Heat-up your rodent inspections
Using infrared thermography to understand rodent activity

By Dr. Stuart Mitchell

Infrared thermography can be useful in discovering the thermal patterns of pestiferous mice and rats. Tools such as infrared cameras are excellent for discovering potentially threatening conducive conditions. If you have not used an infrared camera, you only are conducting half of an inspection.

As a non-invasive and high-tech inspection tool, the infrared camera allows the savvy pest management professional (PMP) to see what the human eye cannot see.

Infrared camera imaging and video can give you the following advantages:

• Time-efficient, structure-wide inspections.
• The ability to image areas that are out of reach or at a distance, such as high walls, ceilings and storages.
• Precise location of rodent activity.
• Unique information about the scope of a rodent infestation.
• Insight on best practice deployments of rodent management devices and rodenticides.
• Verification that a rodent infestation has been eliminated.
• Optimally vivid and value-added documentation for rodent inspection and management reports.
• Unique involvement of your customer, demonstrating the infrared visual advantage.

An infrared camera’s resolution contrast and thermal range can discover minor differences in temperature. The presence of mice and rats, along with their metabolism, activity, wastes and habitations within a structure, create micro-spaces of increased humidity and temperature, allowing precision location with an infrared camera.

Infrared camera inspections can provide early discovery of rodent activity before they become established within a structure. Additionally, infrared camera inspections can provide information on emergent rodent infestations. This allows you to prevent activity that might otherwise go on for weeks or months, resulting in potential harm to structural inhabitants and significant structural damage.

While conducting infrared camera rodent inspections, you also may discover delayed maintenance issues or utility failures that could pose a serious structural threat. Such discoveries provide your client with valuable information while increasing your credibility and client goodwill.

Infrared camera imaging and video give you the capability to monitor conditions over time, through comparison of new to the archived. Images and video can be archived on a cloud server. Additionally, images and video can be analyzed on mobile devices and be emailed from the inspection site.

Finding the right infrared camera

Some infrared cameras come with software that can assist with the preparation and distribution of inspection reports. Infrared cameras are now available for some smartphones.

An infrared camera must be durable, as well as reliable, to meet the demands of professional field use. To assure quality images and video, an infrared camera must have plenty of memory, long battery life, suitable image resolution and good video speed. These assure quality images and video that are easy to download and look great in your inspection and service reports.

For PMPs, infrared camera training is essential. The inspector must be able to properly understand images and videos for reports. Infrared camera training courses are available around the U.S. and can be found with a quick internet search.

Put the heat on pestiferous mice and rats; heat up your rodent inspections with an infrared camera!

For information on quality Bell Products, go to www.belllabs.com.

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