Category Archive: News

1. Robot Attracts Cockroaches

   October 13, 2009 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. Rats In The Stables

   12:21 pm Leave a Comment

   Horse stables can extend to many acres, however if a rodent problem is causing both health and aesthetic issues, it may be time to ditch your traps and call in the professionals.

   While horse trainers and owners are not unaccustomed to seeing rodents in a stable environment, what with the abundant straw and open-air structure, the amount of rats taking up residency can cause health and aesthetic issues if the numbers continue to grow.

   Although stable properties can extend to many acres, the real focus needs to be on the actual stable buildings, including roof spaces, stalls and drains.

   Stable properties can suffer from sanitation issues, however if the straw is cleaned and changed regularly and offices are clean and tidy, then you can be assured that as the stable owner / manager, you are doing the required amount to reduce the chances of your stable becoming the target of an infestation.

   Unfortunately, clean stables do become welcome refuges for rodents due to the shelter and food that they provide. When doing corrective baiting in places where there is so much food competition already, it is common practice to mix baits together thus ensuring the best possible results in the least amount of time.

   Low-profile baiting stations are used thus ensuring that the horses do not come into contact with the poisons used. The design of a low-profile unit also means that they can be placed in tight spaces, including between the horse stall bars and window wells.

   Snap traps are also useful in these situations, and a bait combination of chocolate and peanut butter seems to go down a treat. By placing the traps on rat tracks, rub marks and other telltale signs of rat infestations will ensure the best success rate.

   If the traps are being placed within the roof spaces of the stables, it is important to ensure that there is no risk of the trap falling down onto the horses below and spooking them. Strong teeth and keenly balanced trap ensure that the rats will be held in place, even when perched on a beam.

   Installing perimeter trapping systems ensures that should any rats return to the stables following the original knockdown phase, they will quickly be identified, and further steps can be taken.

7. Second Homeowners

   12:21 pm Leave a Comment

   Properties left unattended for months on end run the risk of becoming home to a wide variety of pests and other creepy-crawlies.

   Second homeowners may find their vacation properties have become home to such crib crashing critters as squirrels, mice, birds, spiders, ants and wasps.

   With the purchase of vacation homes on the rise, more and more second homeowners are starting their vacations with a common creepy crawly problem – ridding their getaway of unwanted pests.

   As more people purchase vacation homes in natural settings and leave them vacant during the colder months, it is only natural to discover that Mother Nature has moved in while they were out.

   "People are upset when they open up their cabin or beach house for the season to find garden ants in the kitchen, spiders in the bathroom, and small wildlife in the chimney or loftspace," said Cindy Mannes, Vice President of the NPMA. "If you don’t properly pest-proof your home, nature will find its way in through cracks, crevices, holes, vents and chimneys and can create a really dangerous situation."

   Insects can sting and bite, cause minor skin irritations and extreme allergic reactions in some cases, while grey squirrels can cause thousands of pounds in property damage. Animals that seem cute and harmless in their natural environment can attack and become defensive if they are trapped or have set up camp indoors.

   "It’s not something you expect to deal with when you are on holiday and it can be an overwhelming and unsafe situation," said Mannes. "If possible, second homeowners should try to open their home for the season prior to the whole family coming for their holiday, but either way, they should at least go prepared with the phone number of a local pest professional to safely remove their pest and wildlife problem."

   This is not just a problem for homeowners with properties in exotic locations. Attack Pest Control have recently become aware of a surge in calls to our hotline from people with properties on the Norfolk Broads and along the east coast.

   If you have a pest problem in your holiday home, or simply would like to arrange for courtesy visits to your property whilst you are not there, contact Attack Pest Control to see what services we can offer you.

8. Hasten Fleas Out Of Your Home

   12:20 pm Leave a Comment

   Fleas are one of the most common parasites caught by your pets. To irradicate this pest from your home, simply follow these tips.

   Fleas are one of the most common parasites caught by pet cats and dogs. Indeed, it’s thought that every cat and dog will suffer an infestation at some point in their lives.

   Fleas are not just an inconvenience. Their saliva is considered one of the most allergenic substances on earth, and a heavy flea infestation can even be enough to kill a small puppy or kitten.

   If you haven’t been practising preventative flea control, and you’ve found fleas on your pet, you’ve got a bigger problem than you might think. If you’ve found 10 fleas on your pet, there are likely to be another 2000 eggs, larvae and pupae hiding around your house.

   The first thing you should do is visit your vet to discuss treatment of your pets. The treatment could entail something that you put in their food, or an injection. Having established your pet on a treatment program, the fleas in your house will be unable to reproduce.

    

   At this point, there will probably still be hundreds, if not thousands of fleas living as eggs, larvae and pupae in your home. The pupae in particular are difficult to remove, because no currently available insecticide will penetrate their cocoons, and they are usually spun around the base of carpet fibres. However, once they have hatched, they can be effectively treated.

   We would recommend that a pest control technician is called in if you have a substantial flea infestation, as they will be best to advise you on the ideal course of action for your particular case.

