At PGM & Son we regularly blog about rodent control and we also blog about the importance of preventative pest control. You might also hear us refer to ‘proofing’ which is the word we use when we carry out works to assist with prevention of pests.
This week we thought we’d give you an insight into why we champion education and preventative measures in rodent control.
We’ve had one of the coldest winters for many years and this is one of reasons we’ve seen a rise in the rat population. They’ve been inviting themselves into people’s homes and businesses to keep warm, find food and harbourage.
Rodents are building up a tolerance to pesticides and it isn’t ethical to regularly use poisons anyway. At PGM Pest Control we always use chemicals as a last resort. In many cases, we can offer advice and solutions that avoid the need for toxic chemicals to be used in homes and businesses but it’s important to identify and deal with the problem early on.
And, if you need any convincing about why we strongly urge people to contact us as soon as they became aware of a problem, the photos below should help.
By the time we arrived, rodents had firmly established themselves in the property and the whole loft had to be cleared – all insulation had to be removed and destroyed to ensure no contamination risk remained.
As you might imagine, this can end up being a very costly exercise. Working at height and in confined spaces is a two man job due to health and safety regulations, disposal of insulation incurs an additional cost due to the sheer volume of material removed from loft spaces and there’s the cost of replacing the insulation too.
Sometimes we get called out because a pest problem has persisted despite the diligence of the person in appointing other pest control services. Unfortunately, not all pest control firms share our views on use of chemicals and we often see cases where although the problem has been treated, it hasn’t been eradicated because the root causes haven’t been addressed.
Ask your pest controller questions about their services and make sure you check they are fully qualified and members of an approved trade body.