Author Archives: apc

1. Choosing A Pest Control Company

   October 13, 2009 12:54 pm Leave a Comment

   There are numerous pest control companies across the UK, so it’s often a difficult task to choose the provider best for your situation.

   Discovering a pest problem or infestation that is threatening your property, your health or even just your peace of mind can be a major annoyance.

   The last thing one needs in this situation is the added stress of finding a reputable pest control company to service the problem.

   However, for preventative and reactive measures alike, finding a local, qualified pest control professional is easy to do if you’re willing to do a little homework.

   Essentially, you are entrusting a pest control service provider with the well-being of both your home and your family.

   A credible pest professional will protect both your property and your family’s health from the damage and diseases associated with pests through responsible and effective service.

   If you are looking for pest control services, then here are some tips for selecting a pest professional:

   • Ask friends and neighbours to recommend pest control companies they have used successfully and how satisfied they were with the service.
   • Be wary of the operator who comes to your home uninvited and offers to give your house a free inspection for pests. He or she may try to scare you into authorising immediate and costly treatments.
   • If a sizable amount of money is involved, get bids from several pest control companies.
   • Don’t rush a decision. Since you are paying for professional knowledge, look for someone whose judgment you can trust.
   • Before signing a contract, be sure to fully understand the nature of the pest, the extent of the infestation, and the work necessary to solve the problem.
   • Find out if the pest professional has liability insurance to cover damage to your house or furnishings during treatment.
   • If a guarantee is given, know what it covers, how long it lasts, what you must do to keep it in force, and what kind of continuing control, prevention and management are necessary.
   • Buy value, not price. Beware of bargains that sound too good to be true.

2. Sheltering From The Cold

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   With the cold weather now and truly on us, it’s not just humans who want to burrow down in the blankets and seek refuge from the cold.

   Now that we’re on the cusp of February, residents across the UK are bracing themselves for the cold, wet weather that usually hits the UK at this time every year.

   It is now that you may want to take a moment to glance around your home, looking for possible access areas from the outside that any unwanted guest may find to escape the frigid Winter temperatures.

   Specialists in dealing with rodent infestations, it is this time of year that the pest control officers at Attack Pest Control come into their own, being able to quickly establish potential areas of weakness within your home or office / factory structure.

   Mice only need a quarter of an inch and rats need half an inch of space to enter your premises, so it is important that these areas are found and sealed before the pests have gained access and start eating their way through your stocks of food and other produce.

   Common areas of entry include soffits, flashings and guttering around the roof of a building. It is important to check that these are tightly sealed especially around openings in the structure, for instance where the cables go in for television and phone.

   If your premises are near overhanging trees, then these can provide an easy walkway right onto the roof. In this situation, you can either ensure that the trees are trimmed back away from the building or regular checks to the state of the roof are commissioned so that any openings are spotted quickly and repaired before the rodents can take advantage.

   Attack Pest Control provide pest services to homes and business across the east of England, and are here to offer tips and advice for keeping your premises clear of unwanted creatures.

3. Pests In Apartments

   12:53 pm Leave a Comment

   If you have a pest infestation in your apartment, it may be that it did not originate from your dwelling, but that of a neighbours.

   An apartment dweller can clean up after every meal, vacuum religiously and dust every conceivable crack and nookie in their home but bugs can still inevitably invade their personal space, and it isn’t just those tenacious cockroaches that are to blame.

   Residents in flats and apartments are at the mercy of their neighbours when it comes to fighting cockroaches, ants or the newest scourge in the entomological world, bed bugs.

   Residences too often have "focus units" where bugs go, thrive and then spread out to other parts of the building, and they can occur in almost any building.

   Identification of these focus units is often only possible after repeated requests for pest control treatment occur from adjacent residences that are already neat and clean. If there is a suspicion that a focus unit exists, effective pest control can only take place we are invited in to do so. This can lead to the problem of a focus unit being left intreated for far too long, so an infestation is even more difficult to eradicate.

