Adam's Top Tips

Pest Prevention Advice

Follow these top tips so you don’t have any unwanted visitors throughout the seasons!

January’s Top Tips

With the festive season over and the putting away of the tree, be sure to package all your decorations away in sealed plastic boxes.  Mice love to make their nests in warm, soft materials and this could be your shiny tinsel!  Remember also that some Christmas crackers have gift chocolates inside and this will be a very welcome food source for any mouse or rat.

With available foodstuffs at a bare minimum, this is a great time to show our little feathered friends how much we love to see them in our gardens and feeding them and seeing them around is a great delight indeed.

Remember though that food sources are scarce for many creatures at this time of year and rats and mice are facing a food shortage too.  Nuts and seeds that fall from our feeders are a welcome source of nourishment for them.  If possible, place a large ‘catch tray’ under your feeders and remove any fallen food debris at the end of the day.

February’s Top Tips

With plants and shrubs still in a docile state, it’s a perfect time of year to prune any trees that overhang your property and remove any plants that climb your walls to the roofline.  Squirrels and rats are incredibly adept at climbing and jumping and removing any plants and branches close to the house and roof will make access for them a lot harder.

If you’re in the mood for a spring clean, why not fully check your kitchen by removing the kickboards (plinths at the bottom of kitchen units) and check for signs of rodent activity i.e droppings or nesting materials.

Make sure to remove any food matter that has fallen behind units as this could be a welcome snack for any rodent.  At the same time it’s worth filling in any holes in the walls or floors that you can see with filler foam and wire wool or for a truly permanent fix, wire wool and a sand and cement mix.

Squirrels are in the midst of their first breeding season, so when you see them in your garden, make sure you watch them and check they’re not scaling your wall and making their way into your loft!

March Top Tips

A lot of insects cement eggs into the cracks and crevices of skirting boards, make sure to give these areas a thorough vacuuming to remove any accumulated fluff and animal hair.

Check your pets regularly for Fleas as the central heating being on will provide a perfect environment for an outbreak!

Check your woollen carpets for threadbare areas, this could be a sign of Carpet Moth damage.

April’s Top Tips

April is the month to do a full de-clutter of your home and garden.  Check under your sink and in your larder for any signs of rodent activity.

If you are finding signs of woodlice or silverfish, this is a sure fire sign of a damp/moisture issue.  Check for leaking pipes that could be the cause.  Remember also that mice only need a tiny amount of moisture and a drop of water from a leaking tap can be just enough!

May’s Top Tips

Ants love to find and feed from sugary foodstuffs including spilled fizzy drinks etc.  Make sure any spills are thoroughly washed and cleaned otherwise you could soon be facing an invasion!

Commercial and Domestic bins are usually under attack in this month.  Make sure your home bin is sealed properly and all foodstuffs are placed in tied bags to prevent both rodents and flies finding a nice area to feed and breed.

Commercial bins – Make sure the ‘seep bungs’ are in place to prevent rodents finding their way in to feed on discarded foodstuffs.  Double bag any food waste and tie securely to prevent fly egress, otherwise maggots migrating across your carpark can certainly stain your business reputation!

Jet wash commercial bins regularly to prevent flies breeding in the left over debris.

June’s Top Tips

June is High-Season for moths and carpet pests such as carpet beetle.  Regularly check your window sills for small insects resembling Ladybirds in various shades of brown/mottled black.

Check your carpets for fawn coloured small moths that tend to hop skip and jump along, also small cacoons in the pile of the carpet.

Carpets at high risk are ones with a high woollen content, to minimise your chance of a carpet moth infestation, stick to carpets with man made fibres.

July’s Top Tips

Worker wasps are out and about now, bringing nesting materials and food back to the queen and expanding the nest.  Keep a keen eye out for any specific flight path into your roof or shed, dealing with a wasp nest this early in the season is a lot easier than dealing with a fully developed nest housing thousands of wasps later on.

Bed bugs are prevalent now too.  Check bedding regularly for any signs of bugs or faecal spotting, small reddish brown stains on your bedding, mattress or pillows.

If travelling abroad, check your luggage on your return to ensure you have not brought back any unwanted hitch hikers!

August’s Top Tips

Still keep an eye out for those wasps! Be very careful when mowing your lawn, many an eager gardener finds themselves at the emergency room after mowing over the top of a wasp nest in their lawn.  If you are going to tackle this yourself, dress protectively and use a powder formulation to be put into the hole in the ground, do this only after dusk when the majority of the wasps are back in the nest and you are less likely to get stung!

Cluster flies also often start around August.  Open old sash windows and check around the frames, use a proprietary crawling insect spray around the sills.  This can also be sprayed into the area that houses the sash cord as cluster flies like to over winter here.

September’s Top Tips

It’s all about the wasps!  If you are planning a trip away and need to get suitcases out of your loft.  Before flooding your loft space with light and rummaging around, first check around the loft using a torch from the loft hatch, at this time of year a wasp nest can be the size of a beach ball and can be housing a very large number of wasps which will not welcome the intrusion.  Remember wasps as all insects, are attracted to artificial light and if you find lots buzzing around your loft light or flying towards your torch, you are sure to have a nest in your roof void and it is definitely time to call in the Professionals!

October’s Top Tips

October is a likely time where we will see a dramatic drop in temperature and any lasting wasp nests will now become very aggressive and must ONLY be tackled by the Experts!

Rats and Mice are likely to be looking for somewhere to keep warmer and this could mean your home or garden shed, Squirrels too so remember to check your loft if you start hearing noises.

November’s Top Tips

A lot of people have Christmas on their mind again.  If you are buying gifts and hiding them in the loft, be sure to put into large plastic containers in case of any rodent activity.  To check if there’s anything about, why not leave a chocolate bar on a dish with a handful of nuts for a couple of nights, if nothing goes astray, there’s no rats, mice or squirrels lurking in the shadows.

December’s Top Tips

It’s cold out there now and rodents are definitely wanting the inviting warmth of your home.  Seal any gaps around service pipes and fit draught excluders to the bottom of all external doors.  Rats and Mice will take the ‘path of least resistance’ and a door brush can be an inexpensive way of blocking their entry.

Call Adam at Advance Pest Control Bristol TODAY on 07771503107 for a same day treatment