Author Archives: apc

1. Bird Flu Restrictions Lifted

   October 13, 2009 12:31 pm Leave a Comment

   With no further cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu found since the swan in Fife, restrictions are gradually being lifted.

   The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD) have issued the following statement:

   "With no further cases of high pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) having been found, the Wild Bird Protection Zone in Scotland was lifted on 22 April 2006. The Protection Zone was put in place on 5 April, following confirmation of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza in a Whooper swan in Cellardyke harbour. This is 21 days after samples were taken from the wild swan. The Wild Bird Protection Zone now becomes part of the Wild Bird Surveillance Zone."

   Members of the public are being urged to continue to report any findings of dead birds to the DEFRA Helpline: 08459 335577.

   The news of a potential new case of bird flu in Norfolk last week sparked new concerns, however it was quickly downplayed when it was discovered as being the H7 strain of bird flu, which is not highly infectious and only causes a mild disease.

   If you have any suspicions of a bird flu case, an Attack Pest Control technician would be happy to offer you advice and information on what to do.

2. Pigeon Pests

   12:30 pm Leave a Comment

   An integral feature of British towns and cities, feral pigeons have become just as much a problem as their four-legged counterparts.

   Often described as "rats with wings", the feral pigeon has adapted well to living alongside humans, and have become a well-recognised feature in many towns and cities across the country.

   Pigeons have been known to carry diseases such as Salmonella, Chiamdiosis, and Psittacosis, which are passed easily from bird to bird, and on occasion, from bird to human. But the real problem with pigeons, is the mess that they create. Combined pigeon deposits can weigh up to several tons and costs £15m a year to clear up.

   Droppings not only cause buildings to look unsightly, they also contain lime which, over time, can cause long-term damage. The droppings are also attributed to spreading infection.

   As unpopular as the humble pigeon may be, shooting the pest is often frowned upon by the general public. Contraceptives for pigeons have been tried with limited success, and town councils are getting involved to drive the birds away from residential areas to specially built feeding and breeding areas in less sensitive places.

   Whilst Attack Pest Control do not have a policy for killing pigeons, we are specialists in bird proofing, which involves installing pigeon spikes on your property, and thus preventing pigeons from landing and nesting on your building.

3. Rosemary Beetle Enters Charts

   12:29 pm Leave a Comment

   If you have a beetle that is devouring your herb garden, it may well be the Rosemary Beetle.

   According to the Royal Horticultural Society, the Rosemary Beetle was the fourth most asked about garden pest in 2005.

   The beetle, which is spreading rapidly across the south east of England only arrived in this country in the mid-1990s, but it is already causing Britain’s herb gardeners problems.

   A fondness of rosemary and lavender, the Rosemary Beetle is also partial to thyme and sage. Both the adults and the larvae eat the foliage of plants between August and June, while the adults cease feeding during the summer months.

   Outside of the London area, the Rosemary Beetle has established itself in Norfolk and parts of Suffolk. It is thought that warmer temperatures caused by climate change are to blame for the insect’s northward spread.

   If you only have a small garden plot, hand-picking of the beetles and their larvae can control their presence. On larger garden plots, there is no easy option especially if your herbs are to be used for culinary purposes as there are no insecticides available that can be used on rosemary and other herbs that aren’t harmful to humans.

   Gardeners can identify Rosemary Beetles by the metallic green and purple stripes on their wings and thorax. If you think you may have Rosemary Beetles in your garden and require further information on pest control options, don’t hesitate to contact an Attack Pest Control technician who will be happy to offer you advice.

   The complete top ten garden pests by the RHS are:

   1. Slugs and Snails
   2. Lily Beetle
   3. Vine Weevil
   4. Rosemary Beetle
   5. Grey Squirrel
   6. Leatherjackets
   7. Chafer Grubs
   8. Soft Scale
   9. Cushion Scale
   10. Glasshouse Mealybugs

4. Ants Are Main Pest Concern

   12:29 pm Leave a Comment

   Homeowners have revealed that the number one pest concern is the ant.

   As of 2006 there are 9,000 to 10,000 known ant species and researchers believe that there may be more than 20,000 species worldwide. With this fact in mind it is no surprise that 25% of homeowners listed ants as their main pest concern according to research conducted in 2005 by the National Pest Management Association.

   This same study revealed that more than half of all homeowners have had problems with ants – making them the most prevalent pest nationwide.

