Alternative links to a subject, just click the short cut links here for a quick scroll down this page. - Wasp Description, - Wasp Nest Treatment, - Carpet beetles, - Fleas, - Hantivirus, - Rat Facts, - Rat Treatments, - Moles, - Squirrels.
Squirrels.
Before we start on the control of squirrels, I would encourage you to familiarise yourself with the full version of the countryside act relating to non-native species.
The following is a short excerpt about legislation regarding traps, please note that it is illegal to release rats or squirrels if caught in a live trap.
The fine for not putting down a squirrel could be as high as £250,000.
It is now illegal to nurse any members of the invasive species that are injured and return them to the wild.
The EU regulations - devised in 2014 - are aimed at controlling non-native species that put natural plants and wildlife at risk.
Non-native grey squirrels are blamed for the decline in native reds.
Grey squirrels, native to eastern North America, are considered an invasive species in the UK and Ireland because they are not regulated by natural predators.
They have been displacing red squirrels for decades, owing to its greater fitness, bigger size, greater strength, and ability to store fat for winter. By contrast, red squirrels are fatally affected by parapoxviral - a disease to which eastern grey squirrels are immune and unaffected, but contaminate areas visited by red squirrels.
The fine for breach can range from £3,000 to £250,000 and can potentially carry jail sentences if the breach is considered serious enough.
Live Capture Traps, Live capture cage traps are cage boxes that open at 1 or both ends. The doors are triggered by a plate or hook that may have bait placed on them cages should be inspected at least once every day.
Target species must be humanely dispatched at the most suitable opportunity the body should be responsibly disposed of.
Non target species must be released unharmed as soon as possible.
Traps must not be set in a position where the captured animal will be exposed to extremes of temperature or the risk of flooding.
In my experience live trapping, followed by a quick cull off the customers premises and out of sight is often the best way to deal with squirrels in lofts etc. The main reason being that the trapping cage can be set and left for a few days and if the squirrel enters the noise from the trapped squirrel scurrying around in the trap will alert the customer or home owner that the trap has been set off. Then it is possible for them to have the cage emptied.
If however a squirrel trap was set and secured to a beam, it may occasionally mis catch and the squirrel may not be dead, this is potentially a serious situation to confront, due to squirrel having very sharp teeth and they will certainly attack under these situations. I would normally have a trap set in a cubby or tunnel of some description, so the squirrel has no choice but to enter the trap in such a way that an instant death is almost guaranteed.
If you are trapping squirrels outside the trap MUST be in a box or similar where the squirrel will enter the box via a hole and will venture into the set trap whilst foraging for the lure inside.
The one thing that is common to all grey squirrels is their eyes are bigger than their brain, they see food and they go for it regardless of the consequences.
If you have squirrels in loft areas or in buildings, it will be obvious due to the smell and the mess they make of the insulation. Once the squirrels have all be removed from the premises and you can be sure there are none left inside the entry point can be filled or blocked known as proofing, this is normally carried out with a piece of fine wire mesh fixed over the hole. Do not use just expanded foam, the squirrel will just pull it apart.
To lure the squirrel in to trap you must lay a trail of nuts or whatever lure you are using at the time. A breadcrumb trail around the trap or tunnel leading into the trap area by means of a bit more lure inside the area, the squirrel will follow to feed.
Points to be aware of. Bare wires where the squirrel has chewed through, squirrels above you are watching you, they will do any of the following, stay as they are and watch, attack you, run away, hide.
Be on your guard especially if you have found a drey in the loft area, squirrels are very defensive of their young.
Never use poisons for squirrels, if a squirrel dies in a soffit or cavity you may never retrieve the body, and the smell will be horrendous for a few weeks.
If you decide to shoot the squirrel it is always an idea to have a squirrel feeder on the wall or somewhere in the garden or woodland, but make sure of the backdrop in case you miss the squirrel and the pellet or shot flies past the intended quarry.
Rats and Mice.
As per normal these tips and advice pages are put on here to help the DIYer and newbies to the pest control industry learn about the pests and what to do, based upon my findings over the years I have been a pest controller. I hope the tips can be of some use to you.
Also please remember that these pages are not a training package just a short tutorial about the treatments and what to look for.
Professional pest controllers must adhere to the new EU restrictions on the use of rodenticide outdoors where wildlife can be present, a 40-60% increase in rodent infestations indoors has been noticed over the past few months. This could increase public health risks because of the contamination associated with rodent urine or droppings. However, the new regulations allow constant use indoors where there is no risk to wildlife. But at the same time, there are major risks to human health.
Why do we have more rodent infestations, especially indoors? this winter's heavy rain could be one contributing factor as it would drive the rodents out of their burrows and indoors but the new rules around pest control are significantly adding to the problem.
The rules have been developed following some new directives which are aimed to help save non target species being poisoned.
According to the new rules, previously used tamper-proof boxes containing rodenticide poison would be laid to prevent an infestation from happening. Pest controllers are not allowed to carry out this practice anymore until there is evidence of an infestation.
The obvious increase in rat numbers is where there are restaurants and food takeaways, and anywhere else where there is a constant supply of food such as bird feeders. decking, poultry kept without proper control on feed, pet food left out, holes in the walls, broken or breached sewer pipes, poor property maintenance, rubbish bins not having lids that close, if indeed they are closed at all, rubbish left lying around, food waste and food containers thrown out of cars instead of being placed in a bin.
In an ideal world you would use nothing, but you cannot live with rats and mice. They are too dangerous.
What can be done to help solve the problem. First find out if you have a mouse or a rat problem, obviously most people only realise they have a problem because they see nibbles in food containers or food packets in the cupboard. This is where panic sets in. Look at the size of the pooh, if it is small the chances are it’s a mouse, if they are larger then its likely to be a rat. Look on google to see pictures of the difference. If the pooh is larger than a mouse and in the attic, there is a good chance it could be a squirrel. I shall cover squirrel control on another page.
