Rodent Control for Rats and Mice
Benefit Pest Management provides rodent control for houses, commercial sites and farms across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter. We treat rats and mice with baiting and monitoring, and the bait goes into lockable stations wherever children, pets or stock are about. We can also seal the gaps they use to get in. Our head technician holds pest management technician licence 5083379.
We get back to every enquiry within one business day.
Licence 5083379
NSW EPA, pest management technician
$10 million
Public liability
AEPMA member
Industry association
Pest Technician
of the Year 2025
5.0
Rated 5 star on Google
Pests we treat
Rodent control doesn't stop at the bait
Baiting on its own is half a job. It takes care of the rats or mice already inside, and a rat or mouse that got in once can get in again until the gap it used is closed.
Bait is still the most effective way to control rats and mice. It is also poison, so wherever children, pets or stock are about, ours goes into lockable stations. The stations get checked as part of the job, and how much bait has gone shows whether anything is feeding on it. We also set up monitoring cameras to see where they’re active.
A typical rodent job is generally one treatment, with a re-check a couple of weeks later. After that, how often we come back depends on how much activity there is. The inspection is included. It’s how we work out where they’re getting in, and from there you get our recommendations.
Then there are the entry points. Rodents gnaw constantly to keep their front teeth worn down, and they can chew through lead and aluminium sheeting. We can seal the gaps they use. That is part of our integrated pest management service, and we recommend it on top of the baiting, not instead of it.
A description of the noise goes a long way when you ring: what it sounds like and where in the house it seems to come from. The number is 0467 561 548.
“Nathan provided prompt, and very courteous service, genuinely friendly bloke, put me at ease regarding a rodent issue, effective treatment, positive result very quickly.”
Barry C., Localsearch review
Rat control starts with knowing which one you've got
The black rat, the brown rat and the house mouse all live alongside people here, and each one is a slightly different job.
Black rat (roof rat)
- Body length
- 165 to 205mm
- Weight
- 95 to 340g
- Tail
- Much longer than the head and body
- Head
- Long, pointed snout and large, thin ears
- Where it lives
- High up. An agile climber that nests in roofs, wall cavities and trees
Brown rat
- Body length
- 180 to 255mm
- Weight
- 200 to 480g
- Tail
- Shorter than the body
- Head
- Blunt muzzle and medium ears
- Where it lives
- Low down. Digs burrows and shelters under bushes and in drains
House mouse
- Body length
- 60 to 100mm
- Weight
- 10 to 25g
- Tail
- About the same length as the body
- Head
- Small head, bulging eyes, large rounded ears
- Where it lives
- Quiet corners of a building near food, ground cracks and shallow burrows
A black rat is usually brown or grey, which is one reason the two rats get mixed up. It probably came ashore in Sydney with the First Fleet and has been nesting in Australian roofs ever since.
Telling them apart changes which gaps we look at first. Black rats get in high and brown rats get in low, so the search for the way in starts in a different place for each.
Droppings are the easiest clue to photograph. Send us a photo and we’ll tell you what it is.
How they get in
A black rat favours the upper levels of a building, so look for gaps around the eaves and the roofline, and in the roof void and the wall cavities. Once inside, it builds a round nest out of whatever it can shred.
A brown rat works from the ground up. Its burrows tend to start beside something solid that acts as a roof over the entrance: the house itself, a shed, a pile of stacked timber or a heap of rubbish.
House mice stay close to walls and edges rather than crossing open floor. Through spring and summer they forage outside. In autumn and winter they tend to move indoors, nesting in hidden spots near food.
The damage and the health risk
Rats and mice chew a lot more than food. A house mouse will chew through electrical wiring, timber furniture, building supports and fabric. Wiring is the real hazard: WA Health warns that a rodent chewing through cable can start a fire by shorting out an appliance or a light fitting.
NSW Health says infectious disease from rodents is rare but worth taking precautions against. One example is leptospirosis, carried in the urine of infected animals, rats and mice among them. It gets into people through cuts and grazes or through contaminated water, mud and soil.
Food is another worry. Anything rodents may have been into goes in the bin, and stored food goes into sealed containers.
One of oursA roof void with ducting and insulation, on one of our jobs.
We don't use electronic repellers, and here's why
Electronic repellers come in two kinds. Ultrasonic units plug into a power point and give off a sound pitched too high for people to hear, on the promise that rodents cannot stand it. Electromagnetic units make a similar promise with a different technology. Both promise to do the job with no bait and nobody in the roof.
When the US Department of Agriculture’s wildlife researchers tested six ultrasonic units, the rodents moved around less at first, and within three to seven days they had got used to the noise.
So if you ask us to fit one, the answer is no. A device whose effect wore off inside a week in testing is not rodent control, and every week spent waiting on one is a week the rats keep breeding. A female brown rat can breed from about five weeks old and have up to five litters a year, so a pair under the shed does not stay a pair while you wait to see whether a gadget is working.
Rodent control for businesses and farms
Rats in a home garage are a nuisance. In a cafe kitchen or a childcare centre you may have to show the problem is under control, and the proof needs to be on paper.
On a business site, we leave a site register on the premises. Your staff log every sighting in it, and we read it before we start each visit. Our commercial pest control page covers how a commercial programme is set up and what else goes in the register.
On a farm, the sheds are part of the rodent work, not just the house. The rural pest control page explains how a whole-property visit runs.
Where we do this
We work from our base at Caves Beach across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, the Hunter, Port Stephens and the Central Coast, with no call-out fee.
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FAQ
Questions about rats and mice
Is it rats, mice or a possum in the ceiling?
Hard to tell from the noise alone. Anything in the ceiling sounds bigger in the small hours than it turns out to be. Droppings are a much better clue: rat droppings are black, thin and 12 to 18mm long, and mouse droppings are 3 to 4mm. If it turns out to be a possum, that is not our job. Possums are native and protected in New South Wales, and removing one needs an operator holding a current catch and release possum licence. Our pest control services page explains who to ring instead.
What are the signs of rats in the house?
Droppings and noise at night: scratching, gnawing or squeaking in the walls, the ceiling, the cupboards or under the floor. Beyond those, look for greasy rub marks along the routes they run, gnaw marks on timber or cables, burrow holes beside the house, pet food going missing, and pets acting more excited than usual.
Why do mice come inside when it gets cold?
For warmth and food. House mice forage outside through the warmer months, and once it cools down they look for somewhere quiet to nest close to something to eat. A pantry with everything in sealed containers gives them a lot less reason to stay.
Is rat bait safe around children and pets?
Not left loose, no. Rodent bait is poison, so wherever children, pets or stock are about, ours goes into lockable stations. That matches the advice WA Health gives anyone baiting at home: keep it out of reach of children and pets, and follow the label.
How should I clean up rat or mouse droppings?
Carefully, with gloves on. WA Health’s advice is disposable gloves, closed shoes, a face mask and any cuts covered with a waterproof dressing. Disinfect every surface the rodents have been on, and put any affected bedding and clothes through a hot wash. Bag any dead rodents before they go in the bin. Then scrub your hands with soap.
Can rats bring mites into the house?
The tropical rat mite lives on rats and mice and in their nests, and it occasionally bites people. It is extremely hard to tell from the mite that comes from birds, and the two are controlled differently. If birds have been nesting in your roof instead, our page on bird mites covers that.
Next step
The bait and the gap
No plug-in gadget. We look for where the rats and mice are getting in and can seal the gaps they use, and the bait goes where it will work.
A quote costs nothing, and neither does the advice.
