Pest control experts are warning members of the public against taking a DIY-approach to intruders in their roof spaces.
Pest control products are becoming easier to obtain, from DIY stores, garden centres and the Internet, so it is understandable for people to assume that it is easy for them to do it themselves.
The UK’s biggest trade association for pest controllers, the NPTA is concerned that an increased number of homeowners or tenants attempting to eradicate pest problems themselves, rather than calling a professional, are exposing themselves to personal dangers and the possibility of breaking the Law.
For example:
• Roof spaces are often difficult and dangerous places to access and investigate.
• Some pests, when approached, can become aggressive and extremely dangerous within such confined spaces.
• There are many Laws controlling when and how pests can be treated.
• It is very easy to inadvertently break these Laws and that could lead to substantial fines.
• Professionals are often not as expensive as people think and will get the job done safely, efficiently and legally.
The NPTA have produced the following advice for members of the public:
Things That Go Bump In the Night – Pest Control in Your Roof Space
Quite frequently householders don’t realise that they have uninvited ‘guests’ in their homes until they get woken up one night to hear things moving about in their roof spaces. This quiet, undisturbed part of the house is very often where a variety of pests are to be found.
Rats, mice and squirrels will not only keep you awake at night, they will happily chew wood, plastic pipes and wires which could have disastrous consequences. Wasps and bees often use roof spaces and chimneys to build their nests and cluster flies will return year after year to hibernate in their hundreds, sometimes thousands, in favoured properties.
A new pest to the UK, the Harlequin Ladybird has also taken to hibernating in large numbers in lofts. Given the opportunity, some birds will also make their nests beneath your roof and a surprisingly large number of houses will have bats taking up residence at certain times of the year.
So, what do you do about your unexpected guests?
Roof spaces are potentially dangerous places.
Firstly, you need to find out what you’ve got – but a word of warning. Roof spaces are usually unpleasant and dangerous places to work in. Unless they have been fitted with retractable ladders and have been boarded out, they are often difficult and dangerous to access and investigate. Coming face to face with an angry squirrel or a swarm of wasps, in the dark, whilst balancing on rafters on all fours, is not to be recommended.
Secondly, you then need to decide what to do once you’ve identified the intruder – without breaking the Law. The UK has some of the oldest and most comprehensive Laws protecting wildlife of anywhere in the world.
Even pests have legal protection.
Let’s take squirrels for example. You cannot simply throw some rat poison in and hope for the best as it is illegal to use rat or mouse poison against squirrels. In fact, no poison available to the Public is approved for use against these animals. Not that poisoning would be such a good idea, as they have a tendency to die in inaccessible places, which can render a property uninhabitable whilst it decays.
You can buy live-catch traps in some garden centres, but if you get lucky and catch one, what do you do with it then? As the grey squirrel is classed as an ‘alien invasive species’, it is illegal to release them into the wild. Once caught, they have to be despatched humanely and drowning them in a water butt is not considered humane. This is not explained on the instructions for use that come with the trap when you buy it though, is it? We would not recommend ‘Doing It Yourself’ with this particular species.
All birds in the UK, their nests and eggs, are protected by Law – even when they become a pest. A small number of species can be controlled, but only in certain ways and for particular reasons. Being a nuisance to you in your house is not a suitable reason.
What do you do then?
All bats are protected by Law. It is even an offence to disturb a bat roost, with a potential fine of £5,000 per bat. Some roosts can contain several dozen individuals, so that could be an expensive mistake to make. Fortunately bats do no harm at all, unless they are present in very large numbers, which is very rare.
Of course, if bats are present, treating the roof space for any pest then becomes a no-no, unless you get permission from the appropriate authorities, but would you know how to go about getting this? Would you even know if you had bats?
Deal with the problem quickly, safely and effectively – call out a professional.
Professional pest controllers spend a lot of time, effort and money in becoming properly trained to deal with all these problems to give their customers safe and effective pest control services.
This training is checked by the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) before allowing companies or individuals to join. The NPTA also check that their Members are properly insured for the work they carry out. This is particularly important when working in roof spaces. An uninsured tradesman that is injured on your property could end up suing you.
The elite members of the Association, their ‘Accredited Members’, are also audited regularly to make sure they are operating to the highest industry standards.