Once you have decided on what the pest is, you then have to locate the entry point into the property, in the case of house mice they will follow a wall edge or along something solid and normally straight, they will follow a skirting board around the room rather than walk across the floor. The giveaway with mice is they walk and poop at the same time and so it is easy to discover where they come from. A mouse will get through a hole the thickness of a pencil, and a rat through a hole the thickness of a man’s thumb. Rats will walk anywhere and will not normally walk and poop, they tend to stop and poop.
By far the easiest method of control is with traps. In the case of a mouse the trap is smaller and can be set off by a lighter critter, whereas a rat trap is larger and stronger sprung than a mouse trap.
Depending on the trap you use a house mouse can sometimes set off a rat trap and be killed, whereas a rat will set off the mouse trap and will drag it around behind itself, if it cant shake off the trap a rat will often chew off its own limbs to escape. And so, the correct trap is essential.
The next thing to learn is how to set the trap, ideally you need to find the run and place the set trap at right angles and across the run, so the pressure plate can easily be walked over, this is important especially with mice.
The life cycle of rats are that she will mate up to a hundred times today to ensure she in pregnant, twenty eight days later she gives birth to 6-8 young, and the next day she mates again, twenty eight days later she gives birth and the young that was on the teat are sent packing and they have to fend for themselves, a few weeks later they mate and the numbers grow rapidly, mice are fast maters as well but not quite as fast as rats.
If you have one rat or mouse you certainly will have more, always keep the traps working and set and keep them out of the way of pets and children. Ideally keep the in a tunnel type area i.e. put a trap near the wall and put a board or similar at an angle above it but not touching the trap, by doing this you will be more likely to catch the rodent than pets, if you can place the trap in a cupboard then that is better.
As for a lure on the trap it is better to use something like chocolate sauce on the pressure plate.
Once you are sure there is no more rodents in the area you are treating or if you are sure they are outside then block the entry point with something hard like rapid drying cement or expanding foam with wire wool in the hole first. Never use foam on its own as this is as much use a chocolate fireguard, rats and mice will chew through it in seconds.
As a tip do not keep visiting or moving the set traps, rats are neophobic and will not go near anything new or moved around until they are sure it is safe to do so.
If you use rodenticide there is a completely different set of rules to apply. The bait you buy as a DIYer is the same bait and chemical base as used by some pest controllers, it is just smaller sizes of blocks or quantities, a pest controller can buy bulk and bigger blocks that the general DIY market are allowed to sell.
There are generally three types of bait on the DIY marketplace one is grain, another is blocks and then there is a pasta type. You will have blocks or grain.
We will cover blocks first. Normally when you buy the blocks you will also have a sealed bait station, if this is for mice the holes in the bait station must follow along a wall / skirting board. With the side of the box containing the holes being nearer to the wall than the blank side. The idea is that as mice walk along the edges of rooms etc they will readily walk into the bait station and eat some bait before carrying on its way. If you have rat bait stations the entry hole is larger, and it does not matter if the holes are against and along the walls or near to it.
If you have an entry hole made by rats, it is always an ideal situation to encourage the rat to enter the box and so if one of the entry holes in the box is place against the entry hole in the wall or fence the rat will use the bait station as a tunnel and will eat some bait on its way through.
Bait does not kill rodents immediately; this is by law the rodents must not die in agony and as such it slowly dies over a few days becoming lethargic in the meantime and stopping its reproduction cycle before it dies.
If you use block bait outside of the bait station a tunnel effect MUST be made so that only the target species can get to the bait, this is the law and if you use the bait incorrectly and it kills the neighbour’s cat you can be heavily fined.
The other type of bait commonly used and used incorrectly is grain bait. This type of bait must be covered over in a tunnel but better still only used in enclosed areas such as lofts where it can be left in open trays. If this type of bait is used near chickens etc and the chicken eats a bit of it, the chicken may become ill but may not die. The chemical eaten i.e. the rodenticide will be in the eggs and meat and under no circumstances should they be eaten.
I have seen householders use grain bait in trays inside a greenhouse and the cat next door used it as a toilet.
Wasps description.
Wasps are social winged insects with a narrow waist and a sting, they typically are yellow with black stripes. Wasps will construct a paper nest from wood pulp and raises the larvae on a diet of insects. Wasps will usually only attack a person if they feel threatened. The problem is a social wasp in distress emits a pheromone that sends nearby colony members into a defensive, stinging frenzy.Common Wasp. Wasps are typically social insects with new nests constructed each year. The queens, which are larger than the workers, overwinter in harbourages in buildings, under loose bark or even in old nests. The wasp is commonly found in gardens and around the home and will build their nests in trees, bushes, holes in the ground, sheds and lofts.
Identification:
10 – 20 mm long, distinctive black & yellow banding and a narrow waist in the middle.
European Hornet. They are Europe’s largest wasp and nest mainly in hollow trees. Occasionally they can be found in buildings. European Hornets have larger, longer stings than other species of native wasps so inject more venom, causing far more pain. however, it has been reported that the venom is less toxic to us than other wasp species.
Identification:
The adult European hornet worker is approximately 25 mm in length with yellow and brown colouration. Queens up to 35 mm. Hornets are part of the wasp family, and their life cycle is very much the same as wasps. Hornets are not as common, or as aggressive as other wasp species.
Median Wasp. This large wasp arrived in England in the 1980s and is now quite widespread. It is a large wasp, quite dark in colour, some individuals are nearly black. The camouflaged football sized nests contain around 300 wasps and are much smaller that the common wasp’s nest and often concealed in dense vegetation and made from ribbons of wood pulp.
