Advise from your local pest controllers in Kent
Mice & Rat infestation
As the wasps move out the rats and mice move in, the calls increase this time of year for rats and mice in lofts in garages gardens etc.
When people call us the first thing they normally say is “we are co careful and very clean”.
Nearly all houses we attend for
rodent control are spotlessly clean and tidy. The customers always ask why my house ?.
The same reply always is given, no reason really just found a way in and trying to nest as soon as they can.
On arrival to a domestic property with a rodent problem we carry out a general survey of the house, sometimes including the garden and the loft. We sit down with the home owner or tenant and gather all the information we can regarding what’s been seen, what’s been heard.
Where the noise is coming from, what time of day/night. Have any droppings been noticed anywhere. Has anything been damaged as rats or mice will chew bags up to nest or can start on the wiring for the home, in some cases we arrive and are told the alarm started randomly going off or lights have stopped working, when the loft area is checked costly damage is found to the cables running round the loft.
Rat droppings – a tell tale sign
The photo above was taken on a recent job in canterbury where droppings were found all over the loft, only when the client entered the loft to get down the Christmas decorations did they notice they had quite a bad problem.
You can try to deal with an infestation yourself but as time is not on your side regarding the damage and considering they breed so fast we advise calling a professional pest control company to deal quickly and efficiently with the problem at hand.
Very common now a days are bird tables or fish ponds, both are literally food and drink for rats & mice, we ask customers to stop feeding the birds at least for the time it takes to get the infestation cleared up, for the fish pond we advise a fine mesh is used to cover the water so there is no easy access to a constant water source.
After all the preparation has been done and all the problem areas identified, a baiting process using rodenticide is used. Dependant on the circumstances on site the method used to present to bait can differ. If there are children, pets or elderly on site, we use lockable boxes that can also be anchored to the floor, a wall or fence if need be.
Once the initial set up is completed we ask the customer to keep food of the sides etc in kitchens and if food has been previously taken (from fruit bowls etc) we ask these not be left out unless a sealed tin or jar is used. Sealed boxes are used in areas young children or pets have access to. Open trays are used in loft spaces or ceiling voids.
Just recently we had one of our gas safe engineers carry out an annual gas safety certificate and boiler service for a letting agent we work for in Canterbury, and he was surprised to find mouse droppings actually in the boiler. As the engineer is also pest control trained he carried out a pest control treatment while on site.
The 2nd visit
A second visit is arrange with the customer to return to check the areas baited and 99%of the time the bait has been taken and the problem has been resolved, there is the odd occasion a 3rd visit is needed if there is a particularly bad infestation.
The most common question we are asked is where do rats or mice get in the house, the answer is never easy but the drains are the most common place. At DT facilities we have trained drainage engineers that can also check your drains for damage by carrying out a cctv
drain survey. Normally there is a fracture or break in the drains where rats gain access to the voids and cavity walls.
We can carry drainage repairs to resolve this issue.
So from rats & mice or wasp and squirrels, call your local pest control company for help
Family Run Local Pest Control Kent Based Company
