Rapid Pest Control

A turkey is for life not just Christmas

December 11, 2011 By GrahamChapple 1 Comment

IMG 7888 A turkey is for life not just Christmas

This week we have been very busy, but not too busy to save a few waifs and strays along the way!

As most of you will know, we have collection of weird and wonderful creatures – we are a pretty soft touch for a story and end up with everybody’s left overs.

So this week, we did have an influx of calls from customers who wanted to get rid for some birds….so our collection grew somewhat.

Firstly, I get a call from a gamekeeper friend who needed to get rid of of some guinea fowl – they either went to people who wanted them or they were destined for the pot. I love the sound of guinea fowl in Africa so I thought we would have a few to see how we got on…we ended up with 10!

The next call was from a customer with a small holding who has had terrible problems with rats and foxes, so much so that they were reducing all livestock to a bare minimum. The foxes had killed all the female turkeys and all the female ducks, so this customer just had males now – not a good breeding strategy! The options were to kill them but they are all too old to eat and would just end up being buried, so I thought we could look after them as well!

The poor, ever suffering Karen just shook her head when I appeared with all this lot, on top of the guinea fowl!

Now turkeys are pretty big birds and quite a handful to catch etc. They are really strong and go a bit mental when you grab them, so catching them was interesting to say the least, but even more fun was letting them out back at home. As soon as the cage was opened, they all flew out in all directions! You cannot imagine that anything so big could actually fly. Later on, after they had settled down, I went out to see if everything was OK, only to discover they had made it on top of the very high shed roof!

Our mornings are now filled with the sounds of Africa and the sounds of god knows what as these turkeys kick off too – they don’t half make a racket!

Our menagerie now consists of lots of assorted chickens, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, ducks, ferrets, tortoises and 3 dogs – Not to mention the kids as well…give me strength! Luckily, we managed not to take the pigs and goats we were offered recently – Karen drew the line at that!

At least they now have a fighting chance to live out the rest of their lives in relative peace, rather than just being killed and buried. Turkeys are just ugly, but already they are quite tame now and come when called for food. They seem to be enjoying it all here!

Filed Under: Bird Control, Newbury Tagged With: Berkshire, Bird Control, Bird Exclusion, Newbury, pest control

Watch out for wasps in Xmas decorations

December 1, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

This year, November has seen a rash of calls for wasp problems. Our unusually mild weather has allowed nests to still continue to thrive as we have had no real frosts to kill off the nests.

Most people never go into the loft, except to get or store Christmas decorations, so as soon as they open the loft up, wasps appear. These wasps are still capable of delivering a nasty sting or too – they are confused and usually quite aggressive as the nest is in total decay now and they really should all be dead, so are defending whats left to the end.

One problem is that they have probably crawled into bags and boxes looking for food and to the unsuspecting house owner are now a danger to the kids.

This week we have attended several wasp nest removal jobs where the nest is highly active. Loft spaces seem to be much warmer than normal. One nest we removed was actually built in and under thick insulation, which proved quite a handful as the wasps attacked without mercy.

So before you get the Christmas decorations out of the loft, check that there are no wasps buzzing about – just switch a light on or leave the hatch open for 5 minutes to see if there is any activity. If so, call Rapid Pest Control now so we can deal with it for you.

Also, when unboxing the decorations, go slowly and carefully, looking for any signs of wasps, especially before the kids start helping you with it.

Filed Under: Wasp Control Tagged With: Berkshire, Newbury, pest control, Wasp Control, Wasp Nest Removal, Wasp Stings, Wasps, Wasps Nest

Using Ferrets for Rabbit Control

November 15, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

With winter moving ever closer, it is an ideal time to deal with rabbit control using ferrets. With the leaves dropping off the trees and the undergrowth suffering it’s first proper frost, rabbits now will move from summer runs (usually in bushes on top of ground) to winter burrows in the ground.

Whilst people often see rabbits running into holes during the summer, they only do this for protection, preferring to spend time above ground – doing what rabbits do best – eating and breeding. In the winter however, they go to ground as the temperatures are stable and conserve energy. That’s when ferreting is at its best.