   Beyond that, you may have to ask whether it is possible to seal yourself off from your neighbours. To do that, an apartment owner will have to inspect the unit’s gas lines, water pipes and electrical outlets.

   If you are the victim of an infestation caused by an external focus unit, you may be able to minimise the impact of the pests without using traditional bug-battling techniques.

   It can be done without chemicals or with non-invasive chemicals. Pest control technicians can use very good baits and traps, and can also place highly repellent, all-natural mineral products within a unit’s walls to provide a barrier to bugs coming in from the exterior.

   Top Tips

   Too many apartment units have bathroom pipes without an escutcheon plate – the little silver ring that encircles a pipe as it enters the wall. By fitting this small piece of plumbing equipment and ensuring that it is flush and caulked to the wall prevents pests entering your apartment through any small gaps that may have surrounded these pipes.

   Another easy fix involves the drip condensation pan under a refrigerator. Insects love moisture, and keeping this plate dry will discourage pests from taking refuge in your kitchen. In addition, by cleaning up any crumbs or food items and keeping rubbish bins sealed you are discouraging pests to settle within your property.

4. The Rat Race

   12:53 pm Leave a Comment

   Despite the availability of a plethora of traps and baits, rodents rank within the top five pests by volume of work.

   Pest rodents are the fourth-ranked top pest by volume of work, so why are rats and mice still such a focus of effort?

   Enough bait and traps have been sold in the past decade alone to kill millions of these pests, and no secrets exist in the life cycles of these animals, or in understanding their simple requirements for food and shelter.

   In addition, the basics of improved sanitation and rodent-proofing to limit infestations are well understood. Yet frequent news reports and individual observations suggest that commensal rodent problems are as bad as ever in many cases, particularly in our cities.

   There are a number of issues at stake which have allowed rodents to prosper within our neighbourhoods:

   • Many people with rodent problems are simply not prepared to pay for the level of effort required to solve the problems when they finally become serious enough for them to truly take notice. In fact, it often would have been far cheaper to practice prevention.
   • Most pest rodents are tackled in isolation at the individual customer level.
   • Control efforts all too often are sporadic and insufficient to prevent reinfestation.
   • Most importantly, too much reliance is placed in rodent control (as with bait and traps) and not enough on rodent prevention techniques and environmental improvement.

   To solve the problem of a rat or mouse infestation, a true integrated pest management rodent program is needed – a solution which provides more than simply trapping and bait-station replenishment.

   In addition to standard pest control techniques, an integrated solution is also comprised of surveys and the monitoring of conditions for both residential and commercial customers, enabling rapid identification of problem areas within your property.

   Attack Pest Control are the number one provider of 1st class pest control for the south-east region, and specialise in the operation of integrated pest management solutions. Contact us for further information.

5. Winter Warmth Sparks Pest Concerns

   12:52 pm Leave a Comment

   An unseasonable warm winter in many parts of the country has sparked concerns for a busy spring pest season ahead.

   After an unseasonably warm winter in many parts of the country, it is predicted that a busy spring pest season lies ahead.

   As pests are most active during the spring and summer months, the pest control technicians at Attack Pest Control advise that homeowners take action now to guard their largest investment from potential infestations.

   Rodents are of particular concern this season as major cities are experiencing rodent problems in restaurants and other public areas. Like us, rodents seek food, shelter and water in their environment.

   With March as the beginning of the rodent breeding cycle and spring plants providing easy access to food, homeowners must take precautions to prevent rodent and other pest infestations in and around their homes.

   Research has found that spring and summer are when pest problems are of most concern to homeowners. A variety of pests including rodents, flies, ants and cockroaches can move in without leaving many visible warning signs during early spring. To ensure that your home is unwelcoming to multi-legged guests, we offer the following tips:

   • Seal up cracks and small openings along the bottom of the house.
   • Eliminate sources of moisture or standing water.
   • Keep tree branches and other plants cut back from the house.
   • Keep kitchen clean by wiping counters frequently, emptying the rubbish religiously, and keeping food containers sealed.
   • Avoid leaving pet food dishes out for long periods of time.
   • Keep rubbish bins clean and sealed both indoors and outdoors.
   • Screen windows and doors.

