City health officers record huge increases in Pest Infestations
Posted By admin on December 19, 2012
Figures for cockroaches, beetles, ants and flies are also up in most cities. Leeds has a particular problem with earwigs. But perhaps the most unusual sight has been the abundance of wasps which have normally disappeared by October. Newcastle dealt with 26 wasps’ nests last month, more than double the number in the three months from October to December last year.
According to pest controllers there has been a gradual increase in household pests for a number of years. Peter Bateman, director of Rentokil, described all the creatures you could find in a normal house. Wasps, beetles, mites and lice often enter through loose tiles on the roof or a gap in an outside wall. Earwigs come in through open windows and stay on pot plants. If a house is damp or badly ventilated there may be bed bugs – flat, brown, ladybird-sized creatures which bite – in the mattress and silverfish under the carpet or behind torn wallpaper. Fleas, moths and ‘woolly bears’, or carpet beetles, attack soft furnishings, carpets and wolly clothes.
Cockroaches are a problem near sinks and at the back of fridges, where it is warm. Booklice and beetles are found in food cupboards, and mice tend to nest in cavity walls or the cupboard under the stairs. For more reference on how to control pests at home you can read http://tailoryourhome.com/how-does-riddex-work/.
Central heating and fitted carpets have long been blamed for the increase in household bugs. But a change in the public’s attitude to pests is also blamed by the British Pest Control Association. Its president, Jonathan Peck, said people wrongly considered fleas and bugs a thing of the past, particularly in the south where the pest problem is most acute.
‘There must be an awareness that pests must be controlled. In the United States hotels will put up signs saying ‘This room has been disinfected’ which would horrify the British, but delights the Americans, because they know their room is clean.’
This autumn has not just seen an increase in the common flea: more exotic bugs are turning up in ever great numbers. Instances of the crazy ant, Roger’s ant and the brown-banded cockroach from the southern United States have been treated this year. Most arrive on baggage or in the holds of aircraft.
These tropical insects tend to nest in large buildings with centralised heating systems. In the London borough of Tower Hamlets five estates of high-rise flats have become heavily infested with Pharaoh’s ants. Changes in the weather will not kill them once they have established themselves, as they live in the heating ducts where the temperature is constantly high.
‘It is very extensive’, said Nigel Ray, the principal environmental health officer. ‘There are areas of the borough which are virtually running alive. We are not expecting to see a decline this winter.’
But the bugs are not all bad news. At Cambridge University researchers feared a dearth of cat fleas and lice following the dreadful summer. Now Dr John Maunder, director of the Medical Entymology Centre, can be confident of having enough subjects for study.
You can also visit us at http://tailoryourhome.com to read about the latest tips on how to effectively rid your house of pests.
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