Identification:
The Median Wasp is the largest wasp in the UK after the Hornet. Workers, 15-19mm long, distinctive black & yellow banding. The queen looks very much like a worker Hornet and is 18-22mm long.
Wasps & Hornets Home Treatments (DIY).
After 28 years in the trade I no longer carry out pest control, however below are the methods used If you wish to try to treat the problem yourself.
If you have any doubts at all as to your capability to treat the nest in a correct manner and swiftly. DO NOT TRY IT YOURSELF but employ the services of a qualified pest controller. If you go down this path, please ask what they do and how much they charge before committing yourself.
WASPS AND HORNETS Home Treatments. As per normal the expert information and knowledge is offered to you from my personal experiences on how to carry out a treatment for wasps etc. Which in turn will help the DIYer and newbies that want to start their own business and learn more about the pitfalls etc. This page is not designed as a training package, it is designed to explain how to treat the wasps etc in a safe manner.
It is important to remember that the following are true facts, regardless of what people say.
A wasp nest consists of one queen, one nest, one year and it dies never to be used again by wasps.
If you see wasps all over bushes etc they are scavenging for food, normally seen at the emergence of queens.
If you have a wasp nest, the wasps will be going in and out of one hole or small area, i.e., a hole in the wall / fascia / garden or bush.
When you see the larger wasps around the middle to end of August / September they are not the earlier smaller wasps grown up, they are in fact the next generation of fertile wasps ready for the following years life cycle.
If you do not kill the nest before the end of August, you could have potentially 500 - 1500 queens emerge to start the following years wasp season, if you treat before the queens emerge then you will reduce the chances of new nests in your property the following year.
Around August September time the worker wasps will hang about your drinks etc when outside enjoying yourself, and are likely to sting you, this is when we say they are drunk with fruit juice etc and they sting for the sake of it.
The truth is they are dying as it is the end of their life span, and that of the current nest.
After this point, you will see loads of larger wasps hanging around the entrance to the nest, they are the fertile males waiting for the virgin queens to emerge, they mate, and the males die. This is the point at which you will see hundreds of larger wasps on bushes and trees, they are just foraging and fattening up for the winter hibernation. They no longer need to be in the nest and to treat at this period will certainly mean that a small percentage of wasps have died, the rest will have left the nest and will just use somewhere else to rest until they have over wintered, and the survivors will start again.
If, however you treat the nest before the point where they sting you in August / Sept, you will kill the nest and are not likely to have any further problems relating to that nest. If you leave it too late, some of the over wintering queens are likely to be in your loft and are likely to emerge in the mid-winter when you turn a light on.
If you rent a property the property owner may pay for the wasps to be treated, unlike rodent activity, wasps do not enter a property due to tenants or owner’s lifestyle, they enter the property looking for somewhere to live. As such the tenant etc has no control over the problem.
How to avoid wasp stings. Due to a wasps’ behaviour changing in late summer from sugars to proteins you will more likely encounter them wherever food is consumed outdoors and around rubbish collection areas.
The following pointers may help you avoid painful wasp stings:
Carefully dispose of all food and drinks, especially soft drink cans by placing in a closed rubbish bin.
Never leave sugary drinks unattended. Plus, ALWAYS check sugary drinks before consuming, just in case there are any wasps in the drink, always better to drink from a glass than a can.
Keep all areas of your property clean and tidy, especially where sweet items are kept, or have been consumed.
Check for wasp activity before carrying out any gardening activity, especially in hedges and borders.
Avoid strong scents and bright clothing.
Protect your feet by wearing closed shoes, not flip flops.
Should a wasp nest be removed after treatment? Bearing in mind that the nest is not dangerous once all the wasps have been dispatched, it is just the structure for the wasps to live in, which is made by chewing wood and making a paper Mache` type mixture for the building of the structure. It will also only be used to live in for one season, and no other wasps will normally use it for their home.
In some circumstances a treated wasp nest removal needs to be carried out.
As a pest controller, I would normally only carry this out at the first visit if the nest were in an entrance area or posed an immediate risk to the public or your own safety.
If the wasp nest were not causing any threats, I would normally have left it well alone after treatment.
My reasons for this are that if the nest is left in its present location i.e., where it is built after it has been treated, the insecticide (normally but not always a dust) would kill all returning wasps. Any dust used by yourself will remain active within the nest for a long time if it stays dry.
Due to its long shelf life the powder will be a future safeguard against any inquisitive wasps from other nests.
At this point it is worth remembering. Other wasps from nearby nests will attempt to raid and scavenge from the treated nest due to no defence from the original wasps. A few of these scavenging wasps will enter the nest and they too will die by the fact that they have walked in the active chemical, which means that the treated nest is helping to kill wasps from other nests.
This also applies in the spring when queen wasps which are emerging from their winter hibernation start exploring potential nesting sites and encounter the treated nest, due to their inquisitive nature they are likely to enter the old, treated nest and if they touch any active powder there is a good chance they too will die before they are able to build a new nest of their own.
If you decide that your wasp nest needs removing for any reason.
It is better to treat the wasp nest first, then wait for a few days (we advise approx. 48 hours minimum) for the foraging wasps to return to the treated nest where they will die, then it is normally safe to remove the nest.
A lot of my customers were more than happy to remove the treated nest themselves, and they were advised to wear gloves and a mask due to the insecticide used.
It is also worth taking a bin liner with you as the nest is fragile and will certainly break up when removed, the bin liner will help to reduce the mess to clear up afterwards.
If a wasp nest is removed too soon before all the scavenging worker wasps are killed the returning wasps are highly likely to build another nest, albeit just a shell as there will be no queen to lay eggs. This also applies if the customer uses a quick knock down treatment such as a wasp nest foam treatment and removes the nest straight away.
