Mouse Control in the City Bowl

The City Bowl is the CBD and the older residential suburbs packed into the bowl formed by Table Mountain, Devil's Peak, Lion's Head and Signal Hill. Pest work here is a mix of restaurant and office contracts in town and older homes and flats up the slopes, with rats tying the two together.

Mouse Control by suburb

We cover all 26 suburbs on our City Bowl & Atlantic Seaboard route. Each suburb page covers what we find there and what works for those streets and buildings.

• Bantry BayMouse Control
• Bo-KaapMouse Control
• Camps BayMouse Control
• CliftonMouse Control
• De WaterkantMouse Control
• ForeshoreMouse Control
• FresnayeMouse Control
• GardensMouse Control
• Green PointMouse Control
• HiggovaleMouse Control
• Hout BayMouse Control
• Imizamo YethuMouse Control
• LlandudnoMouse Control
• Malay QuarterMouse Control
• Mouille PointMouse Control
• OranjezichtMouse Control
• Schotsche KloofMouse Control
• Sea PointMouse Control
• TamboerskloofMouse Control
• Three Anchor BayMouse Control
• University EstateMouse Control
• Upper WoodstockMouse Control
• VredehoekMouse Control
• Walmer EstateMouse Control
• WoodstockMouse Control
• ZonnebloemMouse Control

The local picture in City Bowl

Brown rats live in the old sewer network and the service lanes behind Long and Bree Street restaurants, and the Company's Garden has long had a visible rat and squirrel population. On the slopes, roof rats run along the joined roofs of terraced semis and drop into ceilings.

In the CBD you have office towers, heritage buildings, hotels and hundreds of restaurants and cafés. Up the slopes are Victorian and Edwardian semis with wooden floors and corrugated iron roofs, along with newer apartment blocks. Old buildings have gaps, voids and old drains that rodents and cockroaches use, while flats share ducts and refuse rooms.

The mountain rises right behind the suburbs, with the Company's Garden and the slopes of Table Mountain National Park providing green corridors. Winter rain runs hard down the slopes, and the South-Easter brings the famous tablecloth and blows litter around the streets. The heat traps in the bowl on still summer days.

Something most people miss

In flats and townhouses, mice often move between units through shared walls and service ducts, so one owner treating alone may only push them next door.

For homes with toddlers and pets, traps can go inside lockable boxes or behind appliances where little hands cannot reach.

Signs to look for

1. Small droppings about the size of a grain of rice in drawers, cupboards and along skirtings.
2. Light scratching in the walls or under the kitchen units at night.
3. Shredded paper, fabric or insulation bundled into a nest in a hidden corner.
4. A sharp, ammonia-like smell inside closed cupboards.
5. Tiny footprints or tail marks in dust on top of cupboards or in the garage.

Mice urinate constantly as they move, which contaminates food, crockery and work surfaces. They can carry salmonella and other bacteria into kitchen areas, which is a real problem for food businesses and homes with babies. They chew through wiring behind appliances and inside walls, and they ruin stored linen, paperwork and books. Because a female mouse can have a new litter every few weeks, a couple of mice quickly becomes a cupboard full.

What happens when we come out

We start by finding where they get in and where they nest, which is usually a gap behind the stove, around a geyser pipe or under a kitchen unit. Indoors we mainly use snap traps and enclosed traps placed along the walls, because mice run close to edges and are curious enough to investigate. Where baiting is needed, it goes inside tamper-resistant stations that children and pets cannot open, after a bait risk assessment. We then seal the entry points with steel wool, mesh and sealant, because mice can squeeze through a hole about the width of a pencil. A follow-up visit checks the traps and confirms the activity has stopped.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our mouse control service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Fit brush strips to the bottom of garage and outside doors.
• Keep the garage tidy, since boxes on the floor make perfect mouse nests.
• Seal the gaps where pipes and cables come through walls, especially under the sink.
• Pull the stove and fridge out once in a while and clean the crumbs and grease behind them.
• Move cereal, pasta, rice and pet food into hard plastic or glass containers with good lids.

What affects the price

The price depends on how many rooms are affected, how long the mice have been there and how many gaps need sealing. A single kitchen is quicker than a whole house with mice in the walls and the garage. Follow-up visits are usually included, and the quote is free.

Mice are one pest where DIY genuinely works if you are thorough: a handful of snap traps baited with peanut butter, set against the walls, will catch a lot of them. Where people go wrong is not sealing the gaps, so if you are still catching mice after two or three weeks, it is time to call us.

Questions we get asked in City Bowl

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