What is pest control?
Pest control consists of managing different animal species that at some point are classified as dangerous or detrimental for human health or safety, due to their impact in our lives, for example animals that can poison our food and transmit diseases.
What is integrated pest control?
Integrated pest management (IPM), or integrated pest control (IPC) is an approach to pest control with the reduction of the environmental impact at its core. It’s focused on preventive tactics and long-term solutions based on the different pests lifecycles and behaviour, where chemicals are avoided as much as possible if not completely.
What is environmental pest control?
Environmental pest control are practices run by professionals to help preserve a healthy and clean environment, minimising environmental impact due to the focus on repairing work and pest behaviour monitoring, as a method to eliminate, or at least reduce as much as possible, the damage caused by pests.
What do pest control do?
Pest control professionals help domestic and commercial property owners to eliminate health damaging species, such as mice, bedbugs and ants. The process usually starts with an inspection of the place to determine the pests causing the problems and the best course of action to solve the problem, followed by an estimation of the costs associated and the time required to complete the work.
What are the methods of pest control?
The most common methods for pest control are Chemical, Biological and Mechanical, the first method is based on the use of chemicals to eradicate the pest causing the problem, either killing them or hindering reproduction. Biological methods use natural predators of the species causing the problem, alternatively parasites affecting such species are used in some cases. Finally, mechanical methods involve using different devices to stop pests from entering buildings and other properties.
What chemicals are used in pest control?
The most common chemicals used in pest control are:
- Boric Acid
- Considered a safe pesticide for its low toxicity, which is effective against roaches, ants and most of the usual insects you can find in a house.
- IGR or Insect Growth Regulators
- Work as birth control for pests affecting both eggs and larvae, their chemicals impede the natural lifecycle of the target pests.
- Cyfluthrin and Deltamethrin
- These two are man-made insecticides which are effective for longer periods of time (sometimes up to 3 months), when compared to natural insecticides.
- Fipronil
- Is an insecticide commonly used to remove ants, termites and roaches. It possesses a cascading effect based on both ingestion and contact, which helps to eradicate entire colonies of these insects.
- Pyrethrum
- Is an environment-safe insecticide, effective against a wide range of insects and often used on both commercial properties and homes due to its composition which makes it quickly decompose in the environment.
- Permethrin
- Another insecticide mostly used to eliminate fleas & bedbugs, but also effective with other insects such as termites and roaches.
- Bifenthrin
- An insecticide for ants which is effective against most species including the feared red fire ant.
- Abamectin
- This active ingredient is a mixture of nerve poisons commonly known as avermectins which causes paralysis, but not immediately so the poison spreads once the infected pest returns to its colony.
- Hydramethylnon
- Is a metabolic inhibitor which attacks roaches' metabolic system, impeding them from eating and reproducing from a complete lack of energy.
What do pest control companies use for bed bugs?
Pyrethrins and pyrethroids like Cyfluthrin and Deltamethrin, are the most common insecticides used to remove bed bugs from homes.
What do pest control companies use for fleas?
Pest control professionals normally use growth regulators to interfere with flea's lifecycle, eggs, larvae and adults can be afterwards removed using a powerful vacuum.
What do pest control companies do for mice?
The job of removing mice and rats usually starts with the search of signs of these rodents to then determine the best method to avoid them coming back into the property again, modern rodent control companies avoid the use of live catch traps and poison when possible. The work finalises with the removal of the potential remains from the property.
What do pest control use for ants?
Pyrethroids and pyrethrin Cyfluthrin and Deltamethrin, are the most common chemicals used to remove ants in the pest control industry.
How long after pest control can I bring baby home?
People will only need to be out of the house what fogging and spray treatments are used to treat insect pests. With fogging people can reenter the space from as little as an hour after the treatment, with spray treatments it's typically five hours to allow everything to dry.
Once the floors are dry they are fine to re enter and use their house as they usually would. When there are rodent problems people obviously are still living in the house while the treatment is being carried out, with all rodenticide chemicals kept secure so that babies and children would not come into contact with them.
What does ERDM stand for in pest control?
Both ERDM and the CRRU risk hierarchy are forms of what is called Integrated Pest Management within the pest control industry. Greenway IPM knows the power of an integrated and holistic approach to pest control and it is one of the core principles the company was founded upon.