   As soon as you have treated your pets, your flea population will start to decrease as they will not be able to reproduce, however for the fleas to disappear altogether can take up to three months. There are a few things you can do to help speed up removal of fleas from your house:

   • Turn your heating up. The warmer and more humid the environment, the faster flea eggs will hatch, pupate and emerge as adults.
   • Wash the pet’s bedding, together with any removable covers used where the pet frequents (such as sofa covers).
   • Vacuum the house thoroughly. Pay particular attention to areas where the pets spend most time. This will remove some flea eggs, larvae and pupae, though certainly not all. But the vibration of the vacuum cleaner may trigger more pupal fleas to hatch from their cocoons.

9. Bloodthirsty Bedbugs

   12:19 pm Leave a Comment

   ‘Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.’ This old saying may be becoming newly relevant. Bedbugs, which feast on human blood at night, are biting back in developed countries around the world.

   The current invasion of bed bugs into North America, Australia, and Western Europe is highlighted in a new study published by the Institute of Biology, London.

   It’s still unclear why the parasites are returning to cities where they were exterminated some 50 years ago. "The trend is very worrying," said the report’s author, Clive Boase. "Since the mid-1990s, numbers of reported infestations have almost doubled annually."

   In parts of London bed bug infestations have risen tenfold since 1996. In the US, the National Pest Management Association reports a 500 percent increase in bedbug numbers in the last few years.

   Similarly, in Australia, there were as much as 700 percent more calls to pest control companies in the four-year period ending in 2004, compared with the previous four-year period, according to the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR) in New South Wales.

   The bed bug’s dramatic comeback is perplexing. The rebound comes even as other creepy crawlies, such as cockroaches and ants, are in retreat from people’s homes. Possible factors fueling bedbugs’ global spread include growth in international travel, increased resistance to certain insecticides, and the introduction of new pest control methods that leave bedbugs unharmed. Yet the precise cause or causes of the problem are yet to be determined.

   In the 1930s, the UK Ministry of Health stated, "In many areas all the houses are to a greater or lesser degree infested with bedbugs." But infestations quickly receded once synthetic pesticides such as DDT were introduced following World War II. By the 1980s bedbugs were almost nonexistent in Britain, the US, and many other developed countries.

   No bigger than an apple seed, the bedbug is descended from plant-feeding insects that evolved skin-piercing mouthparts for sucking up blood. They are thought to have first gotten a taste for human blood when cave-dwelling humans lived beneath bug-infested bat roosts.

   Bedbugs are notoriously difficult to locate. They hide in mattresses and furniture, under floorboards, and even inside electrical equipment, emerging to feed only when it’s dark. Adults can survive up to a year without blood, allowing infestations to persist through periods when properties are vacant.

   Side effects of bedbug bites include itchy body swellings, and in rare cases – usually involving people living in poverty – severe infestations may lead to severe blood loss, due to the volume of feeding by hundreds or even thousands of bedbugs. While studies have shown that HIV can survive on bedbugs’ mouthparts for up to an hour, the insects are not known to be vectors for disease.

   If you think you may have a bed bug infestation, contact Attack Pest Control for advice and services to help rid your property of this persistant pest.

10. Change Of Gear

    12:18 pm Leave a Comment

    More than 60 delegates from 14 countries representing all sectors of the European pest control industry attended the recent General Assembly of the Confederation of European Pest Control Associations (CEPA) meeting.

    An air of optimism and dynamism was evident at the recent General Assembly of the Confederation of European Pest Control Associations (CEPA) held over two days (5 – 6 October 2006) in Dublin, Ireland.

    Over 60 delegates attended from 14 countries representing all sectors of the European pest control industry.

    The Irish Pest Control Association, one of the most recently formed associations, hosted the meeting. Their president, Brendan Ryan gave a warm traditional Irish welcome saying: "One hundred thousand welcomes to you all."

    Traditionally annual meetings can be formal and full of protocol, but Robert Stuyt, the CEPA president, was having none of this. A clear illustration of the increased level of vigour within the Association. Short and sharp presentations were given from each of the four specialist rapporteurs.

    An update on progress regarding legal affairs was given by Michael Römer, from DSV, Germany, in particular the significance of the draft European Services Directive. Sergio Urizio (ANID, Italy) who has responsibility for professional services raised the vexed question – is now the time to consider core training standards across Europe?

    Communication in all its forms is a key priority for CEPA and Richard Strand, now representing the Irish Association, sited the newly redesigned, and much visited CEPA website as an example of changes to come.

    Formal pest control market statistics within Europe has always been a neglected area. Responsibility for economic affairs rests with Milagros Fernandez de Lezeta from ANCEPLA, Spain. The air of optimism within the meeting was heightened when Milagros revealed that the 2006 annual CEPA survey showed an increase of 8.2% to €1,636 million in the European pest control market. This growth had arisen from the opening-up of several new markets and sectors, particularly the new EU accession states. On the downside, she reported prices for pest control work had fallen accompanied by an increasing social resistance to the use of pest control chemicals.

    Looking to the future, CEPA president Robert Stuyt, concluded by saying: "CEPA intends to build upon this new outward facing and proactive focus. CEPA aims to be seen as an industry driver, not just an administrative operation. The appointment of Rob Fryatt, as CEPA Director General, has created a new and raised level of activity and interchange of ideas. We are engaging with new industry sectors, in particular with the international manufacturers and service companies. One of the key challenges which remains is the generation of funds to support these objectives."

    The meeting concluded with topical presentations from international industry experts including Rob Lederer, executive vice-president from NPMA in the USA.