Nightmare Pests and Neighbours

What if the pest problem is caused by next door?

It is a question we are commonly asked when we attend properties to help homeowners and tenants with a pest problem.

It is a common concern. In towns and cities, we live in close proximity to each other, sharing driveways and walkways, and sometimes gardens  too. What this means is, that providing community spirit is united, keeping outside spaces clean and tidy will keep most pests at bay.

But there are some pest problems that can make their way into your home from next door, such as a large infestation of bedbugs. No matter how many times you treat the problem, if you neighbours are not doing the same, the pest problem will not go away.

Step 1 – Have a Chat with Your Neighbours

Pest problems are a delicate subject to discuss with anyone, especially with people who you may not know that well.

Pest infestations can be embarrassing, which puts people on the defensive. So, pick your words carefully. Informing your neighbours, for example, that you have contacted pest control over a pest problem – rats in the garden, bugs and so on – is a way of opening up the conversation. You could tell them that the pest control company has suggested that gardens are cleared of rubbish and so on to prevent the problem happening again.

Step 2 – Contact Environmental Health

The kindest words can fall on deaf ears. But there are also occasions where your neighbour, such as someone who is elderly or vulnerable, will not be able to deal with the problem themselves. It may also be a case that they cannot afford the professional services of a pest control company.

There are some pests that the local council must deal with but there are some that they don’t and thus they will charge for their services. However, if it is obvious there are other issues causing the problem, the local Environmental Health department may be able to step in.

Step 3 – Community Help

There have been cases in which the local community has come together to make the outside of their properties a nicer, safer and pest-free place for all concerned.

Residents helping other residents to clear their gardens for example, are common stories. By doing so, they have been able to remove possible nesting sites of many potential pests, but especially rodents.

How We Can Help

As part of our treatment service, we also examine how pests can be prevented from becoming a problem in the future.

As well as working with you, we can also alert your neighbours to potential problems. We may be able to persuade them to allow us to help them too.

With rented properties, you can contact the landlord and under certain rules and regulations which the local council can enforce, they may have to deal with pest problems – or face a fine.

The worst thing you can do, is to do nothing. Pest problems rarely go away on their own. In fact, in most cases, pest infestations simply grow and grow…

Dealing with Fleas

Along with headlines about super-bedbugs infesting London, there are headline that appear regularly in various parts of the press relating to fleas.

Warm winters, lack of sub-zero temperatures, global warming as well as fleas resistant to everything on the planet are blamed for the annual infestation of fleas… or are they?

Is There a Flea Problem in the UK?

Fleas have been around for millennia, adapting their bodies and breeding cycles so that they remain embedded in the planet.

For us, that is bad news because it means that they are an ongoing problem that must be dealt with. And, common to widely held belief, fleas don’t just affect households with pets: they enjoy biting pets and humans. Or just humans.

How Do You Know It’s Fleas and Not Some Other Pesky Critter?

Fleas, like many other bugs and insects, bite humans to feast on our blood. Bedbugs do the same but, with fleas, the bites tend to be haphazard with no pattern to them (bedbugs leave bites in straight lines) and they also bite around the ankles and wrist, although they will bite anywhere on the body.

You may also see them jumping or hopping about and, if you do have a pet, they will also be scratching more than normal. When you part their fur, you will see zillions of black ‘dots’ – this is flea poop – and you may also catch sight of them scuttling about.

Got Fleas?

If you are positive the problem is down to fleas this is what you do;

·       Treat your pet using the latest prescription flea treatment from your vet

·       Vacuum everything and then empty the content of the vacuum into the outside bin

·       Wash the filters from your vacuum, if it has any

·       Wash bedlinen and as much of the soft furnishings as possible

·       Be vigilant…

OR

You could buy in the professional and affordable services of a local pest controller.

The problem with fleas is their hardiness and tenacity for hiding in plain sight. There are many over-the-counter remedies that claim they work, but do very little.

There are some things you do to get rid of fleas that can actually make the problem worse;

·       NOT treating your home and pets on the same day renders any treatments for your pet or your home effectively useless.

·        Some products scatter the fleas rather than killing them, such as ‘flea bombs’

·    Fleas do become resistant to popular flea treatment products and so the money you have spent on sprays is wasted

·      Some treatments you ‘spray and leave’ so that it affects every part of the flea lifecycle – vacuuming too soon stops this process from working

Fleas and other bugs, can quickly become an infestation. But with our discreet service, your home will be flea-free in no time… providing you get Fido and Fluffy treated for fleas too!

Are Bed Bugs the New Super Bugs?

The headline screamed from the page – ‘Super Bed Bug Infesting the South-East’. London, it seems, and surrounding counties are gripped in a bed bug infestation. And it is proving hard to shift.

What is the Problem?

Bed bugs are hitching a lift on people entering the country along with returning holiday makers, with the bugs making their way into buses, tube trains, homes, businesses and so on across the country.

As well as holiday makers, there are two other reasons why bed bugs are an issue;

·    Students returning from gap year travels – unaware their rucksacks and soft fabric bags are full of bed bugs, they bring home hundreds, possibly thousands of bugs without realising it.

·   Hotels – hotels in or around major airports and sea ports are thought to also be infested with bedbugs. Again, hoteliers and guests are unaware but as they are ideal breeding grounds for the hardy bedbug who are more or less guaranteed a blood meal every night. And from a different person every time.

The Problem with Bed Bugs

Pest controllers in the south east have been hardest hit, with calls relating to bed bugs up by a staggering 108%.

What is the problem? Well... bedbugs are small and the scale of the problem hidden, many people still opt to try and deal with the problem themselves by buying shop bought remedies.

Bad idea, say professional pest controllers, as the way in which we use them is all wrong. Likewise, to get rid of the problem, it takes time, perseverance and several deep cleans with either prolonged periods of heat or cold.

Bed bugs are active at night, attracted to the warmth of bodies and carbon dioxide we exhale. They squeeze into the tiniest of crevices, like a mattress seam of joint on a bed frame. They reproduce rapidly too, with a single bed bug capable of breeding a colony of hundreds within weeks.

It is becoming a prevalent problem within the rental sector too, with one estate agent saying they have spent over £4,500 dealing with a bed bug infestation in one property alone.

Are Bed Bugs Become Immune to Our Methods?

Recent research by Sydney University shows that bed bugs are growing a thicker exoskeleton, known as a cuticle. This means that they are becoming more capable of surviving exposure to commonly used insecticides.

But science is fighting back. Technology is getting in on the act with the development of a hand-held detector that picks up the pheromones that bed bugs give off.

Do You Have a Bed Bug Problem?

Bed bugs are not just confined to the south east and London. They can be found in any home and business, in any village, town or city across the UK.

Here’s what to look for;

·.    Adult bed bugs are lentil shaped and are visible to the naked eye

·     Where you see adults, babies and eggs will lurk

·    They can survive a year without feeding so treatment is a long-term solution, not a quick         fix

·     A large infestations smells like raspberries, almonds and mouldy shoes

·     They normally feed between 3am and 6am

In the 1930s, one in four homes in the UK were infested. If you think you have a problem, stop it in its tracks by calling us!