   Ants are social insects and form highly organised colonies with millions of members, each having a role. Spotting one ant unfortunately signifies that the troops may be somewhere close by. "Ants are one of the most difficult pest to control. As temperatures rise they become more active and can destroy wood, contaminate food and create quite a nuisance for homeowners," said Cindy Mannes, vice president of public affairs for NPMA.

   Homeowners should particularly watch out for Pharaoh’s Ants, which forage widely for food and water often creating many nest sites. Due to their preference for feeding in unhygenic areas, Pharaoh’s Ants also pose a risk to public health.

   Mannes advises, "homeowners should call a pest professional to handle and prevent parades of ants marching through their homes. A pest professional will be able to identify which species of ants are present and can help treat problem areas."

   Attack Pest Control’s Tips for Minimising Invasion by Ants:

   • Keep wood and debris away from exterior siding doors;
   • Keep kitchens clean: seal containers, wipe counters frequently, empty the rubbish religiously, and avoid leaving pet food dishes out for long periods of time;
   • Eliminate sources of moisture or standing water.
   • Keep tree branches and other plants cut back from the house.
   • Seal up cracks and small openings along bottom of the house.
   • Store sugar, syrup, honey, baked goods, and other sweets in closed containers that have been washed to remove residues from their exterior surfaces.

   If you have an ant pest control problem, contact Attack Pest Control where one of our qualified engineers will be happy to offer you advice and solutions to your problem.

5. Ants Provide Problems For Homeowners

   12:28 pm Leave a Comment

   With ants being the most prolific pest in the UK, homeowners are increasingly turning to pest control professionals to eliminate their ant infestations, rather than rely on over-the-counter remedies.

   If ants only appeared during picnics, perhaps they’d be easier to tolerate. Instead, they can make their way through the tiniest gaps and appear unwelcome in most any area of the home.

   As the number one "nuisance pest" in the UK, garden ants enter homes to find food and water. This means that no matter how a home is constructed, where it’s located or how old it is, it could be invaded by ants.

   This year, as homeowners scurry around to buy traps and over-the-counter remedies, experts are leaning the other way and advising of the newest professional treatment trend.

   We hear from frustrated callers every week who have unsuccessfully tried every do-it-yourself ant control product on the shelf. When you add up the time and money they’ve spent trying to rid their homes of ants, it would have been less expensive and a whole lot easier to call a pest professional to get it done right the first time.

   Effective ant control begins with a professional inspection and treatments using the most technologically advanced products available. Professional insecticides are undetectable, allowing the ants to pass through the treated zone and become carriers, spreading the treatment to other ants they contact.

   A pest professional can apply insecticide to trouble spots inside your home and around your property’s foundations to reach the outdoor nests where the ants live. Most ant species are controlled within a week of application.

   Homeowner mentality is quickly shifting toward this time-efficient, affordable, peace of mind outlook that comes with having a pest professional tackle ant invasions. Today, the sight of a pest management vehicle outside an ant-infested home signifies a determined, intelligent means of detecting and ridding a home of a pest that poses a major threat to homes, apartments and other structures in the area.

   Ants need food and water, and they need a way to gain access to a property. Since they can be very persistent, residents need to be just as persistent by taking some simple steps toward controlling these nuisance pests.

   • Inside, clean up spilled food and beverages, diligently take out the rubbish and rinse out jars and containers before placing them in dustbins and recycling bins.
   • Outside, seal doors and windows, keep rain gutters clean to prevent moisture inside walls and trim trees and shrubs away from the house.

   If you have an ant infestation in your property, give Attack Pest Control a call, and we will be happy to advise you on your pest problem and provide affordable pest control services to eradicate your problem.

6. Robot Attracts Cockroaches

   12:27 pm Leave a Comment

   A smelly yet highly sociable mini robot, has become a femme fatale to the cockroach.

   European scientists have spent three years developing a mini robot that can convince cockroaches to come out of their dark hiding places into areas of light where they can be removed by a pest control officer.

   The InsBot looks more like a pencil sharpener than a household pest, but it smells like a cockroach. It has a cocktail of pheromones and molecules painted on its body, allowing it to infiltrate the cockroach community.

