A L O W- I M PA C T, E F F I C I E N T, S O L U T I O N

F O R C O M P L E T E B U R R O W I N G R O D E N T E R A D I C AT I O N

INTRODUCTION

Burrowing rodent infestations present far more than cosmetic problems. They can become a public nuisance and health risk to humans and animals. Whether dealing with gophers, moles, ground squirrels, voles, rats, or others, burrowing rodents wreak havoc on and destroy public and private environments such as: gardens, orchards, golf courses, sports fields, parks, backyards, horse pastures, farms and many more areas.

Traps and baits utilizing nerve-inhibitors or anti-coagulant rodenticides are common methods pest management professionals (PMPs) use to eradicate a burrowing rodent infestation. However, these approaches can be time consuming, may present health risks to nontarget animals and humans, while producing inconsistent results.

Today, more advanced methods using Carbon Monoxide devices to eradicate burrowing rodents are presenting a more efficient, low-impact solution for the PMP toolbox that is greatly diminishing the need for rodenticides. This technology is now fast becoming a tool PMPs are turning to as a first course of treatment in effectively eradicating burdensome burrowing rodent infestations.

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BURROWING RODENTS: THE DEPTH OF THE PROBLEM

Rodents are considered the largest order of mammals

in the world. There are an estimated 1,500-2,000

documented rodent species. With some burrowing

rodent infestations, such as moles and rats,

underground tunneling systems can extend tens to

hundreds of feet. These underground pathways pose

big problems on the surface above them.

Burrowing rodent tunnels present a tripping

hazard for humans that can greatly compromise safety.

On athletic fields, burrow entrances or exits may appear

smaller than they truly are, as grass may cover some

holes, making them hard to see. Athletes running at

top speed are vulnerable to ankle sprains or breaks.

Burrowing rodent holes can also present problems

for horses.

Rodents such as rats, field mice and even ground

squirrels also carry bacteria and toxins that may causes

diseases, including Plague, Rat-Bite Fever, Leptospirosis

and Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis, to name a few.

Gopher holes are a common problem in pastures, as

gophers love to feast on alfalfa.

Their presence could be life threatening for a horse that

falls while galloping or running, as a result of stepping

into a burrow hole.

“Burrowing animals—ground squirrels, gophers, voles, groundhogs, rock chucks, and badgers—can destroy pastures and leave behind holes just begging to ensnare horse limbs. Two of the most damaging animals to set up shop in fields and pastures are pocket gophers … and ground squirrels.”

– The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care

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Mole Prairie dog Gopher

Horse farm plagued by burrows

Rats and mice will also burrow under foundations of

homes or travel indoors, furthering human exposure to

the diseases they carry.

The search for food and water are the primary

motivators for rodents who travel and set up camp in

fields, public spaces and near residences. While PMPs

should always be on the lookout for great tools and best

practices for eradication, educating clients on how to

eliminate exposed food and other rodent attractions is

also important.

Scatter baiting rodenticides (nerve inhibitors or

anti-coagulants) in a burrow versus using a bait

station could lead to serious health risks to humans

and animals.

Below are explanations of some of the drawbacks:

• DOGS, CATS AND SCAVENGING MAMMALS AND

BIRDS MIGHT BE POISONED IF THEY FEED

UPON ANIMALS THAT HAVE EATEN BAIT

WITH EITHER NERVE INHIBITORS

OR ANTI-COAGULANTS.

• WHERE WATER RUNOFF IS LIKELY TO OCCUR,

WATER CAN BE CONTAMINATED IF IT IS

EXPOSED TO EQUIPMENT WASH WATER

TAINTED BY EITHER OF THESE

STWO INGREDIENTS.

• SOME ARE TOXIC TO FISH, BIRDS, MAMMALS

AND OTHER WILDLIFE.

• SOME RODENTICIDE-LADEN BAIT CANNOT

SAFELY BE EXPOSED ON THE SOIL SURFACE.

• CLEANING EQUIPMENT OR DISPOSAL

OF WASTE FROM NERVE INHIBITING

RODENTICIDES CAN CONTAMINATE WATER.

• BOTH CAN BE HARMFUL TO HUMANS; NERVE

INHIBITORS, WHEN INGESTED, ACT ON THE

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM WITHIN 10 TO

30 MINUTES. VIOLENT CONVULSIONS CAN

OCCUR, POSSIBLY CAUSING BREATHING

TO STOP.

