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Glis Glis

Glis-Glis (Edible Dormouse)

The edible dormouse was accidentally introduced to England in the town of Tring through an escape from Lionel Walter Rothschild’s private collection of six in 1902. As a result the British population of Glis-glis is now thought to be about 10,000. They are concentrated in a 200 square mile triangle between Beaconsfield, Aylesbury and Luton the area known as the Chilterns. This is the only area in the country they are found.

There nickname is the seven sleepers because they hibernate for seven months of the year November to May.

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE

Glis-glis look like a small grey squirrel they are actually closer related to a dormouse (hence the name edible dormouse). They are grey in colour with a bushy tail and large eyes. An adult male will reach about 8-10 inches in length.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE GLIS-GLIS

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Glis-glis are protected and the act prohibits certain types of killing and trapping them. The remove may require a licence and should only be done by professionals. If you think you may have Glis glis please contact us for advice.

Grey Squirrel

The grey squirrel is native to the USA and is a very adaptable species. In Britain the grey squirrel has few nature predators. This has lead to its rapid population growth and has caused the species to be classed as a pest. It can cause damage to roof spaces when nesting and to lawns when burying food such as nuts.

The grey squirrel is thought to be main reason in the decline of the red squirrel. This is thought to be because of the grey squirrel’s greater fitness hence a competitive advantage over the red squirrel.

In the UK if a grey squirrel is trapped under the wildlife and countryside act 1981 it is illegal to release it or allow it to escape into the wild. Instead they should be humanely destroyed.

Treatments include:

Proofing (e.g. squirrel accessing loft via roof)

Culling (Shooting)

Live trapping

These are the only treatment methods we use. There are other treatments such spring trapping and warfarin poising but we feel our methods are the most humane and least likely to affect a non-target species.

Sales Promotion

Sign up by the 30th of September and get 10% off all pest control contacts.

Already got a pest control contract? We’ll match it and give you an additional 10% off*.
Why not join our growing number of clients already benefitting from our service and call to arrange a meeting. Our services include:

Pigeon proofing and control

Rodent control

All crawling and flying insects

Wasps and bees

24 hour 7 days a week call out service

Call us on: 01494 410880 Don’t delay offer ends 30th December!
Wren house 19-23 exchange road Watford Hertfordshire WD18 0JG
*must have had contract at least 6 months written proof of current contract required

Image of pigeon deterred by "Bird Free Fire Gel"

Pigeons! What’s the problem?

Pigeons are an increasing problem and Regional Pest Services would like to advise you of the chief issues of concern regarding the potential hazards associated with pigeons, their droppings and nesting materials.

PSITTACOSIS (ORNITHOSISIS): This is an infectious disease. The organism is found in droppings, eye and nasal secretions of infected birds, which contaminate feathers and nesting materials. Transmission is usually through inhalation of contaminated airborne particles in which the organism can survive for several months.

The symptoms of human infection range from a flu-like illness with fever, joint, and muscle pains lasting a few days to more serious reactions including pneumonia.

BIRD LUNG (ALLERGIC ALVEOLITIS): This is an allergic condition occurring among bird keepers and people exposed occupationally to airborne particles in dust inhaled from bird corpses.

This can cause symptoms of fever and chest tightness with cough and in chronic form cause shortness of breath on exertion.

PATHOGENIC FUNGI Several pathogenic fungi find bird droppings, particularly if left to accumulate, a particularly good medium to develop. For most people, infection can appear to be little more than a bout of flu, but in susceptible individuals severe infections can occur.

INSECTS, MITES & FLIES: Urban birds have a number of blood-feeding parasites, which live in their nests and can bite humans including mites, fleas, ticks, and lice. Fleas will often infest office building carpets and cause biting insect problems.

Bird nests are also good harborage for other insect pests, which eat feathers, droppings and dead birds, but can live off and damage foods and textiles. These insects include carpet beetles, clothes moths, spider beetles, dermestes beetle and booklice.

Many of these pest outbreaks can occur even if the birds leave but nesting and droppings remain so that the insects forage as this food source breaks down.

When birds die inside or near buildings, the bodies can be a breeding site for flies.

PHYSICAL RISKS: The presence of bird infestations can produce foul odours, can deface and damage buildings and be a serious slip hazard when wet. Accumulations of droppings on pavements and fire escapes can result in injuries and complicated legal actions.

The defacement to building appearance can project a poor image to prospective clients particularly if in a food or professional business. Finally should a member of staff or public be unfortunate enough for birds to drop their faeces on them significant distress may be caused.