If you decide to remove a wasp nest yourself, the first thing to ensure is that the nest is not in use. If you are unsure whether the wasp nest is live, do not attempt to remove it or touch it. The smallest vibrations are enough to provoke wasps into attacking. If in doubt call your local pest controller and seek advice.
DIY Wasp Treatment. More people are trying to treat wasp nests to save money, I agree with this idea but to help you carry out a safe treatment I have put together the following advice.
DIY products DO work if used in a correct manner.
(Do not forget your running shoes in case the treatment goes wrong).
Wasps use whatever nesting material is available, and normally will build their nests near to ready and easy to get at material such as wood from fence panels / garden furniture / sheds / trees etc and convert it into a paste that the wasps use to construct their nest.
Wasps do not swarm in the same fashion as honeybees. Wasps only swarm around the nest location when the nest is tampered with (under attack) such as when a nest is treated.
Early summer onwards into late autumn is when you will be able to easily tell if a nest is active. Take a few moments to watch the nest from a safe distance. If you can see wasps walking over the outside of the nest, then it is live. If you can see wasps arriving at a hole in the wall etc there is a likelihood of a live nest being behind the hole out of sight.
Wasps will not re-use a nest year after year, they will build new nests each year with a new queen. The old queen will be dead before the new season starts.
ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE CLOTHING WHEN DEALING WITH WASP NESTS.
Here is some information and advice about wasps and how to control and eradicate wasp nests.
Dealing with wasp nests can be dangerous as they can sting multiple times, not just once, like a bee.
Wasps will instinctively attack anyone that ventures too near their nest, they usually have “sentry” wasps which act as guards near the entrance to the nest and these communicate with wasps that are within the nest, when danger appears.
Even after treatment, wasps will be seen for a short while due to foraging wasps returning to the nest, which is one reason we leave a treated nest in situ so that returning wasps will enter the nest and be killed with the remaining chemical.
How to destroy a wasp nest safely
Firstly, make sure you have some protective clothing, particularly a mask if you are using dust/powder insecticide.
Stand a short distance from the nest and watch the nest to determine where the in and out flight path is, it is best not to stand near to either.
Most pest controllers will use a powder, this will kill the nest quickly and have a long-term residual effect, which will allow time to kill off any returning wasps to the nest.
Most of the DIY powders use a chemical called Permethrin, (both in ant powder and wasp destroyer powder) this is ok and will do the job required, however caution must be used due to the wasps becoming excited before they die off, which is normally minutes after treating. However, professionals have various treatment methods and chemicals at their disposal, which obviously makes the job easier.
It is an idea to try to lightly cover the nest with whichever powder you have, directly from the puffer pack.
You do NOT require powder to be over a large area to kill wasps, normally a teaspoon of powder will kill a nest the size of a football, the wasps or hornets need to walk in the powder due to them breathing through their underside, and so to dust where they do not walk looks unsightly and is a waste of chemical.
Small quantities into the entry hole are far better.
If the nest is in a hole, in the wall or behind an air brick, dust from the puffer straight into the holes just once or twice then urgently vacate the area.
Use a powder/dust to kill these wasps. Due to the DIYer carrying out the treatment late in the evening when there are less wasps flying, (for your safety) you may have to make several attempts to eradicate a nest if you can only see the entrance hole. This is because you cannot get enough wasp killer dust to stay in the entrance path for the wasps to pick up and carry into the wasp nest. Usually, a few puffs at the end of each day for a few days will be more than enough to sort out the largest size of nest.
If the nest is in an air brick apply over the whole air brick into the holes not on the surface as it looks untidy, this is because the wasps will use other holes in the brick if you do not treat all the vent holes.
Carry out the treatment late at night if you are too scared to approach the wasps during the day, however, treatment during the day will be more likely to work rapidly. Even at night, there will be some guard wasps at the entrance to the wasp nest. Caution is required.
Wasps very often nest in the ground and these nests are extremely easy to deal with.
No equipment is required. Just puff the wasp killer dust from the puffer into the hole. The wasps will walk into the powder regardless, due to them walking out of the entrance before taking flight.
Only use a Wasp Nest Killer Foam Aerosol if you can see the whole nest, aim the foam into the open entrance hole normally located at the bottom of the nest and then cover as much of the nest as you can with the foam before promptly vacating the area. (No necessity to use all the can in one visit normally). If you use a foam into a hole in the wall, the foam will dissolve but the chemical will stay for a short while, in the meantime there is a good chance that the wasps will be driven inwards into the property and emerge elsewhere.
Ideally use something like that shown in the picture below to direct the dust into the entrance hole. (The picture is from an item on EBAY (I typed in pest control duster into the search bar) and is for description purposes only, this is one of a few that has a long nozzle which obviously keeps the operator further away from the nest entrance).
If you have protective gear such as a £25 ish bee suit from eBay (which is all I used) you may well want to get close to the nest and dust straight into it, this is fine, but my advice is to treat from outside first. That way a lot of the wasps will be outside of the nest area and not inside with you.
Once you turn on a light the wasps will fly to that light, even if you are in the way, however there is a great chance that you will be attacked whilst they are flying past you.
Once you open a loft hatch the wasps will fly out into the room or passage. A clever idea here is to close all doors and leave an external door or window open so the wasps can fly out. I used to leave the nearest window to the loft entrance open.
Do not use an aerosol indoors or in the loft if you can help it just in case there is a flame from a boiler or a bad bit of wire causing a spark. An explosion can easily happen under these circumstances.
Be vigilant always and try to watch where wasps are flying when they are airborne.
Wear white or brighter coloured clothes or bee suit where possible, these may well attract the wasps to you, but equally you can see them before you undress or sit down.