Another risk rodenticides present comes when the

poison successfully kills a rodent. The carcass is often

left to be disposed by humans, creating a secondary

exposure to potential disease. If the rodenticide has

not been digested by the rodent, the person or animal

handling the carcass may be unknowingly exposed

to them.

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DRAWBACKS TO USING RODENTICIDES AS OPEN BAIT

BURROWRx: A LOW-IMPACT CARBON MONOXIDE PRODUCING SOLUTION

There is a low-impact, solution on the market today that

not only eradicates burrowing rodent infestations, but

greatly reduces liability and exposure for technicians,

homeowners and others while also bringing remarkable

service delivery efficiency for PMPs.

BurrowRx is a device that, with the use of an exhaust

hose, pushes Carbon Monoxide gas into rodent tunnel

systems to quickly eradicate them. In most cases, after

only a few minutes of the gas being delivered into the

tunnels, the rodent breathes in the Carbon Monoxide,

which replaces the oxygen in its blood. Without oxygen,

cells in the body die and organs shut down, killing the

rodent quickly.

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Rarely does a rodent have a chance to escape its

burrow before it dies, eliminating the need to dispose

of the carcass, which naturally decomposes inside the

tunnel system. After the treatment method is complete,

technicians or homeowners can completely seal off

entrance and exit holes to complete the eradication.

Exposure to rodenticide is a non-issue, as BurrowRx

does not require the use of rodenticides, and the

Carbon Monoxide quickly dissipates after the system is

turned off. A typical eradication can be completed in

3 minutes.

BurrowRx device

Mole carcass

TRACING CARBON MONOXIDE FOR SAFETY AND EFFICACY

The device is easy-to-use and utilizes a smoke indicator

oil that allows the user to see where the gas is traveling

in the underground tunnels. Even the most experienced

PMPs sometimes cannot find every tunnel in a complex

system that has been in place, and growing, for a long

period of time.

Simply pour the patented BurrowRx oil into the

reservoir housing on the device prior to starting engine.

When the machine is running, the operator will soon

see smoke coming from the ground allowing the

technician to see the extent of the underground tunnels

and can alert a PMP to exit holes not previously seen.

Exit holes will produce more smoke, and the efficiency

of the treatment can be increased by quickly closing

those holes with sandbags or dirt.

GROUND SQUIRREL INFESTATION STUDY

A 2017 report from Sierra Research Laboratories, Inc,

in Modesto, Calif., involved a test site with dozens

of open ground squirrel burrows, revealing a high

infestation rate with tunnel systems located on berms

and along ditch banks.

The experiment utilized BurrowRx for 23 active ground

squirrel burrows and demonstrated a 95.7% efficacy

rate. The comment below reveals how the smoke oil

helped to unveil the complexity of the overall

burrow system.

“The smoke oil during treatment made the complexity of the burrow systems easy to observe and helped improve efficacy by allowing applicators to thoroughly treat an entire system.”

The BurrowRx smoke indicator oil also provides peace

of mind to alert a PMP to gas approaching homes,

buildings or going into a neighbor’s yard. When used

as directed, the smoke from the BurrowRx should have

little effect on soil, too. Once the device is turned off,

the smoke quickly clears and the Carbon Monoxide

dissipates, with no risk to anything or anyone in

the area.

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Smoke indicator in action

Ground squirrel

SUMMARY OF BENEFITS WHEN TREATING RODENT INFESTATIONS WITH BURROWRx:

• Direct targeting of rodents within the burrow system.

• Carbon Monoxide makes for quick extermination, a more humane kill.

• No reliance on bait acceptance that sometimes hinders rodenticide and trapping efforts.

• No secondary toxicity concerns for scavengers, predators, humans, pets.

• Seldom requires handling of animals after treatment, which reduces the risk of disease and parasite transmission to humans.

• Designated as a pesticidal device by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

PMPS SEE RESULTS BurrowRx is becoming a go-to solution for PMPs who

have long relied on baits, traps and rodenticides, as

they quickly learn of the time savings and reduced

liability exposure by using the Carbon Monoxide

device. Here are three examples of satisfied PMPs who

also are enjoying satisfied customers.