The process of using ferrets for rabbit control is quite simple:

Clear all the holes of debris
Place Purse nests over the holes
Put 1 or 2 ferrets in the burrow
Stand back and keep quite
Dive on the rabbits when the ferrets “bolt” them out of the holes
Dispatch the rabbit, re-net the hole and repeat until no more rabbits are in the burrow

Some people do not bother with nets and use shotguns or lurchers to catch the rabbits, however we only do this as a last resort if clearing holes cannot be done due to serious obstruction (like walls or fences etc).

The key thing is to understand ferret and rabbit behavior – and keep quite too once the ferret is in the hole. The term bolt means exactly that. A rabbit will come out of a hole at full pelt and if netting will tangle up for just enough time to get it. When shooting or using dogs, the rabbit has a greater chance of getting away – not what we are there to do – we must eliminate the pest problem that rabbits cause and not do it for the pure sport.

Ferreting is still one of the most effective ways of clearing rabbits from an area – both in terms of cost and efficiency. If there is a rabbit in the burrow, it will be caught and killed – simple.

Handling ferrets is also a skill, they get very excited and want to work, so getting hold of one carefully and talking to them all the time is essential so they do not bite you – nothing likes being grabbed at or flinched at – doing this puts them on edge and will result in timid ferrets which bite.

Today, we were working on a country estate in Newbury. We had a new helper for a while, their gardener, so he was not really used to handling ferrets. After giving instruction and a demo of how to do it, he was let loose to do his best. Unfortunately, our young ferrets are a bit of a handful and once they got a bit excited, sure enough Matt got bitten – not once but 3 times…I think he gets it now! Fair play to him, after he stopped squealing like a girl (which excited the ferrets more!), he did settle down and did well.

ferretbite 1024x576 Using Ferrets for Rabbit Control

A ferret bite - note the 4 teeth marks - ouch!

So if you have a horse paddock, filed or garden, or on a large scales are a farmer with a rabbit problem, contact Rapid Pest Control now for a quote for dealig with your rabbit problem and a rabbit clearance.

Filed Under: Agricultural pests, Ferrets and Ferreting, pest control, Rabbit Control, Vermin control Tagged With: Agricultural pests, Berkshire, Ferrets, Newbury, pest control

First outing with the Ferrets

October 30, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

It is always a problem to know when to start the ferreting season. There are many factors which will determine the start point and to have all these factors lined up is the ideal start time, however the pressure to start rabbit control for clients is pushing the season start date closer to mid October.

This year, with the cold snap from mid October, we decided that now is the right time.

So, I hear you ask, what are these factors?

As I said there are lots, but we usually use a few guidelines to make the decision.

Firstly, where are the rabbits? Are the still above ground and not using the burrows for protection from the weather? There is no point in going to loads of effort clearing burrows of brambles etc if the rabbits are still running around you.
If they are underground, will they “bolt” (this is the term used for rabbits running out of the hole when a ferret is put in)?
Has there been sufficient cold to flatten down the undergrowth, allowing us to find the holes – they always bolt from the holes you did not find of course!
Are the ferrets fit and ready? They have to work hard and get pretty bashed about by a large buck rabbit when they get up to them.
Are the rabbits seen all adults? You spend the day digging out the ferrets if they kill young part grown rabbits.

The list does go on, but at the end of the day, ferreting is one of the most effective ways of dealing with rabbit problems and controlling rabbits.

I remember as a kid, Grandad used to wake up one morning and declare the season open – we would then rush to get ready and be out of the door! We used to load the bicycles up with all the gear (Grandad did not drive) and off we would go for the day.

I always remember being freezing cold, but in those days the cold weather was a bit more predictable I think! Grandad always knew it was the right time and we used to catch 20 – 30 rabbits in a morning – hooking them onto the crossbars of the bikes and riding home, arriving totally exhausted with all the extra weight, but that was a good source of income and our pocket money sorted for the week.