   Jean-Louis Deneubourg, director of the social ecology laboratory at Universite Libre de Bruxelles, says the success of the €3m EU-funded experiment has ramifications for more than just pest control: "We know very little about how decentralised communities of beings, like cockroaches or ants, reach collective decisions."

   Experiments have shown that cockroaches are highly sociable creatures and will opt for areas where one or more of their peers are gathered. The more cockroaches are attracted to a certain area, the more likely it is that further insects from the colony will be attracted.

   Deneubourg believes it will soon be possible to develop an ‘intelligent roach nest’ in which his mini robots are positioned to tease cockroaches into human stamping range.

   If you have a cockroach pest control problem, contact Attack Pest Control where one of our qualified engineers will be happy to offer you advice and solutions to your problem.

7. Use Rodenticides With Care

   12:25 pm Leave a Comment

   A new industry-backed campaign on restricting the use of rodenticides has received praise from the RSPB and English Nature.

   The launch of an industry-backed campaign to promote responsible use of rat poison has been hailed as a "welcome initiative to protect birds of prey" by English Nature, the Government’s wildlife advisers, and the RSPB, Europe’s largest wildlife conservation charity.

   Farmers and those working in rural areas are being encouraged to use rodenticides responsibly to minimise the risk of accidentally poisoning birds of prey, including the red kite, barn owl and kestrel.

   The Campaign for the Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU) advocates monitoring bait stations, disposing of rodent corpses quickly and removing bait at the end of the treatment.

   Red kites, barn owls, kestrels and buzzards sit at the top of the food chain and these birds of prey are vulnerable to building up fatal doses of toxins. Red kites are particularly vulnerable as they mainly scavenge carcasses, increasing the poisoning risk.

   The type of rat poison and the methods landowners, farmers and pest controllers use to control rodents can make the difference between life and death for some of our most spectacular birds of prey. Smallholders are encouraged to consider trapping to remove small infestations before resorting to poisons. If the local rat population is not resistant to first-generation rodenticides, such as warfarin, then that is also a better option as there is less chance that birds of prey will be affected.

   Controlling and preventing infestations of rats and mice is an important job on farms and other businesses in our working countryside. Rats especially can do immense damage to property and spread disease and as they are capable of reproducing at only eight weeks of age, a rat infestation must not be ignored.

   Rat poison must be kept away from any non-target animals though, for as English Nature and the RSPB point out, rodenticides are poisonous to other creatures that may digest it.

   Rodenticide users should always:

   • Have a planned approach
   • Record quantity of bait used and where it is placed
   • Use enough baiting points
   • Collect and dispose of rodent bodies

   And never:

   • Leave bait exposed to non-target animals and birds
   • Fail to inspect bait regularly
   • Leave bait at the end of the treatment

   Between 1998-2005 around 40 incidents were reported involving birds of prey, especially red kites and buzzards, where it is likely that rodenticides were the cause of death. Other surveys have found around 70 per cent of red kites and kestrels, and 40 per cent of ban owls, with detectable levels of rodenticide residues. Although there is no actual survey of pets having been poisoned by rat bait, many veterinary surgeries have experienced pet fatalities through rodenticide poisoning.

   Attack Pest Control are specialists in the control of rogue rat and mouse populations and can provide you with information and advice on controlling your rodent pest problem.

8. The Bumblebee Is In Trouble

   12:24 pm Leave a Comment

   According to a recent survey, certain species of the bumble bee are at risk of disappearing from the UK indefinitely.

   A nationwide survey, published in the journal Science, has found that in almost every part of the country the diversity of bee species has fallen by 80% in a few decades.

   Some species (e.g. the Longhorn, which collects pollen from wild peas) have vanished altogether; others are on the verge of doing so. And just as bees are at risk, so are the flowers they pollinate.

   Unless the problem is addressed, flowers such as the cowslip, primrose and bellflower could all start to disappear.

   But there is cause for hope. In the battle to save the bumble bee, scientists have enlisted a most unlikely recruit: a white springer spaniel called Quin. At the request of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, he has been trained by the Defence Animal Centre (who normally train dogs to sniff out drugs for HM Customs) to sniff out bees’ nests.

   Quin, the only dog they’ve been able to train in this difficult task – gets rewarded with a tennis ball every time he finds a nest.

   Bees rarely pose as significant garden pests, however on occasion, the location of a bees nest can cause problems, especially if located near a doorway or window. Usually located underground, it is almost impossible to physically move the nest, and by pouring hot water on the nest will only cause you to have very angry bees.