PROTECH PEST ELIMINATION (CALIFORNIA) – Ground Squirrel Eradication on School Grounds

The ground squirrel had been a nuisance at many of the

67 Victorville, CA public, private and charter schools

for quite some time. Ground squirrels carry ticks, so

when present in large numbers near schools where

children may play or gather outdoors, they can pose a

tremendous health threat to students, staff, volunteers,

and customers.

Jonathan Clark, technician and owner of ProTech Pest

Elimination, utilized BurrowRx to dramatically reduce

ground squirrel populations in these environments.

“What we did was treat each school and then go back about a week later,” Clark said. “All of the custodians were telling me they haven’t seen a ground squirrel since we treated. Before we treated, they were seeing 15-20 ground squirrels at every school and now there were none. I’m getting great results and it’s really performing for us.” – Jonathan Clark, Owner of ProTech Pest Elimination

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Ashley Broadhurst

SAN DIEGO PEST & TERMITE – Commercial Account With Gopher Infestation

San Diego Pest & Termite owner, Earl Boyll, had a

commercial account experiencing extensive gophers

inhabiting in and near a public right of way. After a week,

the population was nearly completely eradicated, he said.

“We have continued to use the BurrowRx with residential, and the results are great with a 99 percent knockdown after the first treatment. Customers with pets love the BurrowRx because there is no worry about primary poisoning by digging up poisonous bait, or secondary poisoning from gophers that have previously taken poisoned bait.” – Earl Boyll, Owner of San Diego Pest & Termite

CLARK’S LAWN & LANDSCAPING (SOUTH CAROLINA) - Mole Infestations Ashley Broadhurst, a technician with Clark’s Lawn &

Landscaping in South Carolina, had developed a knack

for effective baiting with rodenticides to reduce mole

populations for customers. However, those strategies are

now rarely needed since she started using BurrowRx, a

system she sees as a complete eradication solution, instead

of the scattershot methods using baits and traps. When

encountering a complex mix of deep and shallow tunnel

systems, Broadhurst likes how BurrowRx removes so much

guesswork.

“If I see a mole nest, I’ll use BurrowRx first because of how deep they are underground. The deeper they tunnel, the more effective BurrowRx will be versus baits and traps.” – Ashley Broadhurst, technician with Clark’s Lawn & Landscaping

BurrowRx can also deliver tremendous efficiency and

overall business benefits for PMPs. The EPA classifies

BurrowRx as a “device” under Section 2(h) of the

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide

Act (FIFRA).

This classification brings an economic benefit to PMPs

using BurrowRx. A PMP can simply purchase BurrowRx,

.follow the detailed instructions, and immediately put

the effective tool to use safely while using existing

technicians or laborers.

In addition, because each treatment only requires

three minutes, the time spent out on the job is greatly

reduced as well. This allows PMPs to route technicians

to more jobs throughout the day. While rodenticides

require frequent follow-ups, usually six to eight trips

total in most cases, BurrowRx eradication frequently

only requires one follow up about a week later.

In the earlier example involving ProTech Pest

Elimination, the owner, Jonathan Clark, spoke of the

business benefits realized when using BurrowRx.

“Well we used to have to bait a trap, go back, check

the traps, rebait the ones that were missing it and then

do this every month,” he said. “I have one customer

who had more than 50 squirrel traps in one warehouse

facility, so it was a huge commitment time-wise to take

care of them. Now using BurrowRx instead of baited

traps, I’m hitting all of the area mounds and I’m saving

a lot of time with better productivity because we’re

eliminating the infestation altogether.”

Larry Plecha, owner of Biotech, a pest control service

in New Mexico, has enjoyed the results he’s seen in

the field with BurrowRx, and the business benefits are

something he noticed as well.

“BurrowRx has made every job easier because we

don’t have to constantly be digging around looking for

numerous burrows to drop poison in,” he said. “We find

one (burrow), use the machine and let it go. … In the

rural areas it helps because of the numbers. Last week

we had a job with 200 burrows to treat, and a few weeks

before that there was a prairie dog infestation and it

had 300.”

Broadhurst, of Clark’s Lawn & Landscaping in South

Carolina, has seen the efficiency improvements as well.

