Look over your walk-in cooler and other food storage areas. Make sure there is plenty of shelving in these areas so that all of your food can be stored off the ground. Boxes stored on the ground are not only easier for mice to reach, but they also create nooks where mice can more easily scurry and nest. Also, when you have shelving, you can more easily sweep under it to keep things tidy, which is another key to good mouse control.

Seal Your Building

Before you open, spend an afternoon walking around your building with a tube of caulk. Squeeze caulk into any crack, cranny, or crevice in the building's exterior walls. Mice can squeeze into some remarkably small spaces, and caulking these cracks and holes will help keep them out. 

Hire an Exterminator

Hiring an exterminator before you even open may initially seem like overkill, but it is actually a great idea. This way, the exterminator can come out once a month to look for signs of mice, set a few traps, and get rid of any early mouse scouts that happen to find your restaurant. Having them on board from the beginning will keep you from having to scramble to find an exterminator if you do see mice.

When you open a restaurant, always make mouse prevention a priority from day one. This approach usually works well.

Contact a pest control company to learn more about mice control.