Do not wear a head torch, the wasps will fly straight towards it. Hold a torch at arm’s length and to your side if possible.
The pest control product is the same product used at higher levels as it is at ground level, do NOT get duped into believing anything else, just so the pest controller can put the price up.
Any reputable pest controller will give you a fixed price over the phone for treatment, there should be NO hidden extras added.
Most insecticides these days are a Permethrin which kills most insects, I do not usually give out names of chemicals but this one states most crawling insects, Nippon Ant Killer (Powder puffer pack) it states on the label, and I quote “The ideal treatment in difficult to reach areas. The powder can be dusted along cracks and crevices, door, and window frames and in air bricks, along ant runs and, where an ant’s nest is found, it can be used to eliminate it completely. Also works on cockroaches, beetles, earwigs, silverfish, woodlice, and most other types of crawling insects.” It also is the same chemical used for wasp and hornet treatments.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BLOCK UP THE ENTRANCE HOLE UNTIL YOU ARE SURE THE WASPS ARE ALL DEAD OR THEY WILL COME OUT ELSEWHERE AND COULD CAUSE MAJOR PROBLEMS.
PLEASE NOTE: Wasps can be dangerous if you are allergic to the stings, anaphylactic shock from a sting can result in serious and potentially fatal swelling.
Carpet Beetles.
The larvae are known as woolly bears and the adult looks like a small, mottled brown, grey and cream ladybird.
The adult Carpet Beetle feeds only on pollen and nectar of garden flowers but lays its eggs in old birds’ nests, when the beetle has been taken there on the feathers of birds that have brushed against the plants the beetles were feeding from. The beetles can also be brought indoors by humans and animals brushing against the plants just as easily as birds.
The beetle does not do the damage indoors to your carpet etc it is the larvae from these eggs that do the damage, which we know as woolly bears. They feed on natural fibre, such as feathers, fur, hair, or wool which is normally the first fabric you will notice they have eaten. They will always be in dark areas where they are undisturbed, mainly under seats, tv stands, plant pots etc.
Woolly bear or carpet beetle damage consists of well-defined round holes along the seams of fabric where the grubs eat the thread. Or in the case of a good quality carpet with a high % of natural wool, the grubs will be under the units eating away the carpet and leaving you with very bald patches.
Carpet beetle larvae (woolly bears).
Remedy. Try to ascertain how they entered the premises; the beetles could be anywhere but a good place to start is old bird nests or dead birds and remove them. Clean all areas with a good vacuum, a good tip here is to empty the vacuum first, suck a small quantity of ant powder into the vacuum, this will kill any grubs or beetles that are sucked into the vacuum. Clean all areas including carpet edges, shelves in airing cupboards, wardrobes, floorboards, and where possible lift carpets and underlay and clean floor and carpet thoroughly. Most insecticides these days are a Permethrin which kills most insects, I don’t usually give out names of chemicals but this particular one states most crawling insects, Nippon Ant Killer (Powder puffer pack) it states on the label and I quote “The ideal treatment in difficult to reach areas. The powder can be dusted along cracks and crevices, door and window frames and in air bricks, along ant runs and, where an ant’s nest is found, it can be used to eliminate it completely. Also works on cockroaches, beetles, earwigs, silverfish, woodlice and most other types of crawling insects.” The point with a powder is to use less is better a light dusting is all that is required for most insects, the base chemical is the same for most DIY and Professional powders. The pest controller will obviously have access to chemicals the DIY market does not, but they all work in the same way, and if you read the labels you will find the same base chemical on ant, wasp, woodlice and many other puffer bottles with specific insect written large on the label. But remember LESS IS MORE when it comes to using any chemical, if you put too much down the insect may not go through. Once you have vacuumed the area the ideal method is to puff a small quantity of powder under the carpet, and any insect that crawls along the edges or under the carpet will die, (we suggest this is carried out when a new carpet is about to be laid). Also, once the furniture has been positioned it will be an idea to lightly powder under the furniture in the dark areas, this will kill any insects that try to get back under. Clean regularly but do not vacuum the areas where the powder is laying if you can help it until you are sure you have no more problems. Often, we found this problem under tv stands, where the cat would lay behind it for a bit of peace, especially where there are children. As soon as you spot carpet beetles in your house, it’s time to get rid of them. This type of beetle is not known to live inside your home, but they will visit and cause damage to your clothes, carpets, and even pet fur. Though carpet beetles don’t sting or bite, they can cause plenty of damage to fabrics and furniture. Avoid using chemical pesticides and use the steps below to get rid of these bugs naturally.
Step 1 - Identify the Culprit. It is fairly easy to find carpet beetles because they leave a trail of destruction behind them. You will soon see damaged clothing and carpets which should confirm their presence. They will eat anything from wool, lint, and silk to feathers. They will also enjoy a meal of your dog's shed fur as a tasty snack.
Step 2 - Determine How They Come Inside. Carpet beetles can enter through any cracks in your siding and exterior or through open windows and doors. They will also attach themselves to your clothes when you are outdoors to hitch a ride inside, or ride along on flowers like daisies that you pick to display inside. Once inside, they will start munching on anything they find. While they do eat any fur your pet may shed, they can also attach themselves to your pet and bite into the skin, resulting in fur loss. Carpet beetles can fly from house to house too, infesting neighbours as well.
Step 3 - Get Them in the Larvae Stage. A female carpet beetle can lay up to 100 eggs in two weeks. At larvae stage, they are furry and very different in appearance, but it in is this stage they cause the most damage. They don’t like cedar, however, so it’s a good idea to have your clothes stored in a cedar chest if carpet beetles are a persistent problem, as this can act as a deterrent for a few years. If you vacuum your house thoroughly, chances are you will pick up plenty of larvae, which you can discard outside of the home or destroy.