   Early spring is a good opportunity for homeowners to secure the services of a pest professional, who will be able to point out problem areas and treat for infestations.

6. Controlling Periodomestic Cockroaches

   12:51 pm Leave a Comment

   Periodomestic cockroaches include all the common types of large cockroach found within the UK. Usually originating from outside, they will find their way into your premises looking for food.

   Peridomestic cockroaches include all of our common large cockroaches such as the American cockroach, but also some smaller species, such as the Asian cockroach.

   When you find peridomestic cockroaches indoors, they usually came from outdoors. If the weather is warm, it’s a good bet there are still cockroaches around, above or below the building, and new insects will continue to find their way inside.

   Inspect Outdoors

   In warm weather, indoor problems with peridomestic cockroaches should always trigger an outdoor inspection. Cockroaches may be in the landscape, on the building, in the loft, living in the drains or even up on the roof.

   Peridomestic cockroaches often hide during the day on the building itself. They squeeze inside cracks and crevices on the outside walls, under the siding and in holes around pipes and wires. They leave at night to find food and water, and may travel inside.

   You can drive cockroaches out of their hiding places using a short burst of a flushing agent. But flushing agents aren’t very practical when inspecting a building’s exterior. There are just too many potential hiding places. A better method is to inspect the exterior of the building one to two hours after sunset – prime time for large cockroaches to begin their search for food.

   Spend an hour or so and look for cockroaches emerging from cracks and crevices. Note all of the locations and inform your pest control technician who can then treat active cracks and crevices. These gaps should then be sealed to prevent cockroaches from using these hiding places in the future.

   Always inspect the landscape. Peridomestic cockroaches can reach high numbers in moist, shaded leaf litter under trees and shrubs. You may find up to 50 or more in a single rotting stump, a log, or in a planter next to a building. Don’t limit your inspection to ground level.

   1. Look up. Large cockroaches often congregate under roof overhangs. The roof gutter system is another prime inspection site, often ignored. Leaves and pine needles and other debris provide both food and shelter for large cockroaches.
   2. Look down. Check cellars and pantries. Look inside water meter boxes. Be alert to the possibility of cockroaches in nearby sewers as hundreds of American cockroaches can live in a single sewer manhole or storm drain.

   Habitat Modification

   Ongoing problems with peridomestic cockroaches indoors often can be reduced or even eliminated by pest-proofing the building or modifying the cockroaches’ habitat outdoors. Most of these tasks will be your responsibility, including:

   • Sealing cracks and crevices, holes in foundation walls, at windows, vents, doors, pipe/cable penetrations and soffits;
   • Installing door sweeps, thresholds and weather seals on exterior doors and garage doors;
   • Moving firewood, lumber and rubbish bins away from structures;
   • Avoiding heavy mulch;
   • Reducing moisture near foundations;
   • Cleaning gutters;
   • Keeping trees and shrubs trimmed, and making sure that no branches touch the building.

   For further information on controlling a cockroach infestation, please do not hesitate to contact Attack Pest Control, who will be able to organise for a qualified pest control technician to offer advice and arrange a site visit.

7. Booming Vermin Populations

   12:50 pm Leave a Comment

   Overflowing bins and pest control cutbacks are causing Britain’s vermin population to boom.

   In many areas around the country, the council has cut back its pest control services to divert resources to "priority" causes, most notably recycling. Rubbish is collected every week but unfortunately in areas such as London, overflowing bins are a common occurrence.

   The result is rats – and lots of them. Recent estimates put the UK rat count at between 60 million and 100 million and climbing. After three successive mild winters and warm summers, rats have become fitter, stronger and much more numerous.

   A female rat is capable of producing litters of 10, 10 times a year, and they have thrived as rat-catchers have been made redundant and rubbish collection has become less frequent.