This week we started with a small job in Newbury – a garden has become the home for many rabbits over the years and despite all attempts to rid the problem by the owners, it was time to call in the rabbit control experts – Rapid Pest Control!

Once we located and cleared the first burrow, we netted up and popped in one of the older ferrets – the first rabbit was in the net within seconds! Now this garden did have some challenges – not least of all the 6 foot fence and old crumbling wall which meant that we had to keep passing things to and fro over the fence and making things very awkward.

With such established burrows, it is difficult to work out the hole patterns and routes, but once the ferrets go in, you can track their progress with the radio collar – in some cases the holes went down over 12 feet – a bit scary if you have to dig that deep!

Anyway, this opened the season and tested the ferrets nicely – so all in all a successful day.

If you do have a rabbit problem in the Newbury area, call Rapid Pest Control now so we can sort it for you.

Filed Under: Agricultural pests, Ferrets and Ferreting, Rabbit Control Tagged With: Agricultural pests, pest control, Rabbit Control

A bit of fun with the ferrets

September 25, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

Yesterday, Adam of Adam Hillier Photography, decided to run a “bring your pets up” photo shoot. Rather than take up the dogs, he asked me to bring up the tortoises. I thought we could go one better than that so took the ferrets up as well!

Whilst strictly not pets, they are kind of cute and we use them a lot for rabbit control. The thing with ferrets is they are so active, so getting them to stay still for a second would be a challenge – especially when there are four of them together…I just wanted Adam to have a challenge on his hands.

To get things warmed up, Adam shot the tortoises first. People do not believe they are so quick so once put on the floor they both sped off in different directions. After about 10 minutes, he did get a few very nice shots.

Then the real fun began. Firstly I gave a bit of a warning – they can bite. Whilst they are handled a lot, making them easier to work later in the year, they do get over excited and will nip – it doesn’t hurt but its their way of saying “put me down”. So seeing be get nipped a few times made Laura, Adam’s assistant, very nervous of them.

So for the first shot, getting them all in a group and seeing what happens….yea right! As soon as you put them down they all shot of in every direction, diving under cupboards, in background tubes, under chairs…you name it! After 10 minutes or so, Adam did manage to get a few shots…none that could be used though.

Plan B was to do a few individual shots…anybody who has had a ferret before will know this wont happen either…

One really funny moment was when Adam was laying on the floor, the ferret was in position and then it ran directly at the camera and stuck its nose right onto the lens, leaving a very snotty imprint – very funny indeed to see Adam leaping about so as not to get bitten!

So for pest control services, got to Rapid Pest Control’s website, and for great portrait, wedding or pet photography go to Adam Hillier Photography.

Anyway, he got some really great shots in the end and some lovely pics of other more behaved pets - check them out here

Filed Under: Ferrets and Ferreting, pest control, Rabbit Control Tagged With: Ferrets, pest control, Rabbit Control

Bird Prevention in the most foul weather

September 7, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

On Tuesday, we had the most awful weather – made us think it was winter rather than the tail end of the summer (I guess summer was the 2 nice weeks in April!).

Luckily, I had planned a bird exclusion and bird prevention job INSIDE 2 large storage barns! Now normally we working in most weather, but if we had been doing this bird proofing job from the outside, we would definitely have postponed this - for both safety and sanity reasons.

Bird exclusion and bird proofing is a tricky one – birds are quite clever and very much creatures of habit, so keeping them out of a building that has been home for some time can be problematic. As we arrived, several birds were inside the pitch black building – the only light was from the ventilation slots high in the roof – the birds normal entry point.

So the first job was to eliminate any birds still trapped inside, and scare them out. The second job was to get all the expensive cars out of each building – these buildings are being used to store some pretty classy cars, so birds pooing all over them and setting the alarms off pretty much everyday was becoming somewhat of a nuisance – hence the bird exclusion was required.

During our survey, we assessed that no eggs or chicks were present in the various nests scattered around the buildings, so we knew we could just get stuck into the job without having a problem like this to deal with.