Step 4 - Remove Their Food Source. Get rid of all the extra clothes that you don’t need in order to avoid encouraging the carpet beetles to feed on them and give everything else in your house a thorough cleaning. Make sure you wash your pets clothing and bedding as well to rid the surface of extra hair. Remove any birds’ nests near your house; they are a favourite spots for adults to lay their eggs.
Step 5 - Spray an Organic Insect Spray. Finally, give your house a thorough spray to kill any carpet beetles that might still be lurking in your clothes and furniture even after the cleaning. There are solutions especially for carpet beetles that are organic and safe for pets and family
About Fleas.
The predominant flea of modern homes in the Western World is the cat flea. Followed closely by the dog flea, which is found on humans and pets, particularly in their bedding, and the human flea, is also found on humans, in bedrooms and is capable of breeding on pigs, badgers, foxes and hedgehogs. The human flea is however rare. Most animals have fleas specific to the species of animal i.e., rabbit, bird, hedgehog and mole fleas.
Getting Bitten? IT MAY BE STATIC. On occasions, office workers mostly women due to skirts and dresses allowing the legs to be exposed to the carpets, complain of being bitten by insects.
But on closer inspection no signs of insect infestation are found. Often the reason is because the carpets are made of nylon and static transfers from the carpet to bare skin, we class this as ‘Cable bugs’, which refers to static electricity. This is very common In environments where there are sources of static, such as the computer console and, anywhere where nylon carpeting exists, a phenomenon occurs which results in realistic-looking bite marks on the skin that look and feel exactly like flea bites. In rooms containing a lot of paper, electrical equipment and fibres, static electricity can cause particles of carpet fibres, paper splinters or fibreglass fibres to jump onto arms and legs. When static electricity builds up, tiny sharp particles of nylon carpeting can actually leap out of the carpet and embed themselves in the skin. Where this problem occurs a liberal spraying of an anti-static preparation will suffice.
Description. Fleas vary in size from 1mm up to 8mm and vary from being light brown in colour to nearly black although. They have well developed muscles in the hind limbs and a unique skeletal structure which are special adaptations for jumping. Fleas have no wings and have very efficient piercing and sucking mouth parts.
Adult fleas live as parasites on warm-blooded animals and although they show host preference they will feed on sources of blood in the absence of their normal host. Some flea species are unable to breed without the presence of the blood from their definitive host.
Life Cycle. A single female is capable of producing several hundred eggs in her lifespan. The eggs hatch after about a week and the legless, white thread-like larvae feed on organic waste including undigested blood and excreta left by adults. The larvae are about 1.5mm long at this stage and are identified by their eyeless, brown head, biting jaws, 3 segmented thorax and 10 segmented abdomen covered in bristles, with peg-like protrusions on the final segment.
The larvae become grey in colour as they grow and after about 2-3 weeks, having moulted twice, reach a length of 5mm. At this stage they begin to spin silken cocoons in which they pupate.
These cocoons are tent shaped and incorporate dust particles etc which help to camouflage the pupa and also makes them difficult to penetrate with a water base insecticide. This is a major problem in unoccupied properties and the use of an oil based insecticide is recommended for these areas or the application of a desiccant dust along joints in floorboards or wood block floors. These turn brown as they mature to become adults and are capable of remaining dormant for 8 months until stimulated to emerge for a feed. It is known that fleas breed close to their hosts in dust, weepings, dirt, cracks and crevices and general rubbish. The whole cycle from egg to adult takes about a month in summer, much longer at lower temperatures.
Nuisance Factor. Fleas will often go unnoticed until, towards August and September, either people are bitten or pets begin to suffer. When very hungry, fleas will jump onto people (not their preferred host) feed a little on blood, then leap off again to await a more suitable host.
Bites to humans can cause intense reddened irritation around a central red spot which can last for up to 2 days. First bites are not usually responsible for serious reactions although subsequent ones may lead to hypersensitivity among some people.
Fleas are capable of spreading serious disease.
Control. Flea control is best directed at the free-living stages, when the flea is not on the host. Effective control means halting the flea life cycle rather than just treating the adult flea.
The correct flea control measures can only be decided once the level of infestation has been determined. In many cases, infestations (even of spotlessly clean homes) can usually be attributed to pets, who may well have picked up fleas from outside sources.
Treatment. As a pest controller I used to carry out treatment as follows.
Before my visits I would, where possible have the householder vacuum the whole floor area and pay particular attention the edges of the carpets and under furniture, as well as down the sides of seats and cushions. The vacuum required emptying after each use by keeping it running until the door nearest the dustbin was reached, the vacuum would be turned off and the vacuum emptied straight in the bin. If this procedure was not carried out the fleas are more than likely to escape the vacuum and the problem will never be sorted. There was never a need to dispose of any pet bedding etc it can all be treated.
Fleas will not be behind heavy furniture because they will want to jump onto a passing host, they do not go mountaineering to do so, they are opportunistic pests and will take any warm blooded animal as they pass by.
Treatment is simple however for the DIYer to carry out the treatment is usually a bit more awkward because the DIYer normally will not have the same spray equipment that a pest controller carries. However the treatment is very much the same, ideally purchase a water based chemical that can be diluted and put into a small spray bottle. The edges of the rooms and especially carpets require a copious quantity of spray, so it runs down the edges of the skirting boards. The same applies to any seating areas after the cushions have been removed. And the same applies to under the edges of furniture especially where it is dark.
The treated areas ideally should not be vacuumed for at least a month so the insects can hatch and walk into the chemicals which will stay active for quite a while. Once they have touched the chemicals they will die, and the lifecycle has now been broken and some sort of control can be carried out. If vacuuming does take place it is important the edges of the floors and seats etc are not vacuumed or the active chemicals will be vacuumed up.