   Attack Pest Control provide specialist services whereby the bee colony is encouraged to move to another location using humane tried and tested methods. For further information and advice on bees, do not hesitate to contact us.

9. Bites and Stings

   12:24 pm Leave a Comment

   With the end of the summer fast approaching, insects such as bees and wasps become more of a problem as they feast on rotting fruit.

   As the availability of rotting fruit continues to increase, bees and wasps become more of a nuisance and are more likely to inflict unpleasant stings. Other insects such as midges and mosquitoes also seem intent on invading our homes, especially at night, to feast.

   Attack Pest Control have put together some tips on how to deal with these bites and stings.

   • Cover up, especially at night. Avoid bright clothes, perfumes and scented soaps;
   • Distract wasps with some jam and water in a jar, or trap them with a wasp catcher;
   • Buy decent insect repellent. Start with a natural product, such as citronella and eucalyptus, but if your having to cope with swarms of midges opt for DEET;
   • If you’re stung by a bee, scrape out the sting, wash the area and apply an ice pack. Then apply a solution of bicarbonate of soda or an anaesthetic spray such as Waspeze;
   • With a wasp sting, wash the area, apply an ice pack, then dab on lemon juice or vinegar;
   • For ticks embedded in the skin, use tweezers to grasp the heas and pull without twisting or jerking. Was the area, apply an antiseptic cream and cover with a plaster. If a rash appears, see a doctor – some ticks carry Lyme disease.
   • See your doctor if you’re stung in or around the mouth.

10. Pest Management For Restaurants

    12:23 pm Leave a Comment

    With the cockroach appearing as the most common pest in restaurants, Attack Pest Control have put together our top tips on how to prevent pest problems occuring on your food premises.

    The most common pest in restaurants, by and large, is the German cockroach. This is a roach that is predominately inside homes, it’s not an outside insect, and can be moved from area to area in boxes, in cartons, in deliveries.

    A lot of times that’s how these insects get into restaurants, and then they become established and can build their populations fairly quickly. Cockroaches can go from just a few to a hundred to thousands in a matter of months if left unchecked.

    Even newly opened stores are not immune to the pest problem. Shiny stainless steel and sparkling glassware mean nothing to invaders.

    You can’t completely prevent introduction of pests, especially cockroaches. You can get in a shipment of cases of beer and they can be in the cardboard. What you need to have is a preventive situation in the facility, where everything is sealed up and caulked, so that when that bug is introduced it can’t become an infestation.

    The point is to prevent the infestation rather than an introduction. An introduction can be just one or two pests, whereas an infestation might be a thousand.

    Some stores have "clean rooms" where shipments are unpacked outside, often in a utility building at the rear of the property. This eliminates most incoming boxes.

    But pests can come in via transport other than boxes. Because employees’ homes can be shared with cockroaches, workers often become unwary vessels of delivery. This calls for a policy that prohibits personal items, such as purses and coats, to be carried into food prep or storage areas.

    To head off potential problems in storage areas inside the store, restaurants should have a standardised system of storage areas where there is clear labeling of "date in" to assure proper rotation, and where shelves – preferably metal – are well spaced and off the floor. The storage area should be easy to clean, easy to inspect and clutter-free.

    You should also think about contracting with a reputable pest control services company – one that will supply references, and be forthcoming with other information such as a certificate of insurance. An integrated plan with consistent follow-up and ongoing sanitation reports for store management is a plan that Attack Pest Control have found works.

    While it may seem obvious to say, it needs proclaimed again and again: cleanliness is a huge factor in restaurants in keeping pests at bay.

    We recommend a three-pronged approach for any pest management program:

    1. The integrity of the building must be maintained. This involves replacing worn-out weather-stripping on doors to prevent house flies from entering, as well as repairing cracks in walls and floors to eliminate the "safe harbour" that pests love.
    2. Checking incoming supplies – insects may be difficult to detect, especially with cardboard boxes, where cockroaches can hide and even breed in the tubular flutes that make up many box surfaces.
    3. Keeping it clean. A master cleaning schedule that is followed consistently is highly advised.

    We emphasize the need for education – the more you know, the less the risk of a pest problem getting out of control. Anywhere you have people and food product, you’ll have pests. This is because we provide food, water and shelter: the three things needed for pests to live.