Our strategy in dealing with this problem was quite simple – block the ventilation chambers with mesh, so air could still circulate, but making sure the birds could not get in again. With such tall buildings and the shear amount of vents that needed to be secured, the only possible solution was a very large cherry picker lift. We have successfully used cherry pickers to perform this type of project many times, so its all pretty routine. The only difference today was the incredible wind speed, which would certainly have prevented us using the cherry picker if we were outside due to safety reasons.

Simon is very experienced in using these devices, so took over the role of driver, leaving me to worry about getting the netting in place, securing it and sealing the vents. Each building had about 60 outlets to cover, so it was a slow process, but with careful driving and teamwork, we cracked on at good speed, despite working at high level over some very expensive cars.

So what could have been a total disastrous day, turned out to be a really productive day in the dry – and another happy customer with no birds in their buildings!

If you have a bird problem or require bird exclusion to keep birds away from buildings etc, call Rapid Pest Control on Newbury 01635 247192 or contact us here now.

Here is a few shots from the day:

Filed Under: Bird Control, Pest Prevention Tagged With: Agricultural pests, Berkshire, Bird Control, Bird Exclusion, Bird Proofing, Newbury, pest control

Bed Bug jobs on the increase

August 30, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

Bed Bugs - eggs and faeces

I am not sure whether its because people are travelling at this time of year or just one of those things, but we are getting an increasing number of calls regarding bed bug problems over the last month.

The increase in bed bug cases are highly publicized at the moment – especially with travelers coming in from USA and Far East, but it is not just these places you need to be careful of. Recently, we had a few nights in London with some friends over from South Africa and we checked into one of these low cost fast turnaround hotels as it was cheap and close to the show we wanted to see.

Our friends thought I must have been mad, but on arrival at the room, I did a quick bed bug inspection…just a habit I suppose … but the last thing I wanted to do was bring back any un-invited guests from London!

The thing is, we all just let our guard down when we go away, even just for a few nights, then pay the price later. How many of you have been away, come home and just throw the suitcases and coats etc on the bed and unpack? Yes, we all do it, but thats all it can take to spread this most resourceful of parasites into your home.

I always give the same advice to anybody traveling – even in our own country.

Firstly, spray your cases inside and out with a 50% DEET mosquito spray (available from Boots for sure). Bed bugs hate this and will stay away from anything covered in DEET. Also spray your coats and jackets etc – I know it smells bad but better that than me turning up on your door step to take your bedrooms apart!

Also, when you return, don’t take the cases upstairs. Unpack in the kitchen when you have a hard floor and can see anything that might fall out or crawl out – shake your clothes out and wash them straight away - don’t put them in the wash basket. Then take your cases outside to the garage and spray them again, leaving them out there over night if you can.

Also, wash everything on as high as possible – most machines do not wash at 40 C (which really is the magic number) they are usually about 35 C so if you can go to 60 C then all the better.

Dealing with bed bugs is not a pleasant experience for anybody (including us) and it is highly disruptive and intrusive to your life, so prevention is always better than cure. Also attempting to deal with bed bugs on your own is not a good idea – the off the shelf products are almost entirely useless and unless you know the processes to go through, you will almost certainly end up with the problem again – so just call in the experts like Rapid Pest Control sooner rather than later.

If you think you have a bed bug problem, call Newbury 01635 247192 now or contact us here.

Filed Under: Bed Bugs, pest control, Pest Prevention Tagged With: Bed Bugs, Newbury, pest control

Using Wasp Traps to capture unwanted visitors

August 12, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

With the Wasp nest season in full swing now, and the kids being on school holidays, you really should be sorting out any wasp nests you have – they will be very obvious now with lots of activity – and putting some precautions like wasp traps up to avoid wasps being a nuisance around areas the kids play or where you are eating.

I am sure you have all seen the jam jar traps – as kids we used to make them and stick them all around the garden. They do work to some extent, but they are by no means as effective as a professionally designed wasp trap.