“I’ve actually been able to reduce the number of days

I’m treating for moles because I don’t have to make

multiple trips to treat several times,” she said. “You

can’t say that about very many products.”

Early on, some of Broadhurst’s customers wanted to see

the dead mole as evidence that the device worked, but

over time BurrowRx has increased customer confidence

and satisfaction, another boost for business.

“Because BurrowRx gets the job done our clients are

happy, which in turn helps them trust us more as their

pest control partner,” Broadhurst said. “It’s like anything,

sometimes you have to show that you’ve controlled the

problem, but the more I’ve used BurrowRx, they see the

results by not seeing any more mole activity.”

Larry Plecha

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BURROWRx BRINGS BUSINESS BENEFITS FOR PMPS

EASE OF USE, MAXIMIZING TREATMENT EFFORTS

To get the best performance out of the BurrowRx

system, use the following simple steps to get started

and to treat infestations.

• ASSEMBLE THE MACHINE AS INSTRUCTED BY

THE OPERATIONS MANUAL.

• FILL SMOKE OIL CUP, LOCATED ON THE

MANIFOLD, WITH SMOKE OIL. OPEN VALVE TO

DROP OIL INTO MANIFOLD. MAKE SURE TO

CLOSE VALVE.

• KEEP THE DEVICE NEAR THE HOLE BEING

TREATED; KEEP IT LEVEL OR TIPPED

SLIGHTLY FORWARD.

• PLACE THE EXHAUST NOZZLE INTO THE

BURROW, START THE ENGINE.

• PLACE SOIL OVER AREAS WHERE SMOKE

IS ESCAPING.

• RUN BURROWRX DEVICE FOR THREE

MINUTES AND SHUT IT OFF.

• REPEAT, IF NECESSARY. DUE TO DIFFERENT

SIZE TUNNELS/BURROWS, SOIL TYPES AND

OTHER CONDITIONS, SEVERAL TREATMENTS

MAY BE NEEDED.

NOTE: THE BURROWRX DEVICE MUST BE

SHUT OFF PRIOR TO ADDING ADDITIONAL

SMOKE OIL.

Burrows must be located away from actively-inhabited buildings;

the setback may vary from state to state and we recommend that

PMPs using BurrowRx consult with their state lead agency for any

state-specific regulations that may apply to the commercial use

of BurrowRx. If smoke enters a structure, ventilate with fans for

at least 15 minutes. Repeat treatment as needed. Visit the site a

few days later to see if burrows have moved or if the rodents have

been properly eradicated.

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Using the BurrowRx

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

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SOIL TYPE: If soil is loose or rocky, multiple treatments may be

required. Loose soil can dissipate Carbon Monoxide in

larger tunnel systems.

TIME OF DAY: Most rodents leave tunnels at night, but stay inside

to avoid predators during the day. Make sure you run

BurrowRx during the day, as this will also allow you to

better see the smoke oil and tunnel systems, too.

LARGER TUNNEL SYSTEMS: Gophers, rats, moles on a hillside may have refuge

areas that are difficult for the Carbon Monoxide to reach.

This may require a single treatment one day,

then multiple treatment in one to seven days after

new activity is found.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BURROWRX, VISIT BURROWRX.COM OR CALL (619) 442-8686.

Art GuzmanWESTERN702-577-6382 guzzer60@gmail.com

John BrownleeSOUTHERN615-838-3149 jbro434@gmail.com

Peter Kinnally UPPER MIDWESTERNpeterk@BurrowRx.com619-838-3149

Steve SullivanSOUTH EASTERNssm2steve@outlook.com404-615-6310

Rich WilliamsNORTH CENTRALrich@rpropartners.com317-490-5080

Pesticide Management GroupEASTERNpmgsales@cox.net860-808-7663

Jim ShufordFLORDIAbiologics@aol.com941-350-6223

FIND A SALES REPburrowrx.com/find-a-rep/

1 NCBI (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3519934/)2 Thomas, Heather Smith, “Controlling Burrowing Rodents in Pastures,” The Horse: Your Guide to Equine Health Care, 7 Aug, 2015 (https://thehorse.com/112731/con-

trolling-burrowing-rodents-in-pastures/)3 CDC.gov (https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html)4 “BurrowRx Burrowing Rodent Control Device Ground Squirrel Efficacy Data” (Synopsis) Nov. 2017