It is possible to treat areas with spray cans that can be purchased from the shop but be aware that a lot of the cans say to spray then vacuum up after 30 minutes or so, this method will only have killed any active fleas that the chemical has touched, you need to wait until the eggs have hatched and the young have been killed by the chemical.
Where possible and ideally under very edge of the carpet a light dusting of a general insect treatment such as ant powder is a very good method of killing any young and adults that stray into the chemical, but a very light dusting on a dry area is more than sufficient.
It goes without saying that pets should also be regularly treated with an appropriate veterinary product.
Thoroughness is vital when treating any flea infestations as problems can quickly re-surface if an area is not treated sufficiently.
Treatments can be carried out by using conventional residual Insecticides which are easily purchased over the counter.
Rat Facts.
Click HERE to see a short video of a Rat showing interest in a new bait station in its territory. Due to Rats being neophobic they wont enter the bait station until it has been left alone for a few days without moving.
Rat facts to know before you start to treat or ignore a rat problem.
Rats have 7–8 young per litter, and between 3–6 litters a year. The gestation period is about 3 weeks.
It only takes 10–12 weeks from birth to reach sexual maturity.Preferred food is cereals, which is why you will find them near to chicken runs and bird feeders.
They will eat around 30g of food a day and drink 60ml.Most species of rats live in nests comprised of an alpha male, several females and the young rats. The dominant male will prevent other males from mating with his group of females, and watches out for the family.
Many rat families have multiple nest sites, and move between them depending on the availability of food and a good water source. Access to water is crucial for rats.Rats have 7–8 young per litter, and between 3–6 litters a year.
They will eat around 30g of food a day and drink 60ml. Rats normally travel up to 300 feet from the nest in search of food and water and to patrol their territory. However, if food and water dry up, they will venture much farther to get what they need.
As a pest controller we would always work to the principle that she mates multiple times today to ensure she is pregnant, 28 days later she gives birth to between 6 – 10 young, the next day she mates again and 28 days later she gives birth and the last lot of off spring are off the teat and the new ones take over whilst the others have to fend for themselves, when they are approx. 3 months old they are sexually mature.
The average rat in the wild will live for around one year, with female rats often outliving the males.
Rats occupy a wide range of habitats, often associated with human sites, especially farms, industrial sites, rubbish tips, allotments, smallholdings sewage farms, and sewers. This reflects their preference for sites that provide an abundance of food, especially cereals and waste human food.
Not what you really want to hear but i have just copied and pasted the latest figures. Rats are on the rise in the United Kingdom, with the population now estimated to be somewhere 150 million, the highest figure ever. Some areas the numbers are up by 85% on the previous year. It is suggested by manufacturers that a maximum of three weeks between visits to bait stations is to be the normal.
Are rats increasing in the UK? What's the big deal with UK rats? In 2023, many places across the UK saw a noticeable increase in rat infestations. The south London borough of Southwark, for example, saw an infestation increase of 90%, with Sunderland facing a similar increase of 85% Ratflation: 743 rodent infestations tackled each day in 2023. 271,343 residential visits for rodent infestations in 2023. 48 people admitted to hospital in 2022/23 having been bitten by a rat. 23 per cent increase in callouts for bedbugs. A quarter (26 per cent) of local authorities no longer provide pest control services.
What time of year are rats most active UK? The rat and mouse population is at it's highest by late Summer/early Autumn. As autumn progresses the food sources start to dry up and the vegetation dies back. Rats and mice will feel the cold and will now start to seek cover, alternative food and warmth. This is when they move into buildings.
How many rats can 2 rats produce in 3 years? Rats can produce half a BILLION descendants in three years ... It's no secret that rats can reproduce prolifically, but the numbers they can reach are staggering. A female rat typically births six litters a year, consisting of around 12 pups. If left unchecked, a pair of rats can produce 482,508,800 pups in just three years, a new interactive graphic reveals.
At what age do rats reach full size? Female rats stop growing at around six to seven months old, while males can grow for another two months after that. Note that they reach sexual maturity at around two months, well before they're considered fully grown.
Moles Understand them First.
Understand the lifestyle and behaviour of pests before you treat them, understand the enemy and be safe. It only takes a few minutes.
As per all my tips and advice pages this one is aimed towards the DIY market and will also benefit any pest controllers that are new to mole catching. There are many different methods of catching all types of pests but in my time as a pest controller I have seen or tried most of them and as such the subjects covered on this page is from my personal experiences and findings coupled with my refined methodology.
Moles can be very destructive, as such they need to be controlled, this is an easy pest to eradicate by trapping, which is by far the best option due to a dead mole will cause no more problems.
There are several different types of traps on the market but when we were in pest control, we used tunnel type traps which can catch two moles at a time.
Other traps are easy to use but are normally either difficult to set, unless you are used to them, or they stick out of the ground which puts them in full view of anyone not liking animals being killed. The tunnel type or Duffus traps are used below the surface and out of site. And must be set correctly to work well.
The biggest problem is the cost of good quality traps, if you buy cheap copies of any trap, they will rust quickly and the spring will lose its tension, thus not giving a quick kill.
Also, it must be noted that to catch a live mole and release it a few miles away is illegal, due to the welfare of the animal. I am not going to cover the legislation on this page about such legalities, you need to look it up on google. Those in the pest control profession will already know this legislation.
Let us get down to the nitty gritty part. You will need traps, a dibber, a garden trowel or similar and something to cut a neat hole in the turf if required.
A trap is obviously the bit that catches the mole, the dibber can be anything from a thin strong stick to a small diameter copper pipe or steel rod about 10mm dia, (or even a long screwdriver) the aim of the dibber is to find the tunnels or runs underground. Once found you will need the other tools to dig out a hole as explained later.