This week we were called in to deal with a large wasp problem at a local family entertainment attraction where there were lots of wasps causing havoc. This attraction offers lots of activities and of course food and drinks for all. Several customer’s children had been stung, so we sprang into action to deal with the problem straight away.

Firstly, we located 3 nests very quickly. These were pretty big ones and with the danger to the public fully in mind, we used a very powerful aerosol wasp killer, with very strong knock-down and killing properties to render the nests harmless as quickly as possible. Normally we only use this chemical in old people’s homes or in schools, but this situation called for it.

We also deployed some large commercial wasp traps called WaspBane Traps. These have been designed to last a whole season, but usually you only deploy them when the wasps start to look for carbohydrates rather than protein food they need to feed the queen to assist in egg production. As this year has been a bit early, time is now right to do this now.

waspbane trap Using Wasp Traps to capture unwanted visitors

Commercial Wasp Trap

These traps have a specially formulated attractant which is irresistible to wasps, especially when mixed with lager and honey too! As the fluid warms up, the aroma can be smelt by humans a good few feet away, so to wasps its like the M4 drawing them in!

We returned the next day to check our placement of traps and also to look for more wasp nests further afield. This means walking the banks and hedgerows, and looking in all the buildings. We also follow wasp activity until we find the source – a time consuming but essential activity if you want to rid the area of wasp nests. This proved highly successful and we found a further 5 nests, all dealt with after the public had gone home so removing any potential danger to them.

Rapid Pest Control not only sell commercial WaspBane wasp trap units, we also sell smaller domestic wasp traps and various attractants which you can buy off us online or just call to purchase on Newbury 01635 247192. These are essential for every garden so you can eat in peace and not have wasps buzzing around you and the family.

dome trap Using Wasp Traps to capture unwanted visitors

Domestic Dome Trap

Call Rapid Pest Control now for wasp traps and advice on using wasp traps and finding wasps nests. We always recommend wasp nests are destroyed by professionals only – the health risks are just not worth it to do it yourself. Call Newbury 01635 247192 now for wasp traps.

Filed Under: Wasp Control Tagged With: pest control, Wasp Control, Wasp Nest Removal, Wasp Traps, Wasps, Wasps Nest

Bee Swarm Removal – The Natural Way

August 4, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

A Large Bee Swarm

Earlier on this year, we received a lot of calls regarding bee swarms. These can be pretty scary and everything happens really quickly, which does cause some concern.

So what causes all this activity? Basically, this is how bee colonies become established and is part of the cycle of life of a bee. As a colony grows, it produces more queens, which decide to leave the main colony to form a new one. As the queens emerge, a number of worker bees or followers chase the queen and form a new swarm. Some of these followers are sent out to find a suitable place in which to create a new colony – this can be a hole in a tree, a crack in a wall, under a roof space or worst still a chimney.

Whilst these scouts are out looking for a new home, the queen may settle in a bush to rest. She is immediately protected by the workers who form a living protective layer around her of bodies. These can hang off the most small of bushes, washing lines, bird tables – you name it one can be anywhere. Once the scouts return with information on a suitable spot, the swarm will lift and fly off once more. Quite often you see large clouds of bees just flying around in the sky, just waiting to land.

The problems occur when a swarm takes a fancy to a chimney. Unless moved on, it will be there for good and cost a lot of money to remove in time to come.

beeswarm 2 Bee Swarm Removal The Natural Way

20,000 bees can be quite daunting

I work with several bee keepers to remove swarms, but one of the best is Mark Luckhurst. Mark is from Kenta so is used to dealing with African Bees – far more aggressive and dangerous to our UK native bee. I like working with Mark because he practices natural bee keeping – unlike some who “force” the bees to produce honey (and this really is reflected in the taste of the honey and the health of the bees).

One such swarm we were called to this year was perfect to film, so I though I would share this with you.