REMOVAL OF PIGEON CONTAMINATION: Guidance on this state that the following precautions are recommended:

• Personal protective equipment in the form of a disposable one-piece boiler suit with close-fitting hood or collar should be worn.

• Respiratory protective equipment is advised with filter.

• Good personal hygiene measures are essential and should include adequate washing facilities and separate eating facilities.

• The offending material should be removed in such a way as to minimise the amount of dust generated.

• Removed contaminated waste should be bagged and safely disposed of.

• Cleaned contaminated surfaces should be treated to eradicate residual bacteria & insects.

BIRD DETERRENT SYSTEMS Regional Pest Services are fully experienced in the installation of purpose-designed systems to prevent the re-occurrence of bird infestation by building proofing. This may include netting, sprung steel wires, bird spikes and repellent gel. All systems are fully licensed and are designed to not harm birds but to prevent access to the building from them.

Bird Free Fire Gel

At regional pest services we have been trialing an exciting new pigeon proofing product (although it can be use for any bird) called bird free fire gel. The company that develop the gel claim that it has been used in Korea for the past 4 years and it works because to birds the gel looks like fire, to the human eye it simply looks like orange/yellow jelly but to birds which see in ultra violet (UV) it appears to them as fire. To us this seemed like outlandish claims so we decided to trail it on a couple of sites before we recommended to product to customers. To our surprise it WORKED. A customer of ours had a pigeon problem and because the building which had the problem had won awards for design they did not wont any spiking or netting, so we tried the fire gel to see the results, and six months later still no pigeon problem. we also tried it on a site that had a heavier level of infestation, where pigeons where using it as a roosting site and it has worked there too. The Gel is perfect for places where netting or spiking is not possible. It can also used in trees. Its not toxic and can used in all weather conditions, it lasts up to 2 years but other case studies have shown it to still be effective up to 4 years. We would recommend servicing the gel every 2 years it can still be more cost effective than expensive netting. For more information call us on: 01494 410880 or email us at: info@regionalpest.co.uk.
Check out the video link below:

Rise in rodents as weekly rubbish collections drop

Picking are slim for many during the economic downturn but not it seems for rodents. As an increasing number of cash-strapped councils have been forced to cut back on weekly bin collections in the past five years, more than a quarter of households say they have noticed a rise in vermin. One in five homes has been damaged by rodents, such as rats or mice, and pests causing £500million of damage.
The most common was vermin chewing through cables. “The dangers of ignoring a pest problem can be devastating,” said LV home insurance, which commissioned the research.
METRO Friday February 24 2012

Bed bugs treatment

Bed bugs can live anywhere as long as it is cloth, wood and paper. They are usually found on bedrooms for them to feed themselves at night. They are found in cracks and crevices of bed frames. Preparation What you need to do before treatment begins: Remove all bed lining and clothes and wash all at a temperature of at least 60c and place in a sealed plastic bag. Non-clothing items such as shoes, papers, books, suitcases, wooden hangers, DVD’s and CD’s must also be removed and placed in clear plastic bags. Any stuffed toys must be tumbled dried at a high heat. Empty all draws and cupboards to make inspection and treatment easier. The better the preparation the more effective the treatment!! TREATMENT We start by doing thorough inspections of all rooms; this begins with the bedroom and bed. We did a detailed search looking for the signs of bed bugs in all areas. The treatment begins with a water based chemical spray, all cracks and crevices will be treated. Areas where it is not possible to use a water based spray other methods will be used such as aerosols, steam and powders will be used. We recommend any heavily infested beds or mattresses are throw out and burnt if possible. After treatment has taken place do not enter room(s) for at least 1 hour and do not enter rooms that are being treated as the technicians are using chemicals that could be harmful to your health. We recommend a follow up treatment in 2-4 weeks after treatment has taken place. All our technicians are professionally trained and BPCA qualified. For a quote please call us on: 01494 410880 or 01923 205756