With over 900 Members throughout the UK, the NPTA can help you find a professional pest controller near you to ensure a solution to your uninvited ‘guests’.
They could also save you time and money in the long run compared to Doing It Yourself.
Pest Control is harder than you think.
Pest Control Ipswich - Click here to view our main website.
Monday 11 February 2013
Monday 4 February 2013
Pest Control - Harder Than You Think
Pest control experts are warning members of the public against taking a DIY-approach to rodent control.
Widespread council cost-cutting means many local authorities are now charging for services which were previously free.
With the credit crunch continuing to bite, the UK’s biggest trade association for pest controllers, the NPTA, has reported an increased number of cases where homeowners or tenants attempt to eradicate their rat or mice problems themselves rather than calling a professional.
However, the public are being warned against taking such action for various reasons.
For example:
• Many rats and mice are already resistant to commonly-used poison baits, so people buying them would be wasting their money.
• Rats and mice are clever creatures and naturally suspicious, so tend to quickly avoid many traps.
• Poisons will sometimes kill more birds and general wildlife than pests due to members of the public failing to follow product instructions.
• Professionals are often not as expensive as people think and will get the job done professionally, safely and efficiently.
The NPTA have produced the following advice for members of the public:
Pest Control – It’s Harder Than You Think
With austerity cuts in Local Authorities really starting to bite, one of the services that most have offered, that of rodent control, is being hit badly. Some have started to charge for what has traditionally been a free service, whilst others are opting out altogether simply advising the Public to get in a private company. Not surprisingly, when faced with this unexpected cost, many people turn to DIY. After all, whacking down a few baits or traps can’t be that hard....can it?
In fact, as anyone training to become a professional pest controller quickly finds out, there’s a great deal more to controlling rats and mice than this.
“They won’t eat the bait or go near my traps!”
Rats are notoriously suspicious about any new objects placed in their environment, even new food sources. The technical term is ‘neophobia’ and it may take days, even weeks before a rat will try out your bait or fall into your trap. In the meantime they could be gnawing through your electric wiring, water pipes or simply contaminating your stored food. And do you really want to share your property with these animals?
Mice are less suspicious, but can be incredibly fussy about what they will eat. You may have to go through several types of bait before you find one they’ll take. The correct placement of traps also takes some skill and experience to get results and you are unlikely to get all of them using traps alone. They too can cause considerable physical damage to your property in the meantime and carry more diseases transmissible to humans than most people realise. They may look cute, but the reality is different.
And don’t get me started about all the electronic repellers that are about. Professional pest controllers don’t use them for very good reasons....let’s leave it at that.
“I just seem to be feeding them with this bait!”
In some cases, that may very well be the case. Rats and mice are becoming increasingly resistant to the poisons that are available. There are parts of the country, particularly in central-southern England, where rats can no longer be controlled using the poisons you can buy off the shelves of DIY stores. You will simply be feeding these so-called ‘Super Rats’.
Mice too are increasingly difficult to control with certain poisons. But recognising that you have a problem and knowing what to do about it takes skill and experience.
“I don’t seem to be getting so many birds in the garden now – have the rats chased them off?”
No – more likely you’ve poisoned them. Pest controllers regularly report instances where people have not bothered to read the instructions on the bait they use and simply scatter it around where they last saw the rodents, often in areas which can be accessed by all sorts of ‘non-target animals’, such as cats, dogs, hedgehogs, birds – even small children.
The reality is that rat and mouse poisons can cause serious harm, even death, to all warm-blooded creatures that eat them. Fortunately there is a very effective antidote that can be administered by vets or doctors for most of these products. But what about those wild birds that simply disappear?
Deal with the problem quickly, safely and effectively – call out a professional.
Professional pest controllers spend a lot of time, effort and money in becoming properly trained to deal with all these problems to give their customers safe and effective pest control services.
This training is checked by the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) before allowing companies or individuals to join. The NPTA also check that their Members are properly insured for the work they carry out. Remember that an uninsured tradesman that is injured on your property could end up suing you.
The elite members of the Association, their ‘Accredited Members’, are also audited regularly to make sure they are operating to the highest industry standards.
With over 900 Members throughout the UK, the NPTA can help you find a professional pest controller near you to ensure a solution to your rodent problems.