Firstly, you need to get everything ready – if you are fully prepared then it will go smoothly. The collection box was assembled, the smoker was lit and ready and the suits were all on. First job was to remove the outer branches so we could get the collector directly under the swarm. Then Mark got me to place the collector under the swarm and slowly move it over the mass of bees. Once in position, Mark gave the branch a smart tap and the whole lot fell into the collector box. 20,000 bees is surprisingly heavy, and they literally swarmed all around us – I could not actually see anything as they were all over my visor – and the noise was also deafening!

Once the majority of bees were in the collector, we placed the lid on and stood back to let the swarm get the scent of the queen and follow her in. After about an hour or so, nearly all the bees were in and the entrance was sealed, ready to transport them to a new home.

beeswarm 3 Bee Swarm Removal The Natural Way

Last few bees in the collector

Happy bees produce higher quality honey and I am looking forward to getting a few jars later in the autumn.

Swarming usually lasts about 4 weeks and generally starts in May or June but you still get some in July, so if you do come across a swarm, just leave it alone and call Rapid Pest Control on 01635 247192 to get rid of your bee swarm naturally.

Filed Under: Bees Tagged With: Bee Swarm Removal, Berkshire, Newbury, pest control

A Good time of year to control Wood Pigeons

August 2, 2011 By GrahamChapple Leave a Comment

Simon & Jasmin with wood pigeons shot over Oil seed rape

One of the many agricultural pests we deal with are Wood Pigeons. These wily adversaries are highly adaptable and very difficult to keep off of crops.

They have almost super-hero eyesight and are extremely cautious of anything new placed on a flight path or in a field where they are feeding and always seem to be just out of range!

There are a few times of year when you can really get to grips with controlling wood pigeons; at harvest, at roost in February or March, then in bad weather and snow at any time – especially on Oil seed Rape sprouts.

Last week, we were called to one farm where we do regular work to go and shoot over oil seed Rape stubble which had just been harvested. This farm seems to be plagued with wood pigeons, and the farmer wanted to get a few shot before ploughing up the field, so it gave me an opportunity to introduce Simon to shooting wood pigeons over decoys.

This method of shooting is one of the most used, basically, you set up a number of “dummy plastic pigeons” called pigeon decoys about 25 – 30 meters out from your chosen shooting area (these are chosen with lots of factors in mind – pigeon shooting is all about observation and looking for the feeding habits of the Wood Pigeon). You then erect a “hide”, a structure that basically hides you from sight, which can be made from natural materials or camouflage netting etc – ususally in a hedgerow – then you settle down to wait.

The next 30 minutes or so will determine who the day will go – the pigeons will either spook and fly off – then something is wrong, or they become suicidal and fly into the decoy pattern (takes years of trial and error to work this out). If things are not right, you have to make adjustments, if you get it right – prepare yourself for loads of action!

Shooting is done by using shotguns – generally 12 bore with a specially designed cartridge to maximize the killing effect – wood pigeons are very hard to kill. I have been pigeon shooting since I was about 8 years old with my grandad and his friends, so for Simon this was a new and very exciting experience.

After the first few shots, he managed to calm down and think about the shot (anybody who has been pigeon shooting will understand what I mean!), then results started to come. We try to average 1 in 3 shots, but beginners usually average anything up to 1 in 10! I was on standby to take out a few when Simon missed, so our average was maintained nearer the 1 in 4 zone…but next time he will be more confident.

Anyway, it was a great introduction to a different way of controlling Wood Pigeons and Simon did really well. The trusted Jasmin was on hand to pick up any dead or find any wounded so we can dispatch them quickly and a few hours produced a reasonable amount.

The by product is of course some beautiful plump wood pigeon – a real favorite of mine, so then Simon got a lesson in pigeon plucking and dressing as well! As normal, we share the bounty with our local farmer so he was very happy too – cant wait until next time really!

So if you have a farm and want to take advantage of this time of year to control your wood pigeon, contact Rapid Pest Control now or call Newbury 01635 247192

Filed Under: Bird Control Tagged With: Agricultural pests, pest control, Wood Pigeons, working dogs