Photos of huge rats immune to normal rat poisons in the Milton Keynes area

Rats immune to poison

Two Berkshire towns plagued by rats which have become immune to poison Two towns in Berkshire are suffering a rise in the rat population because vermin have developed near-immunity to standard poisons, pest control experts have warned. Almost all animals used in laboratories either die in testing or are killed at the end of the experiment Photo: GETTY 2:27PM BST 03 May 2009 The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) is calling on the Government to allow the use of more powerful pesticides to contain Britain’s growing rodent population. It is estimated that their numbers have swelled by 13 per cent in the past year to more than 50 million, one for every person living in England. Infestations in some towns and cities have reportedly doubled in the past 12 months. Exeter council has seen a 66 per cent rise in vermin call-outs in 2008, while there was a 40 per cent rise in Salford. The BPCA says the situation has also escalated in two Berkshire towns, which it has not named, because the local rat population is now almost completely resistant to the standard poisons. Oliver Madge, chief executive of the BPCA, said: “We are very concerned about this from a public health point of view.” A Freedom of Information request found Reading Borough Council tackled 428 rodent infestations in homes between April 2008 and January 2009, and 646 between April 2005 and April 2006. Local newspapers there have reported that the town’s ratcatchers are so busy they are facing a three-week backlog. The association will hold talks with the Department of Health this week about what can be done to control the vermin. Pest control experts want the law changed so that two powerful rodenticides, brodifacoum and flocoumafen, can be applied outdoors. Currently their use is only allowed inside properties. Other EU countries allow the use of the powerful poisons outside, but there is concern this endangers birds and pets. Rats and mice are capable of spreading more than 35 diseases, including a fever inducing nausea and muscle aches passed to humans either via a bite or the rodent’s urine. Years of mild winters and wet summers have helped to their population to multiply, as well as the increase in recycling. Mr Madge said: “We are encouraged to recycle, but the rats tunnel under compost and they find it’s nice and warm and they have food.” From the: The Telegraph on wednesday 10 october 2012

Super rats

Plague of mutant ‘super rats’ infests Britain

An increasing number of Britain’s rats are mutating to become immune to commonly sold poisons, scientists have warned.
Yahoo! News – 17/10/2012

Yahoo! News UK – A plague of mutant rats resistant to most poisons have been found in areas of the UK (Image: Rex)An increasing number of Britain’s rats are mutating to become immune to commonly sold poisons, scientists have warned.
Research from Huddersfield University found 75 per cent of rats in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, had built up a resistance to the poisons. The most serious mutations have affected rats in Bath and Wiltshire. Experts say the rise is down to an incorrect use of poisons, where people have used dosages that are too low. Rats which are resistant to the poison are fattened up by the bait, with survivors going on to mate with other resistant rodents.

This allows a generation of rats that are resistant to existing poisons to build up. Dr Dougie Clarke, head of biological sciences at Huddersfield University, said: “Some pest control companies are still using the same rodenticides -Bromadiolone and Difenacoum – in areas where there are resistant rats and things need to change.
“We’re wiping out the normal susceptible rats and we’re going to be left with resistant rats only in this area so alternatives have to be found so we’re not using these poisons.”
Wildlife experts are also concerned about the risk to other animals -especially cats – which may hunt the rats.
Andy Beddows, a rat catcher from Gloucester, said poison inside the rat could be passed on to animals, including birds of prey, which eat the rodents.
He said: “If you’re putting poison down and it’s one of the mutant strain, if it takes a belly full of rodenticide you may as well be giving it sugar puffs.”
The study aims to survey 25 councils across the country and test samples from 600 rats. So far researchers have tested around 300 rats.
Dr Clarke said that all rats in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath could be resistant to poisons within 10 years.

Best of Yahoo! News

Bumble Bee

Bumblebees are social insects: they live in a colony with a queen and her daughters (the workers). Bumblebees have an annual lifecycle, with new nests being started each spring by queens. The queen bumblebees are very large, and from February onwards can be seen feeding on flowers such as willow catkins, bluebells and lungwort, or flying low over the ground searching for a nest site.
Some species prefer to nest underground in abandoned burrows of rodents, while others nest just above the ground in dense grass or leaf-litter. The queen stocks her nest with pollen and nectar, and lays her first batch of eggs. She incubates them much as a bird would, sitting on the eggs while shivering her flight muscles to produce warmth.
When the eggs hatch the legless grubs consume pollen and nectar, grow rapidly, and pupate after a few weeks. A few days later the first workers hatch from their pupae and begin helping their mother, expanding the nest and gathering food. By mid-summer nests of some species can contain several hundred workers. At this point the queen starts laying both male and female eggs.
The females are fed extra food and become future queens. Both males and new queens leave the nest to mate, and the new queens burrow into the ground to wait until the following spring. The males, workers, and the old queen die off in the autumn, leaving the nest to decay.
REMEDY: If at all possible always leave a bumble bee nest alone to thrive as they are rarely aggressive and their presence is actually beneficial for gardeners and their crop. But, If a nest is situated in a hazardous location, removal may be possible rather than destruction.
Professionals have the ability and training remove these. Only if the location of a nest is dangerous and removal not possible should an insecticide be used to destroy the nest.
Pest Information from the British Pest Control Association.

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