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Seasonal Pest Activity

Understanding Seasonal Pest Activity will allow you to have a proactive approach to pests rather than a reactive one.

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Different pest species will be active during the different seasons of the year. Some prefer the warmer months due to having a better environment to breed in and of course feed and others are likely to be more active in your home or business during the colder months.

Taking this into account, it is prudent to have an understanding of what pest is likely to be active within a commercial or residential property during the UK seasons. This then allows for a proactive approach to pest control which is potentially more cost-effective than having a reactive approach.

Mice & Rats

Mice and Rats information and supporting page is now here. BioPest Management Ltd. will offer you expert advice and information relating to seasonal pest activity and just like we did for Wasps, we would like to do the same for Mice and Rats.

The colder weather often encourages rodents into warmer areas in their quest for better living and a more readily available food source. Our new page will support you in your home or business to ensure that all processes of control are in place to help you remain rodent free. If you believe you have rodents, then our page will be able to help you identify if you have and how we can manage the pest activity for you.

Whether you are in your own home, staying somewhere else or even at work, rodents will not discriminate on the location. If they do find access to your building then the list below will help you potentially identify if you do have rodent activity. If you do, then please contact BioPest before the problem escalates into a more intense infestation.

Evidence of Rodent Activity

  • Noise – gnawing, scratching, moving about
  • Droppings
  • Urine patches
  • Smell
  • Nests
  • Actual live or dead sightings
  • Grease marks – where rodents continually clean themselves their fur stays greasy. When they regularly travel through a hole they will leave a dark grease mark due to their fur being greasy.
  • Footprints – especially noticeable in lofts and under kitchen kick plates
  • Tail swish marks – especially noticeable in lofts and under kitchen kick plates
  • Burrows – rats
  • Damage to wires, cables, floorboards, skirting boards from gnawing
  • Lights not working, alarms not working, loss of telephone connections, other electrical problems via rodents gnawing
  • Damaged plastic air bricks – rodents can gnaw through plastic air bricks to gain access to cavity walls.
  • Damage to food packaging
  • Rat runs

As you can see from the above list, there are many ways that you can identify if you do have rodent activity. What we hear most from our residential clients, is that they can hear noises when they are in bed. The main reason for this is that mice are nocturnal and rats will prefer to be active when there is less human activity around. Also, during the day you may have the TV on, the telephone ringing plus the washing machine may be on. With this level of background noise, you are going to be less likely to hear any rodent activity during the day.

The team at BioPest Management Ltd will offer you advice and feedback during our initial conversation so that we can ascertain the level of activity. We would then recommend a survey so that we can investigate the source of the rodent activity for you. Finding the source of a pest infestation is very important as this will allow us to target our efforts in the right place, leading to the problem not re-occurring for you.

Our team of BPCA & RSPH (British Pest Control Association & Royal Society of Public Health) trained Surveyors and Technicians will fully support you with all methods of mice and rats control. The below is how we would do this:

  • Initial communication
  • Site survey
  • Detailed survey report highlighting our findings and recommendations
  • Agree action plan and control programme
  • Start the programme of rodent control
  • Follow up with service reports and further recommendations if required.

BioPest Management Ltd. can offer more that just an intensive rodent control programme. We offer and advise on other works that would support any rodent infestation that you may be experiencing:

  • Rodent proofing
  • Offer anti-bacterial treatments where the rodents have been active
  • Advise ongoing Integrated Pest Management Programmes if required
  • Use tracking dust that will help us locate the route of the infestation
  • Utilise our new range of equipment such as our heat seeking camera. This piece of equipment allows us to identify and see rodents if they are travelling in areas where we are unable to see with our normal vision.

Another excellent form of control that we recommend is to fit our special BioVents to damaged or open air bricks. These superb units will work towards preventing rodent ingress and as you will see from the below images, they are very smart and become part of the proactive rodent control.

Below is an example of the pests that will be active during the different months of the year:

January to February

These two months are traditionally the coldest in the UK and when the temperature drops. During this period, mice and rats will always look for the more readily available food source and a warmer environment, so it is very common for businesses and residential properties to report rodent activity. Taking this into account, it is vital to ensure that waste bins are emptied regularly, food items not stored in areas that will attract rodent activity and any potential rodent access points are rodent proofed. Please click here for expert advice relating to rodents.

We must appreciate that even though these months are colder, heating systems will be fully on and this also can encourage some insect pest activity.