   There is huge anger out there, and it will only get worse as more councils switch over to fortnightly collections.

   We think of it as a thing of the past – the last known outbreak in Britain was more than 300 years ago – but yersinia pestis, as the bubonic plague is correctly termed, is still with us. More than 38,000 cases have been reported recently to the World Health Organisation by 25 different countries in Asia, Africa, South America – and the United States. In fact, there are believed to be more rodents infected with plague in North America than there were in Europe in the Middle Ages.

   Of course, rats don’t only carry plague. Two out of three carry cryptosporidium (a cause of gastroenteritis); only slightly less common are salmonella, listeria (which causes septicaemia), toxoplasmosis (blindness), Q fever, Hantaan fever, and the lethal Weil’s disease.

   Britain has long been perceived as the "dustbin of Europe" by its continental neighbours. Householders dump nearly 18 million tons of domestic rubbish and nonrecyclable waste each year in landfill, covering an area the size of Warwick (109 square miles).

   Now, however, EU recycling targets mean local authorities have to change. At present councils are expected to recycle 25% of their waste, rising to 40% by 2015. Failure to meet the targets will result in severe financial penalties of up to £150 a ton. Adding to their woes is the spiralling cost of landfill, currently £24 a ton, rising to £32 a ton in 2008.

   The solution, for many councils, has been a combination of fortnightly collection and investment in recycling. Described by experts as "alternate weekly collections", they involve recyclable waste being picked up one week and domestic refuse being picked up in the next.

   Another big issue is sewers, where water companies do little to eliminate rats. In most areas, barely a fifth of sewers are inspected as a matter of course. The rest are checked only if something goes wrong. It’s not unknown for retired engineers to be called out in emergencies and asked where pipes run.

   Similarly catastrophic is the decision by 67% of local authorities to cut back on rodent officers. According to the National Pest Technicians Association, the result of councils charging for pest control – and people declining to pay – is an increase of 69% in the rat population over seven years.

   Attack Pest Control are the number one provider of 1st class pest control for the south-east region, and specialise in the operation of integrated pest management solutions. Contact us for further information.

8. Feeling A Little Antsy

   12:50 pm Leave a Comment

   The recent wet weather has been found to force ants from their nests into our homes, but what can be done about the infestations?

   Attack Pest Control have been taking an increased number of calls regarding ant infestations in recent weeks.

   Springtime is when ants always seem to appear in large numbers anyway, but if homeowners are seeing a few more six-legged guests than usual, take comfort: you’re not alone.

   Just about anywhere that’s been getting heavier-than-usual rainfall has been experiencing the same thing.

   So what does wet weather have to do with anything?

   Well, the same rain that keeps some people indoors and restless can flood ant tunnels and force them to go on the move. They nest underground, so the rain may be driving them out to search for new homes.

   Most ants found in the United Kingdom are fairly harmless, but that doesn’t mean that people want them in their home, or worse, their food. So how do you keep them out, or get rid of them once you’ve got them? The first trick: sort the garden out. Specifically, trim back any trees or shrubs that are touching the house. Those might as well be insect motorways, offering easy access to your home. Second, seal up any cracks and crevices in the house that you can find, particularly any leaks near doors and windows.

   Keep an eye on your ornamental plants as well for aphids. Ants feed off of the honeydew that aphids excrete. And of course, don’t leave food out if you can help it.

   Over-the-counter products can help repel an invasion, but read the label carefully to make sure it’s effective against ants and safe to use in the house. The most effective substance to use against an ant infestation is probably boric acid, which is very safe around kids and animals. When ants walk through it, it sticks to their feet, and as they groom themselves, it carves holes in their exoskeleton and they die.

   There’s a lot of other chemicals and substances that will repel ants, but those don’t really solve the problem. The ants simply avoid the substance and go around it. Most exterminators prefer baits and non-repellent chemicals inside the home – the sort that an ant will take home to its nest – along with spraying outside of the house and working with the homeowner to check nearby trees for nests.