Sometimes you will go to a job where there are plastic children’s windmills stuck in the ground or sonic deterrents, these do NOT work. You will be told that the mole won’t go near to vibration, this is true to a degree if there is no vibration the mole will easily go the area, but the vibration will make them avoid it until they have become used to the noise. Look at the side of roads, there are always molehills there.
The idea is to stand back from the mounds of soil made by the mole and inspect them from afar. At this point the customer will always tell you which are the new mounds, and which are the old mounds. I always have a grin to myself at this point because they do not understand mole behaviour.
To simplify a new mound will have clean fresh loose soil on it, a mound that is a few days old or more will have seeds growing out of it or the soil will be flatted by the weather and wind. These are to be avoided and better still flattened before you start the job to save confusion.
The next point is to see the location and patterns of the mounds to tree lines, boundary fences and hedgerows, gardens old footpaths, dips in the grass or terrain which will be damper than surrounding areas etc. But not a flat manicured lawn area.
Let me explain how I used to tell my customers. If you drove to London you would use a motorway, the mole has a motorway as well, this run is normally the deepest but not always, this run will get the mole from one end of its territory to the other the quickest. The moles motorway will normally run below or against a fence line, hedgerow, wall or any area which will allow water to drip off it.
The next road you would use will be an A road, moles have A roads that come away from its main run, this is where you will find a not so deep run, the mole has come up to the level where the worms are more likely to be.
Once you arrive near to your destination you will use a B road, the moles B road is very shallow and can often be seen from above ground level.
When you arrive at your destination you may use a cul-de-sac, the mole too has cul-de-sacs which is where you will find the mound of soil above surface.
The mole uses the deep runs obviously to collect worms but also to get from one end to the other of its territory and then to use the side roads, this very much depends on the weather, if the weather is dry the worms will go deeper and the mole will follow them, if the ground is wet the worms are near the top and so will the mole. Now hopefully you understand the moles tunnel system.
The mole will dig and push the surplus soil into a cul-de-sac to push the soil out of the tunnel then it will carry on digging or foraging.
If you use your dibber near to a mound you will often find several runs coming away from the mound and going into different directions. And you will almost certainly feel a short run from the mound to a tunnel.
The easiest and fastest way to catch mole is to set traps near the edge of the area i.e. fence line, you will find a good run due to the drips from the fence etc creating a good worm population area, and where there are worms there will be a tunnel. The other good point is the mole will travel fastest along this tunnel than any other. Once you have set the traps along the perimeter, look to see where the runs go from there to the nearest mounds, always start from this area and work your way out.
If you use a tunnel type trap you will need to cut the hole fractionally larger than the trap and along the tunnel length, NOT across the tunnel, the base of the dig should be flattened due to the mole knowing every lump and bump in the tunnel. The trap will need to be laid into the hole and gently covered over, eliminating and daylight or air from getting into the tunnel. Due to the mole not requiring a very high oxygen level to survive it is always a good idea to have everything prepped before you dig, as you will need to dig out and set the trap as fast as possible. If not, the mole will detect the difference in the area and will avoid it.
If you use a scissor type trap you need to dig out the hole as above, set the rap into the hole and backfill with loose soil, the idea being that the mole comes across the obstruction and digs it out only to end up in the trap.
Experience will guide you towards a trap for different terrains that you will come across.
Generally, I would leave my traps down for a couple of days before returning to retrieve them and empty the catch.
Hantavirus and Leptospirosis is very DANGEROUS.
Hantavirus and Leptospirosis or better known as Weil's disease are both problems that be easily encountered when working in confined areas such as lofts where there has been rodent activity.
In this section it makes no difference if you are a DIYer or a professional trades person, the tips and advice on here need to be adhered to in order to be as safe as you can.
If you have had a rodent problem in the loft it is often better to sort that first, where possible. Occasionally it will be better to clear out the old smelly insulation and start with a clean slate. This is the line I shall take you with my tips and advice.
First you will require a lot of large refuse bags, not too large that they will not fit through the loft hatch, but as strong as you can get because they nearly always snag somewhere between the loft and a skip.
PPE (personal protection equipment) i.e. gloves, overalls and a mask, a torch, a vacuum (we used a henry type and we removed the bag and just emptied it when full), a hand brush and a dustpan., skip (even in a small property a large builders skip is useful as the bags will need to be trodden down to compact them from time to time. Obviously, you need to sheet the floor from loft entry point area to the door and you will need an access ladder to the loft.
Start from the loft entry point, rolling the insulation and bagging it as you go, thus you are not kneeling in old dirty insulation. Sweep up any rubbish as you go into the dustpan and bag it along with the insulation and when you have one filled hand it through the loft to any helpers you may have, if you are alone it will take what appears to be forever to clean a loft. Gradually and methodically carry out the procedure until you have cleared it all and swept what you can in the dustpan.
Once this part has bee finished use the vacuum from the far end of the loft and work you way back to the hatch, making sure that you have all rodent droppings from the loft.
On your way in and out of the loft, take note of any rodent runs or holes that need filling. Do this at the same time using a wire mesh into the holes and an expanding foam squirted into the wire, or just fix mesh over the hole to close off the hole and make secure.
Once you have cleaned the area, and proofed it leave it empty of any new insulation for a few weeks, that way any activity will easily be heard from the rooms below, and it will be possible to follow the sounds towards the entry point. If you look into the loft the next day there should be droppings to confirm your suspicions, I would lay traps for a while and catch any stragglers, or you may bait, however if the rodent dies in a cavity there will be a smell for a while.
You should be able to ascertain if the entry point is from a sewer or not, in which case you will need to sort out the breach, as per my rat and mouse page.
To refit the insulation may be free if the gas board are still carrying out such services still. But don’t let on that there was insulation up there in the first place as they may not offer the service.