They could also save you time and money in the long run compared to Doing It Yourself.
The National Pest Technicians Association can be contacted at 01773 717716 or by email office@npta.org.uk
Pest Control Ipswich - Click here to view our main website.
Widespread council cost-cutting means many local authorities are now charging for services which were previously free.
With the credit crunch continuing to bite, the UK’s biggest trade association for pest controllers, the NPTA, has reported an increased number of cases where homeowners or tenants attempt to eradicate their rat or mice problems themselves rather than calling a professional.
However, the public are being warned against taking such action for various reasons.
For example:
• Many rats and mice are already resistant to commonly-used poison baits, so people buying them would be wasting their money.
• Rats and mice are clever creatures and naturally suspicious, so tend to quickly avoid many traps.
• Poisons will sometimes kill more birds and general wildlife than pests due to members of the public failing to follow product instructions.
• Professionals are often not as expensive as people think and will get the job done professionally, safely and efficiently.
The NPTA have produced the following advice for members of the public:
Pest Control – It’s Harder Than You Think
With austerity cuts in Local Authorities really starting to bite, one of the services that most have offered, that of rodent control, is being hit badly. Some have started to charge for what has traditionally been a free service, whilst others are opting out altogether simply advising the Public to get in a private company. Not surprisingly, when faced with this unexpected cost, many people turn to DIY. After all, whacking down a few baits or traps can’t be that hard....can it?
In fact, as anyone training to become a professional pest controller quickly finds out, there’s a great deal more to controlling rats and mice than this.
“They won’t eat the bait or go near my traps!”
Rats are notoriously suspicious about any new objects placed in their environment, even new food sources. The technical term is ‘neophobia’ and it may take days, even weeks before a rat will try out your bait or fall into your trap. In the meantime they could be gnawing through your electric wiring, water pipes or simply contaminating your stored food. And do you really want to share your property with these animals?
Mice are less suspicious, but can be incredibly fussy about what they will eat. You may have to go through several types of bait before you find one they’ll take. The correct placement of traps also takes some skill and experience to get results and you are unlikely to get all of them using traps alone. They too can cause considerable physical damage to your property in the meantime and carry more diseases transmissible to humans than most people realise. They may look cute, but the reality is different.
And don’t get me started about all the electronic repellers that are about. Professional pest controllers don’t use them for very good reasons....let’s leave it at that.
“I just seem to be feeding them with this bait!”
In some cases, that may very well be the case. Rats and mice are becoming increasingly resistant to the poisons that are available. There are parts of the country, particularly in central-southern England, where rats can no longer be controlled using the poisons you can buy off the shelves of DIY stores. You will simply be feeding these so-called ‘Super Rats’.
Mice too are increasingly difficult to control with certain poisons. But recognising that you have a problem and knowing what to do about it takes skill and experience.
“I don’t seem to be getting so many birds in the garden now – have the rats chased them off?”
No – more likely you’ve poisoned them. Pest controllers regularly report instances where people have not bothered to read the instructions on the bait they use and simply scatter it around where they last saw the rodents, often in areas which can be accessed by all sorts of ‘non-target animals’, such as cats, dogs, hedgehogs, birds – even small children.
The reality is that rat and mouse poisons can cause serious harm, even death, to all warm-blooded creatures that eat them. Fortunately there is a very effective antidote that can be administered by vets or doctors for most of these products. But what about those wild birds that simply disappear?
Deal with the problem quickly, safely and effectively – call out a professional.
Professional pest controllers spend a lot of time, effort and money in becoming properly trained to deal with all these problems to give their customers safe and effective pest control services.
This training is checked by the National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) before allowing companies or individuals to join. The NPTA also check that their Members are properly insured for the work they carry out. Remember that an uninsured tradesman that is injured on your property could end up suing you.
The elite members of the Association, their ‘Accredited Members’, are also audited regularly to make sure they are operating to the highest industry standards.
With over 900 Members throughout the UK, the NPTA can help you find a professional pest controller near you to ensure a solution to your rodent problems.
They could also save you time and money in the long run compared to Doing It Yourself.
The National Pest Technicians Association can be contacted at 01773 717716 or by email office@npta.org.uk
Pest Control Ipswich - Click here to view our main website.
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