Two pest managers from Queensland have trialled BASF’s Storm Rodenticide, with positive results.
Home and business owners suffering a rodent problem want the problem gone, and they want it gone fast! The recent BASF Termidor promotion allowed pest professionals to trial free samples of Storm Secure Wax Block Rodenticide, to see if it was up to the challenge.
Aaron Bonney from PODS pest control in Townsville (pictured above), a big Termidor user, received his trial sample of Storm Secure Wax Block Rodenticide earlier this year. “We have been fairly happy with our current rodent bait, but were happy to give Storm a go.
“We decided to trial Storm rodenticide at a commercial account, a well known rental car company, where there were signs of rat activity in the reception area – not a good look!
“We could not locate the nest, as the office was part of a larger commercial site to which we did not have complete access. As such, we placed Storm Wax Blocks in a bait station in the reception area, at the site of heaviest activity.
“Two or three days later we received a call from the customers informing us of a dead rat smell ‘everywhere’. We were certainly surprised to get a call so soon and went to investigate – there were indeed dead rats! Clearly the palatability and speed of action were amazing. We even managed to sell some odour bags.
“With our current bait we normally expect control in two to three weeks, so to get control in less than five days is exceptional. It’s very important to us that we get control in a single feed. Not only does the customer want and expect the problem gone at the first attempt, but speed and reliability in performance means we don’t have to keep going back, which costs money.”
“The high bait acceptance and fast performance is a common observation with Storm Secure Wax Blocks,” commented Mark Wilson, BASF northern area sales manager. “The high palatability bait matrix contains crushed grain to get quick feeding and the potent second-generation active means only a small amount is required to cause mortality.
“Although this means pest controllers can save a bit of money by using less product, the real benefit is in getting control first time. The biggest cost in rodent control is labour – nothing eats into profits quicker than repeated customer visits to get on top of a persistent rodent problem.”
Certainly homeowners are quick to let you know if a product isn’t working, as Iain Stephens from Termite Rescue near Ipswich (Queensland), was quick to point out.
“Whenever we carry out a rodent bait treatment, we work on the principle that no news is good news! We recently carried out a job for an elderly lady in Ipswich who was very particular that the mice should be eliminated as quickly as possible. This provided us a great opportunity to use the sample of Storm rodent bait we received as part of the Termidor promotion. We placed the bait in lockable bait stations. That was a couple of weeks ago and we haven’t heard a thing – so good news!
“Along with its HACCP approval, this has given us the confidence to expand its use into some of our commercial accounts, including some major Brisbane markets which we service monthly. Having the confidence that the bait remains attractive between services and will take care of any rodent problem quickly, certainly gives us and our customers great peace of mind.”