   And of course, everyone has their own home remedies for ants. You’re always free to try what you like, though there are no guarantees any of it will work.

9. Cockroaches Trigger Asthma

   12:49 pm Leave a Comment

   The link between cockroaches and asthma has one again been reinforced by a new study by the NIEHS and the NIAID.

   In recent years, several large-scale studies funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have reinforced the dangerous connection between cockroaches and asthma in children.

   One in five children in the United Kingdom have severe sensitivities to cockroach allergens, which can cause or increase the severity of asthma symptoms.

   These allergens are most commonly introduced into homes through cockroach saliva, droppings and the decomposing bodies of these pests.

   The presence of cockroaches in the home poses a severe risk to health, especially as an asthma trigger in children. Homeowners should feel confident in contacting a licensed pest professional as services regarding cockroach control have shown to be most effective in reducing cockroach populations.

   The professional treatment of cockroach infestations will ultimately reduce the number of allergens that can exacerbate a child’s asthma. Homeowners must be vigilant in preventing such infestations, especially as the summer approaches. Cockroaches are most active when temperatures reach 70 °F or above and these pests thrive in warm, dark and moist places.

   Attack Pest Control offers householders these tips to protect their families and properties from cockroach infestations:

   1. Keep food sealed and stored properly, particularly in kitchens.
   2. Clean kitchens daily, where crumbs and rubbish are more likely to build up.
   3. Dispose of garbage regularly and store in sealed containers.
   4. Seal cracks and holes in homes, including entry points for utilities and pipes.
   5. Keep basements and loft spaces well ventilated and dry.
   6. Contact a qualified pest professional to treat any infestations.

   For further information on cockroach control methods or to have an Attack Pest Control technician inspect your home, do not hesitate to contact us.

10. Bed Bug Encasements

    12:47 pm Leave a Comment

    Mattress encasements were once only used to help allergy sufferers sleep at night. Now, however, they are being used as a primary weapon against bed bug infestations.

    Bed bugs are proving to be one of the most challenging bugs pest management professionals have ever faced. The resiliency of this insect is nothing short of amazing.

    In addition to being capable of withstanding weeks of freezing temperatures and the ability to survive many months without a blood meal, we are now finding that we might also have to deal with some significant pesticide resistance concerns.

    With the odds in favour of the bed bug, the pest control community has been eager to welcome tools and techniques that help level the playing field.

    Problems with eradicating a bed bug infestation lie with the difficulty of eliminating 100 percent of the population from mattresses that have become infested. Regardless of whether vacuum cleaners, steam units or pesticides are used, bugs and eggs can be located in areas where they remain protected from such control efforts.

    Complicating matters is the fact that bed bugs readily disperse away from beds, infesting other environments within dwellings to include other furniture, personal items and even beneath floor boards. The end result is that discarding the bedding is rarely a solution – replacement bedding is more than likely to become re-infested by bugs that are still present.

    The Case for Encasements

    The use of encasements overcomes the challenges associated with mattresses and provides numerous benefits that can lead to more efficient control, peace of mind and cost savings. By properly encasing the new mattresses, re-infestation of the new bedding can be prevented.

    As bugs that are still in the dwelling migrate to sleeping areas in the days and weeks to come, they are unable to get inside of the mattresses, but instead are restricted to the exterior of the encasements, where they can be readily observed and eliminated.

    Encasements also can help people who have not yet experienced a bed bug infestation but are looking to prevent their mattresses from becoming infested in the event that bed bugs are somehow introduced into their homes.

    Proper Design is Key

    Encasements for mattresses are widely available in the consumer market, but have they been developed for the purpose of bed bug management? While in theory it seems like any encasement should be effective, it turns out that not all materials are bite-proof; not all zippers are escape proof; and the end of the zipper is a point of vulnerability for escape.

    For this reason, Attack Pest Control suggest that if you are looking to buy a mattress encasement to help eradicate / prevent bed bugs, you should ensure that you ask whether it is suitabile for the purpose you are going to use it for.