March

March/April is when the temperature normally warms up and we start to see breeding cycles commence.

Most birds will look to start nesting due to the warmer weather. The most common pest within the bird family is the Feral Pigeon. This bird will look to nest anywhere where the female feels she and the nest will be safe. This can be on your balcony, in your loft, on top of a downpipe hopper, a discreet void, under your solar panels, pretty much anywhere that is safe. Please click here for expert advice relating to pest birds.

Textile pests are always a nuisance and one of the most prevalent that starts to be active around this month is the Common Clothes Moth. The larvae of this moth is extremely destructive to carpets and clothes and it is important to control this moth initially, followed with an ongoing form of monitoring and control. Please click here for expert advice relating to Textile pests.

We have also just started to see active Garden Ants so it is important to ensure that sweet items are not left out indoors as sweet items will attract the Garden Ant into your property.

Squirrels will be nesting now, as well as in July, so please ensure that there are no squirrel access points into your loft space.

April & May

We are already seeing higher levels of active wasps and these will be the Queen wasps looking to start their nests. Please do check you lofts for any early activity or contact BioPest for expert advice and support. Please click here for expert advice relating to the Common Wasp

More insect pests will be emerging with the start of House Flies. With all forms of fly, it is always good to find the source of the activity as removing the source will support the reduction in the active flies.

Common Clothes Moth will be increasing in activity as will Garden Ants and there will be usual levels of activity from foraging rodents. We will also see the first breeding period of the Varied Carpet Beetle.

June

With the temperature increasing these two months we can still see all insect pests active. Fleas are always a concern when the weather is warmer so please do ensure that your cats are properly treated with flea prevention solutions. Wasps, House Flies and Garden Ants will continue to be active.

July & August

We will really start to see an increase in Garden Ant activity, Wasps, False Widow Spider and House Flies. Last year we had many reports of False Widow Spiders and this was due to the much warmer weather we had from March onwards (apart from the non-stop rain in August 2017). This encouraged the breeding of the flies which in turn created hot spot feeding areas for the False Window Spider. Many of our call outs were for bin storage rooms where residential blocks store their household waste. The flies were able to feed and breed in this area, thus encouraging the spiders to feed as well on the increased fly levels.

Keep food covered up and do not leave sweet items out as these will encourage the wasps and ants.

September

This is probably the most active months for the wasps. Towards the end of September the nests are at maximum capacity, with lots of adults and few larvae. This means that there will be lots of wasps visible but also affects what food they look for. While the adults feed on nectar the larvae are fed on insects. When feeding larvae, adults obtain a small, sugar rich droplet of liquid from the young. With fewer larvae the adults don’t need to look for as much protein but do need more sugars and carbohydrates. It is because of this need for carbohydrates that wasps might go for your crisps rather than your jam this month.

You will also see the Garden Spider with its web spun across shrubs and in walkways. This spider will remain active until the start of the cold weather period.

October

With the onset of autumn and the cooler temperatures, insects will start to slow down. However, we do sometimes have hot weather in October so we can still see textiles pests and other flying insects. Wasps will still be active as it is the temperature that will determine how long this pest hangs around for.

Spiders will still be very active locally and if the temperatures does drop, then you need to be aware that Feral Pigeons will be looking for areas to stay warm for the winter period. Mice and rats will potentially be venturing inside for warmth and a more readily available food source as well.

November

This is the month when the wasp activity should end, although we have had to treat nests at this time of year before.

Pigeons and rodents will really be looking at areas where they can live in to stay warm during the colder months. Don’t let this be your property of business. Contact BioPest for support and expert advice and click here for support regarding mice and rats.

If the weather has been warmer we can sometimes see a 2nd breeding period for the Varied Carpet Beetle.

December

This month is the start of a busy seasonal period and what we often find is that where additional food is purchased and stored in a different location, this often attracts rodents to this area for the food. Last year we had our highest ever level of call outs during and just after Christmas where residents and businesses had been away and shut down.

Residents were coming home after visiting family and friends and finding food items nibbled and droppings in the kitchen area. Businesses were also coming back after their festive shut downs in December and January to find rodents had been active within their commercial sites, due to food being left on site during their shut downs.

Key to avoiding this is to ensure that all food items are disposed of prior to the office shut or placed in sealed metal of plastic containers.

For expert advice and support please contact BioPest Management Ltd.

T: 0203 693 3930
E: office@biopestmanagement.co.uk