Design for Rodent Infestation Resistance and Resilience

Basics

• This page aims to be a Design for X style overview of designing with Rodents , and the risk of them (Unintentionally) Occupying a Space and Potentially Leading to an Infestation, in mind when designing buildings/structures
• Also will cover what to do in the event of rodent infestation (a part of an ideal Seed Eco Home Owner’s Manual

Principles

• While the exact balance of what one allows to exist in the Synanthrope Niche/Ecosystem that is one’s home, on a scale from a Hypothetical Sterile Room except for Humans and Potentially a Pet or Houseplants inside to an abandoned building that has “Returned to Nature” decisions need to be made
• With that in mind though, most would not count wild rodents in that mix.
  • The occasional House Spider, or a Geko…potentially, but Mice/Squirrels (ESPECIALLY if they are reproducing!)…no
• Thus this must be maintained

Prevention

• Starting from Simple to Complex:
  • Well Sealed Construction + Doors (as opposed to a Shack, or Adobe Building with Cloth/Loose Wood Doors etc)
  • Rodent Resistant Mesh on any large enough Wall Penetrations such as Attic Vents or Sewer Gas Vents and Chimneys (although lesser extent for the latter to, citations/expert info needed?
  • Well Constructed and/or Sealed Storage Areas such as Cabinets
    • (Also re Pest Resistant Long Term Storage )
  • Low Amounts of Hollow Space in Walls (ie use Solid Walls or Fill Gaps in Between Stud Walls with Insulation
    • Need to see if there is hard evidence to back up Rigid Insulation being more rodent resistant than Blown Foam / Blown Insulation / Fiberglass Batting , it makes LOGICAL sense, but especially with irritating fiberglass batting, may not be relevant
• Pre-Planning of Rodent Bait Stations / Live Capture Box Traps + Stationing of them
  • Granted gets into OATS (Abbreviation) territory a bit, but discussion of those options in an OSE / Decentralization of Production, but also SOME ethical standards may be worth writing up assuming it doesn’t step on toes and such

Response

• Live Capture Box Traps + Rodent Bait (with either removal+transport+wild release, or as humane as possible killing+disposal), or to a lesser extent Lethal Mousetraps / Rodent Bait
  • It will be written about in Pest Resistant Long Term Storage , but especially for materials such as Boom or Rope/Cardboard/Upholstery that to some rodents seem like an IDEAL nesting material, it is common practice to include some Lethal Rodent Bait Stations in terms of “best practice”, along with Routine Inspection. Discussion of this may be warranted, although ESPECIALLY if this pages principles are adopted, no rodents should be able to get to the bait in the first place, thus it is more insurance with potential use, rather than a main strategy, food for thought/discussion on all that
• Having thorough documentation (as OSE/OBI does) and Design for Inspection should make the process of detecting+locating any rodents easier as well
• Granted MUCH larger discussion, but keeping a pet Cat or Dog also has the added benefit of them being excellent Detectors of various pests!
  • May not be the best SOLUTION, but they came hear something in the attic/walls way faster than you+alert you to it by going all “instincts mode”
• Finally in the sort of “goofy high end possibilities” side of the spectrum, Developing “Rodent Detection Profiles” for devices such as the Wallabot Scanner etc where it uses CAD based “dead reckoning” to cancel out anything but a foreign body may be worth investigating and near unique to OSE/OBI Builds

Remediation

• OSE/OBI Modular Construction + Thorough Documentation, along with Design for Cleaning will make the process as smooth as it can be at least
• For non-OSE/OBI Builds, integrating this pages principles after an infestation, along with a broader Pest Control Strategy (re Integrated Pest Management tool) will prevent another infestation in the future

Internal Links

• Design for Mold Resistance and Resilience (Some related concepts)
• Design for Wildlife Deconfliction+Deterrence (Also some related concepts, albeit scaled up. Also mainly relevant to Landscaping / Fencing / Outdoor Storage (and Camping) rather than Building Construction concerns)