Rodent Control in Surfside and Bal Harbour

Surfside is a small town, just over half a square mile, incorporated in 1935. It sits between the North Beach part of Miami Beach and Bal Harbour, with the ocean on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other. It's mostly residential, with condo buildings near the beach.

Bal Harbour, just north, is even more compact. Between the two, calls come from beachside condos, houses on the bay side and shops and restaurants along Collins Ave.

Beachside buildings

Condo buildings on the ocean side deal with the same rodent pattern as towers anywhere in Miami: trash rooms, garages, loading areas and pipe chases. Salt air also corrodes metal screens and vent covers faster than inland, so a vent screen that was fine five years ago may have holes now. Ask the provider to check vent and louver screens on the building's lower floors.

Owners and renters can call about their own units. Building-wide problems belong to the association. See condo and apartment rodent control.

Houses on the bay side

Single-family houses toward the bay have mature landscaping, palms and seawalls. Roof rats move between palms, hedges and rooflines, and docks and seawalls give them cover near the water. The fix is the usual one: trim back from the roof, clean up palm skirts, trap what's inside and seal the roofline.

• Palm skirts and hedges touching the house
• Corroded vent screens on the ocean-facing side
• Gaps under garage doors and side gates
• Pet food and bird seed left on patios overnight

Shops and restaurants

Restaurants in Surfside and the shops in Bal Harbour need to keep dumpster areas closed up and back doors sealed. A commercial program with regular visits keeps a record you can show the landlord.

Places we mention in Surfside and Bal Harbour: Collins Ave. · Surfside Beach · Bal Harbour · North Beach

Other neighborhoods: Brickell, Wynwood and Edgewater, Upper Eastside and MiMo, Little Havana, Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, North Miami, Aventura, Hialeah, Miami Lakes, Doral, Westchester, South Miami, Kendall, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay.