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Dec 05
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Pest Control for Hotels and Restaurants

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Commercial Pest Control – Hotels and Restaurants.

http://www.sandwellpestcontrolservices.com

Running a busy hotel or restaurant is more of a vocation than a job. Long hours and late nights can leave little time for the small things and, unfortunately, in some cases vital pest control tasks can be accidentally forgotten leading to an infestation. A commercial pest control contract is simple way to take the worry out of having unexpected visitors to kitchens and guests rooms.

Cockroaches are the number one pest that spring to mind when talking about poor hygiene in food processing and food service areas. Cockroaches will feed on anything that humans will eat, as well as some additional snacks, such as cardboard and leather. Cockroaches don’t make people sick through bites but, by leaving disease behind on food which people then eat. Some of the common diseases include Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria which can cause significant levels of sickness and in some cases result in hospitalization. Other side effects include triggering asthma and other allergic responses in certain people. A preventative treatment is to disinfect areas using a combination of certified biocides, specifically designed to neutralize harmful organisms. Using this treatment, it’s possible to eliminate 99.99% of bacteria and germs. If the area where food is kept is clean and regularly disinfected, as part of a commercial pest control contract, cockroaches, ants and other undesirable insects, likely to cause contamination, won’t be as attracted to your kitchen or bedrooms.

If you’re not afraid of mice then they can seem cute however, most people don’t find them very endearing. Mice will leave a trail of expensive damage in hard to reach places around pipes and behind walls, as they’ll use whatever materials are available to them to line their nests. Mice also carry disease on their feet and, because they’re small, they can spread infection from bathrooms and into bedrooms. As they’re difficult to get rid of, making sure you have access to an expert in mice removal is essential.

Other types of ugly pests associated with hotel and guesthouse rooms are fleas and bedbugs. Bedbugs feed on warm blood and hotel guests can unwittingly become an ideal meal. The face, hands and feet are a firm favorite to source warm blood from and, the bites cause skin rashes and itchy bumps. Although bedbugs are most usually associated with mattresses, they can also set up home in upholstered furniture, such as sofas and chairs which would normally be found in hotel rooms. Fleas require fumigation for removal and this process is typically obvious as infected areas need to be completely sealed off and unused, which can add the extra strain of lost revenue. If you suspect that these little pests have taken up residence, then calling in the experts is the best and most sensible option. You can creep out in front these critters by speaking to your local pest control, your experts will work with you to make sure that your business and guests are fully protected. Sometimes just one pest related incident can cause long term damage to a hard-won reputation and hurt business badly.

Nov 19
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pest control contract

Benefits of a Commercial Pest Control Contract

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Commercial Pest Control Contracts

As soon as the words Pest Control are mentioned, it immediately conjures up visions of Rats in the roof and Cockroaches under the bed. What many of us don’t think about is how important pest control is at work. A pest control contract provides coverage against all types of insects and wildlife including every day insects such as ants and wasps. Nature will always be constantly looking to take advantage of the right types of conditions suitable for a new home. Keeping on top of pest control should be an essential consideration of every businesses health and safety protocols. Disease and infection can easily be transferred throughout a busy office environment by bugs and creepy crawlies that hide away in the day time and, have a field day when everyone’s gone home.
Having a commercial contract for pest control means that with regular inspections and, treatments your much better prepared to be ahead of any unwanted infestation. It also means more environmentally friendly options may be available to you as a preventative measure, instead of being faced with a bigger problem, that may demand an immediately effective solution. Depending where and, how old your premises are, your building will attract different types of insects and rodents.
Industrial parks are home to several different species of wildlife, including the inevitable rodent population, which can cause costly damage to products and inventory. The presence of rodents near outside bins will also mean that staff are more likely to throw company rubbish near too, or around the bin, rather than inside it, which keeps feeding the pest cycle.
More and more commercial business parks are encroaching into what were previously considered to be countryside areas. If your premises are in this type of environment, then there’s always the added possibility of having to deal with Grey Squirrels or an unexpected protected species. A pest control contract gives you the added assurance that the population of wildlife species can be either kept at bay or, checked, monitored.
It’s not just the health aspects of pest control that should be taken into account but also the image of your business. If your premises become associated with rodents then you can guarantee that when people say where the rats are coming from, it will be the name of your company that gets a bigger mention than the infestation. If your company is near a river or waterway then there is an added dimension to where nature will try to visit you from in search of food. Paper, waste and other materials not only provide food but also great nesting materials. Making sure that everything is stored away, is unfortunately not always enough to keep the animals and, insects at bay.

Pest Control Contract
Having an environmentally friendly pest control plan in place is a great too way to protect your employees, products and the natural environment around you. In the same way, as you trust your office cleaners, you should have a team of pest control specialists that you can rely on and work with to make sure that your protected from all possible unwanted guests.

Jan 08
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wasp-blog-2

Why Are There Wasps In My House?

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You swat them, you spray them, you even try to shoo them out an open window, but they keep coming back – wasps are a pest that no-one wants in their home. Seeing one is a nuisance, two an annoyance but when wasps keep appearing again and again, you’re left to wonder, why are there wasps in my house?

The stinging problem

Wasps have no issues with fiercely defending themselves when they feel threatened. Their stings – much stronger and more painful than that of bees – come in rapid successions against any threat, no matter the difference in size.

In nature they play an important role in the ecosystem, but wasps are a dangerous pest in your home, especially if you’re allergic to their sting. And one lonely scouts can quickly call out the hive to the new location that’s just perfect for a wasp nest.

Wasps are one of the most common pests we deal with, across the West Midlands, but to see where the problem starts, we need to take a closer look at how they infest your home.

How can wasps get into my house?

Wasps will use any opening to gain entry to your house, be it an open window, an ajar roof tile or even through your air conditioner. Once inside, they will look for food and any place suitable for building a nest to expand their territory.

But why do wasps even want to nest in an area that people already inhabit?

What are wasps attracted to?

The benefits of a home

Your home offers wasps an enticing combination of safety from the elements and other predators and a regular supply of food for themselves and their growing hive. This makes it an ideal place to settle down.

wasp-blog-1

Dealing with the problem

Now that we’ve looked at what wasps are attracted to, it’s clear that these pests are there to stay unless you can evict them. But first, don’t panic! The question “How to remove wasps from my house?” is asked often enough that Google will often auto-complete it for you, so you’re not alone in dealing with this issue.

Second, you must decide if you’re willing to take the problem on yourself or if you’d prefer a specialist to handle it.

Getting rid of wasps can be dangerous work, and we offer 24/7 wasp nest removal service covering Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the whole of the West Midlands area – our certified pest control technicians are always just a call away.

Alternatively, there are several ways you can attempt wasp removal yourself. Specialized products, such as wasp traps can help mitigate the problem, but the key to a safe home is to remove the wasp nest itself. If you’re undertaking the work yourself, as this can be very dangerous without the proper protective equipment.

Make sure to approach the wasp nest at night, when they are dormant. And not during daytime hours when the wasp nest will be extremely active.

To avoid a repeat of the problem it’s a good idea to wasp-proof your home by making sure there aren’t any hidden entry points into your house and using wasp traps in rooms that can’t be completely closed off.

https://www.sandwellpestcontrolservices.com/pests/wasps/

Nov 27
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rat-picture2

Can a Rat Get into Your House Through the Toilet?

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Of all the pests you’re likely to encounter in your home, rats are regularly at the top of the list of animals you really don’t want to see. Whether it’s a brown rat, a street rat, a Hanover rat or a common rat, these pests can cause real damage to your home and can spread diseases that harm your pets, so keeping them out is essential.

 

We’ve already talked about ways on how to keep rats out of your house this winter but is there a way for rats to enter your home in spite of your best efforts? You’ve probably seen it in comedy sketches and movies, but is it possible?

 

Can rats swim up your toilet?

As we usually think of rats as a sewer-dwelling pest that hides during the day and rummages through our bins at night, we don’t tend to give them a second thought and ask, can rats swim? And, as you can probably guess by now, not only can they swim, they are excellent swimmers.

 

As National Geographic pointed out, rats can swim for three days and can easily climb up sewer pipes just a few inches in diameter. As they are happy to eat just about anything, including undigested food in faeces, it’s no surprise that they see a sewer pipe as an easy way to get food. At the same time, those pipes are also gateways to your toilet, your bathroom and beyond.

Why are rats coming to your house in the first place?

To understand why you might find a rat in your toilet if all other entrances to your house are well-protected, we need to look at what attracts rats to your home in the first place.
As with any pest, rats are constantly looking to spread to areas that offer them safety and food in abundance, as well as a place to nest in comfort and provide for their offspring. Your home ticks all the boxes – a warm, cosy location with plenty of hiding places and an unlimited supply of food. To a rat’s mind, it’s heaven!

Of course, a rat doesn’t know that a sewer pipe will lead to your bathroom, but if it decides to explore it, it will soon find its way to your toilet. Preventing this from happening is mostly done through the sewage system itself – older pipes are more susceptible to being damaged by rats, whereas modern piping can prevent rats from chewing their way in or dissuades them from swimming up from the sewage by design alone.

Another way to stop it from happening is to install a valve or a barrier device into your sewer line. These are designed specifically for the purpose of keeping rats out while allowing your sewage system to operate normally and your bathroom rat-free.

How do you get rid of a rat in the toilet?

Once you spot the rat in the toilet bowl, most likely in a state of exhaustion and shock, there is one thing you can do to try and remove it yourself, but whether you attempt it yourself or decide to call a specialist, do not try to flush the toilet! This will most likely panic the rat and it could try to jump out or even attack you.

The safer alternative is to call a specialist that can remove the rat for you, meaning either a plumber or a pest control technician. Both will be able to handle the situation for you with specialized tools at their disposal. They will also be able to advise you on how to prevent it happening in the future.

 

And remember, whether the rat in the toilet is the only one in your home or if you’ve noticed signs of a wider infestation, our certified pest control technicians are always just a call away and will be happy to deal with any kind of pest infestation you might encounter!

Oct 26
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flea-removal-sandwell

How to Fight Super-Fleas

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Fleas are one of the most common types of pests that you’re likely to encounter anywhere in the UK. Pet owners are already familiar with these insects, spending time and money to protect their pets from being attacked.

In recent weeks, we have seen reports of super-fleas coming to the UK and we’re here to set your mind at ease: these aren’t super-fleas in the same way that makes Superman so super – they’re not indestructible and they still can’t fly. Instead, super-fleas are called that because of their ability to reproduce in numbers much higher than normal fleas as a single female can lay as many as 50 eggs per day.

Still, the increased number of their offspring means these fleas will take some more persuasion before you can be satisfied that they’re gone. Before we get into the details, let’s look at how fleas can enter your home.

How infestations start

Pets and pests

The most common way for fleas to make their way into your home is of course through your pets, if they don’t have the proper protection against them.

But there are other animals that have a much higher chance of carrying fleas – pests, such as rats and mice can harbour dangerous fleas and diseases, which were the focus of our blog post: How to inform your kids on the dangers of mice and rats , but even birds and similar pests can carry fleas. Once inside your home, the fleas can spread on, attacking your pets and even jumping to humans.

Second-hand furniture

Fleas like to stay in places close to their main source of food – pets, and most pet owners like to keep their pets nearby.

This makes sofas, bedding, rugs, carpets and other furniture where the pets like to stay as prime targets for fleas.

As the pet attempts to remove the fleas, these will fall onto nearby surfaces where they will remain dormant for a long time if a sufficient host isn’t found.

What are the warning signs?

Fleas are easy to identify once they’ve invaded your home. Most likely, their first victims will be your pets, as the fleas will attempt to hide in their fur and feed from them. This produces a very obvious behaviour in pets:

  • Changed behaviour in your pets, with unusual scratching or licking
  • Hair loss on pets and their gums going pale
  • Finding actual flees on your pets when you comb their hair
  • ‘Flea dirt’, or small specs of dried blood in places your pets frequent

On humans, fleas tend to focus on the lower part of your body, as that’s the area they can most easily reach from the carpet or on the sofa. If the fleas get in your bed linen, you may find their bite marks elsewhere as well. The bite marks themselves are small, red marks that can feel irritating or itchy.

Prevention

If the fleas have not yet invaded your home, there are a few things you can do to ensure they do not do so in the future.

  • Thoroughly clean any second-hand furniture
  • Keep your pets protected with flea collars, sprays, shampoos or other products
  • Keep your home clean
  • Increase the amount of sunlight to your garden and home
  • Fill all cracks leading into your home that could be used by wild animals

Flea removal

If prevention has failed and you noticed fleas in your home or on your pets, there are steps you can take to keep a minor infestation under control.

Get friendly with the vacuum cleaner

You can remove a lot of fleas and their larvae simply by vacuuming, your furniture, rugs, floors and any other locations where you think fleas may be.

Hot water works miracles

Use a steam cleaner on all surfaces where possible. Fleas don’t survive long in water and the heat will ensure they are thoroughly gone. At the same time, be sure to wash any items of clothing, bedding and similar items that may have been infected.

Rinse & repeat

Use the combination of vacuuming, steam cleaning and liberally using your washing machine until the last signs of fleas disappear. Just make sure to protect your pets and home in the future!

If that is not enough, and you are facing a repeating infestation of fleas or super-fleas, don’t hesitate to contact us. One of our certified pest control technicians will attend to the problem as soon as possible and advise you on how to keep your home protected in the future!

Oct 17
Love0
rat

4 Ways to Distinguish Between Rats and Mice

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Winter brings with it unwanted pests that seek shelter and food, but to deal with them properly you need to first know what kind of pest has invaded your home. While telling squirrels apart from fleas is fairly easy, the differences between mice and rats can be more nuanced, especially if you only see the damage and waste they leave behind but not the actual culprits.

As mislabelling one from the other happens very often, we’ve prepared this blog post to help you better distinguish rats from mice.

1.    Visual appearance

If you’re (un)fortunate to see the pest with your own eyes, making a visual distinction between rats and mice can be the easiest way to identify them.

mouse

  • Mice are much smaller than rats, with rounded ears and pointier noses. They don’t grow larger than 8” and are usually smaller than that with a grey, brown or white coat of hair on their body.
  • By contrast, rats have pointier ears and stubbier noses. Adult rats can reach 15” and their tails are usually hairless. Along with the same colour palette as their smaller counterparts, rats can also have brown coats.

To better distinguish the two species when the rats are young, you can use the below pictures to get a clearer idea of which pest has invaded your home.

2.    Droppings

Droppings are by themselves one of the main reasons any infestation must be dealt with as soon as possible – they’re excellent at spreading disease and contributing to the loss of cleanliness in your home, especially in the kitchen. There are two main things to look for with mice or rat droppings:

  • Mice produce about twice as many droppings as rats, around 100 per day compared to the rats’ 50.
  • Rat droppings tend to be much larger than those of mice, with the former’s around ½” in diameter and the latter’s about ¼” in size.

As not all of the droppings will be located in a single place, it’s best to use the size rather than sheer numbers when determining what made them.

3.    The marks they leave behind

The two pests have a few things in common when we’re talking about visual marks they leave as they scurry along their paths. They both gnaw on cables, insulation, furniture or anything else that’s in their way. They both leave droppings, though of different sizes, and they both leave tracks as they move.

The key differences between them, however, is that mice also leave behind urine pillars, formed from their hair, urine and dirt, while rats tend to leave grease marks where they squeeze through gaps or rub their fur against a surface.

4.    Whether they burrow

If you notice new holes in the ground around your garden or near the foundation of your home, chances are they were left by a rat. Unlike mice, rats like burrowing into soil or underneath the foundation of a building to create safe paths between their nests and food sources.

Contrary to this, mice simply build nests with whatever materials are available. They choose hidden locations with enough material nearby so they can safely stay in close proximity to the food and minimize travel.

As both rodents can produce multiple litters every year after they settle in, whether into your home or nearby, it is advisable to remove them as soon as possible. Store-bought traps can work for the occasional rat or mouse that strays into your home, but an infestation is best left to professionals.

If you think you have a rat or mouse infestation, don’t hesitate to give us a call, and our qualified pest control technicians will be with you as soon as possible! Alternatively, if you’d like to reduce the risk of an infestation, read our blog onHow to protect your home from rats and mice this winter.

https://www.sandwellpestcontrolservices.com/pests/rat-removal/

https://www.sandwellpestcontrolservices.com/pests/mice-removal/

Oct 13
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dangers of mice and rats

How to Inform Your Kids on the Dangers of Mice and Rats

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There’s nothing worse than seeing you child being bitten by a rodent that’s made its way into your home, but it happens more often than we’d like to think.

Children are curious and playful – seeing a small, fuzzy creature scurrying along the floor or running for cover in your garden might just be enough to make them follow it or even try to pet it, and why wouldn’t they?

Rats and mice are such a common sight in pet stores that children have gotten used to seeing them as pets rather than pests. And while it’s true that both species can make for excellent pets, there are fundamental differences between the rats and mice that make their way into your home unwanted and the ones in store. Explaining to your children why you had to call a pest control technician to deal with them might be more difficult than it first seems, so we’ve put together a nice list of the key differences between the pets you can buy in store and the pests that are a nuisance in your home.

Rats and mice cause damage

Rodents need to get into your home somehow. Assuming there are no gaps or other easy entrances, they will be inclined to find a way in by chewing and scratching away at parts of your home that will allow them the easiest access and the damage won’t stop there.

Once inside, mice will look for anything they can use to build their nests. A home is a home after all, and it beats living out in the cold. They will start actively seeking out any kind of soft and pliable material, such as paper and string, to start building their nests with, and will happily gnaw through minor obstacles to get where they’re going.

Once the hunger kicks in, and with both species, it does so very often, they will start scavenging for food and chewing through easy packaging to get to it.

They carry diseases

If the thought of mice and rats eating your breakfast isn’t enough, remember that these are wild animals that have come from outside to enjoy free food and warmer conditions inside your home. Unfortunately, their natural environment is rife with diseases that the rodents can transmit to your pets and even to your family through direct contact, bites, droppings and in some cases even by inhaling dust that is contaminated with urine.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list the following diseases that rodents regularly carry:

  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome collapsed
  • Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome collapsed
  • Lassa Fever collapsed
  • Leptospirosis collapsed
  • Lymphocytic Chorio-meningitis (LCM) collapsed
  • Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever collapsed
  • Plague collapsed
  • Rat-Bite Fever collapsed
  • Salmonellosis collapsed
  • South American Arenaviruses (Argentine hemorrhagic fever, Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, Sabiá-associated hemorrhagic fever, Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever) collapsed
  • Tularemia collapsed

When you buy a rodent as a pet in a store, they’re usually vaccinated against these diseases, but there is no guarantee with wild mice and rats.

They are very social creatures

One of the main reasons people like to get rats and mice as pets are their friendly nature. They are very much a social creature with complex social structures. That also means that when there’s a single rodent in your home, it won’t want to stay single for long.

Both species breed like few other animals. As Discover Magazine pointed out, if left unchecked, a pair of rats can end up producing about 2000 descendants in a year due to their active breeding and the early age at which rats become sexually active. Mice are as happy to mate as their larger counterparts.

While their social nature is good for those who want an active pet in their home, leaving a rat or a mouse alone can quickly become a growing problem that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.

Wild rats and mice have no place in our homes

Throughout history rats and mice have been considered as pests than damage crops and invade homes. Today, there are an estimated 10.5 million rats in the UK with an unknown number of mice prowling around the fields, farms and suburbs.

In nature, mice and rats have an important role to play in the wider ecological system, keeping smaller mammals and insects at bay while being a part of the food chain for the larger predators. But indoors, they are an unwelcome pest that causes damage, spreads disease and produces more offspring to continue that legacy.

As mice as naturally curious, and will happily explore anything new in their paths – including toys left on the ground – they pose a real threat to your family. Rats, while more secluded, have been known to bite when feeling cornered, which means a trip to the GP is in order as they might carry dangerous bacteria.

While children will always be interested in the animals around them, it’s important to make them understand that not all animals are pets. We hope this blog has helped to shape the conversation you might have to have if rats or mice invade your home. And if they do, don’t hesitate to call us!

Oct 13
Love0

How to Protect Your Home from Rats and Mice this Winter

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Winter is coming and with it uninvited guests. When the outside world becomes too cold and windy for rats and mice, they seek refuge in the insulated, warm homes all over the West Midlands. Birmingham with its suburbs is the prime target for this migration, with a recent report showing it to be the “Rat capital of the UK” with nearly 15,000 rat-removal callouts in one year. The West Midlands as a whole are hardly faring better.

This is a problem

As we’ve touched upon on our Rat Removal and Mice Removal pages, these pests carry with them the risk of diseases, property damage and can even pose a risk to your pets. We will always be more than happy to respond to any pest problem you may encounter, but there are a few things you can do yourself to help prevent the infestation from occurring in the first place.

What can you do?

Working from the inside-out, here are the key actions you can take to defend your home from rats and mice when the temperature drops.

Check for cracks and any other openings in the walls and floors

Cracks and holes can sometimes be hidden behind furniture and kitchen appliances, but it pays to occasionally inspect these areas for any potential access points that the rats and mice could use to enter your home. Pay special attention to the kitchen, as it is a prime target for these pests. Remember that a mouse will see a hole as small as ¼“ as a potential entry point that can be expended by chewing and clawing through it.

Inspect your doors and windows

As with walls and floor, ensure that your doors and windows don’t have any openings where they meet the walls, be it holes or bends in the doors or doorframes, gaps in window frames or any other opening where the pests could enter.

Seal openings for cables and pipes

Where there are cables and pipes running to the outside, make sure that there is no gap between them and the holes that were made to accommodate them. Any holes made that are larger than the cables and pipes inside them can become an entry point for pests. As with cracks and other holes, sealing them offers the first line of defence against mice and rats.

Store the food you need and discard any old food

Leaving open or stale food in your cupboards and on the counters is a perfect invitation for rats and mice, if they do enter your home. Try to keep all food in resealable bags or containers that can be securely closed, as any open food sources, or leftovers left unprotected, will attract pests. Be especially careful with food that is past its prime, or is developing mould. It will attract other pests as well, so make sure you dispose of it in time.

Keep your garbage in check

Whether its items you can recycle, regular garbage or biological waste, make sure you regularly empty the bins and keep them clean to avoid mould growing inside. The same goes for the bins outside your home, which are usually the first targets for hungry pests.

Maintain the cleanliness of your home

A clean home is a good way to avoid attracting rats and mice. They might still choose to seek refuge from the weather, but keeping them deprived of food will limit their spread once inside. As both pests can have litters multiple times a year under the right conditions, keeping their numbers low is vital to preventing excessive damage to your home.

Check for cracks and openings on the outside of your home

Now that the interior of your home is as protected as can be, it’s time to move outside. Again, check the walls for cracks and do a visual inspection of your roof, if possible, to determine if there are any access points that rats and mice could use to enter your home. Seal any openings if necessary.

Keep your garden secure

Overgrown plants and bushes are an ideal hiding place for pests, and making sure they’re trimmed will make rats and mice look for safer locations to live and nest. If you have a completely closed garden, keeping the fence in good condition will present a good barrier from pests. Again, look for any possible entry locations.

On cats, repellents and traps

If you’re reading this with a purring ball of fur on your lap, congratulations! Your rat and mice problem is likely under control. But even if you don’t have a cat, making friends with the neighbourhood cat is always a good idea – they are nature’s pest exterminators that will regularly inspect your garden for you. Alternatively, if you feel that you want to offer some additional protection from rats and mice, there are a number of natural and store-bought items you can use to repel pests. Placing mint or bay leaves on your windowsills and areas around your home where mice and rats would hide will deter them, while traps can be used to control an infestation if the pests are already in your home. Mothballs are a deterrent as well, just remember they are toxic to pets and children, so place them somewhere out of reach.

If they are already in your home

The advice above works for preventing pests from entering your home in the first place, but if you’re already dealing with a rat or mice infestation, and the cat has made friends with them, it’s best to leave the work of evacuating them to local professionals. Give us a call and a qualified pest control technician will inspect your home for pests, make sure they’re gone, and give you advice on the spot on how to stop it happening in the future!

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