Greenway's signed up the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU Code - Think Wildlife) which aims to reduce the use of anticoagulant rodenticides when dealing with rodents using the risk hierarchy. The risk hierarchy is a set of steps to take to deal with rodents, from denial of access (proofing), changing the environment (denial of food, water and shelter), trapping rodents that are present as opposed to using chemical controls and if chemical controls are needed, using first chemicals that do not have any residual effect in the environment and only using anticoagulant rodenticides if all other measures have failed to control the problem.
How much does pest control cost?
Pest Control cost depends on the work being carried out. Rodent work takes several visits, insect pests can take 1 or two visits, bird work is highly variable. It can be somewhere for half an hour or all day depending on the job.
Can you remove an active bird's nest?
You have to be very careful when dealing with birds. All bird species in the UK are by default protected by law. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs releases a new 'general licence' annually that states what action can be taken with regards to certain bird species. If the bird species is not on the list, it or its nests cannot be tampered in any way. Even birds appearing on the general licence can fall into several different categories. We will be able to advise what action can be taken if you are having a problem with birds.
Will the treatment harm my pets?
When using chemicals, we always follow their usage guidelines to the letter and will not do anything that will threaten pets or wildlife. Insecticide sprays in the home will not cause you problems due to the small amounts of chemical actually used and its formulation is such that it is designed to act on insects, which have a different biology to mammals. The pest control technician will advise you on when you are able to return to your home after a treatment is complete (usually between one and five hours).
When dealing with rodents we always follow the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use risk hierarchy, which means that rodenticides and especially anticoagulant rodenticides will only be used as a last resort. Before a treatment is carried out the site will be inspected and risk assessed, and any rodenticide chemicals used will be used in locations not accessible to people, pets or wildlife.
If a rat dies in my home, will it smell?
If you use poison to deal with rats and a rat dies in your home then yes, there is likely to be a smell, often followed by flies unless the body can be found and removed. However, the approach to rodent control that Greenway takes is more focused on prevention and trapping. Prevention is always the most important factor because if rodents cannot enter a home, there will be no need for treatment in the future.
If a pest controller comes to your home and just puts poison down, they are not fixing the problem! They are just masking it. The problem is that rodents can find ways into your home and this is what needs to be fixed to ensure a rodent free home in the future. Through thorough building inspections, good proofing and trapping to remove any rats still inside, we can fix your problem for good, often without the use of any rodenticide chemicals whatsoever.
Rats are getting into my kitchen. There is a hole under the sink into the floor, can you block it up?
It is always best to stop rodents entering your building completely. If you block a hole into a room, the rats may not be getting into the room any more but they will still be in the building. Over time they're likely to just gnaw another hole. Focus on the building itself, including the drains. The vast majority of rat problems will occur due to a hole in a wall or an issue with the drains. Detached properties are easiest to fix for good. If you like in a terrace, or even a semi detached, the rats might be gaining entry into the building from a neighboring property. Nobody likes to say they have rats in the house, but asking your neighbor if they have ever had a similar problem can be the first step in fixing the problem for you both.
Do rats like decking?
Rats will use cover when moving between gardens and decking can be a great place to hide. If you have to have decking, avoid feeding the birds, as if you provide food and shelter you are likely to get repeat rat issues in your garden. Even then, rats may still use your decking as cover and raid food from neighboring gardens. Don't have decking immediately adjacent to the wall of the property, as rats will start digging under decking, where they will not be disturbed and can find routes into your property that way, especially if you have foul water drainage that runs under the wall in that area.
Rats can always get into your house can't they? It's just something that happens.
It always amazes me how many times people think this. Rat problems and not just part of the way things are. Not every house gets rats, or even mice, inside. If you have rodents getting into your property you don't have to put up with it. You just need the right knowledge and equipment to be able to find and stop up all the entry points.
The biggest issues can be when your property adjoins another property and the owners of that property have the attitude of 'rats always get in and it's not a big deal'. If you have done everything you can to secure your property and the rats are still getting in from the neighbors side, you've talked to the neighbor and they aren't prepared to deal with the issue, the local council can make them act under the Prevention of Damage by Pests act.
Again, if you ever have to go down this route, you need to ensure that your own property has been thoroughly inspected first, including drains, to ensure rats aren't getting into the building on your side. With terraced properties it can be extremely difficult to pinpoint where the rats are getting access to the building.
If you live in a terraced house, speak to neighbours on both sides and further down the street and see who has had problems in the past. You may find that everyone is as keen to have it fixed as you are. See who is on board and have all the houses inspected by the same pest control company. A joined up approach by one knowledgeable company has a much better chance of succeeding than everyone just trying to do their own thing.
Not all homes have rodent problems and you shouldn't have to put up with it if you do.
