Rats are a pest many people fear

Because of their nature and the images they conjure, rats are among the more feared pests that most people are likely to come across. Getting a rat infestation on your property is not a pleasant experience but it is also one that can usually be dealt with quickly and efficiently. The home owner can often tackle the problem by setting traps for rats or even laying poison. However, it is also important to try to avoid attracting rats in the first place and this can be done by making sure that food waste is properly disposed of and that access holes to a property are blocked.

The Natural Cycle

Many of us do not think when we squash or kill unwanted insects and other animals in the house and garden. We squish spiders, drown slugs and get rid of mice like there is no tomorrow with little thought of whether they are actually of benefit to the garden or indeed to the environment.

I guess that they are all useful in their own way, as they are part of the natural cycle of life. They all have to be part of the food chain and are therefore integral to existence. However, I must admit that when it comes to creatures like mice and rats, I forget the food chain and my own priorities take over.

However, of the other insects that we kill without even thinking about it, some of them could just be good for your home and garden. Spiders are pretty grim creatures and yet you have to admit they do keep the flies down in the home.

Worms and ladybirds are also good for the garden and are actively beneficial to the soil.The only poor defenceless creature that I have not found a use for yet is the slug as this just tears through my plants like a locust, but even here we can keep in harmony with the environment by putting up copper defences to keep them away instead of killing them.

In need of deratisation on holiday

I have recently returned from a family holiday in France, and I have to say we had a wonderful time. The hotel we stayed in was superb, and we found it a true home from home. My daughter studies French at school, so she acted as the trip’s official interpreter, bless her.
When we first arrived at the hotel, there was a van parked outside with the word ‘deratisation‘ painted on the side. She told me that meant rat control, so I was a little worried. It turned out the driver was simply there to lay poison, which he did every month or so.

Just inches from chinches

My 18-year-old daughter speaks fluent Spanish, having studied the language for the last few years at school. She even spent a month in Madrid last summer to perfect her skills, and even now she often comes out with a phrase or two at random around the house.
Last weekend, she told my wife and I that there were chinches in her bedroom. We had absolutely no idea of what she was talking about, but she had a serious look on her face, so we knew it wasn’t anything flippant. She then explained she was talking about bedbugs.

Why I called on a traitement termites expert

On holiday in France recently, I had a problem with an insect infestation. My wife and I were staying at a home owned by a work colleague of hers, and it was a very beautiful place. However, we had to call out the ‘traitement termites‘ specialist in the end, because the termites had taken hold of a length of wooden fencing.
It was a very serious issue, of course, and one which needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Thankfully, the experts dealt with it all in a very professional manner, and in no time at all the creatures were eradicated.

Tratamiento madera – protecting wood in Spain

Having lived for several years in Mexico, I can converse very easily in Spanish. It’s just as well, because I was in Spain recently, staying at my father’s holiday home, and there was a major problem with the outside woodwork. I had to call on the tratamiento madera, or wood treatment, specialists.
They came out the next day, and sprayed the entire area with a special solution. I don’t know what it was, to be honest, but I have to say it seemed to do a good job. The trouble has since disappeared, so all is well again.

Calling on the control de plagas specialist

A work colleague of mine has his own holiday home in Spain, and he very generously offered me and my wife the opportunity to stay there for a week recently. And he wouldn’t even take a penny, or a euro, as a thank you. There were problems with cockroaches while we were there, though.
I had to look up control de plagas in the telephone book, because I was told it meant pest control in Spanish. Luckily for me, the people I contacted could speak English, so communication wasn’t a problem. He soon sorted out the problem, thank goodness.

Call the experts when you see a cockroach

I run a small sandwich shop, and I’m almost paranoid about hygiene. I clean every worktop and every implement fastidiously, and I have regular visits from the local pest control expert. I have yet to see any unwanted visitors, apart from the occasional fly, although my neighbour had a cockroach in his kitchen last week.
If I even suspect the presence of one of these horrible creatures, I will be on the phone straight away. I don’t think it will happen, however, because as well as being so obsessed with cleanliness I also have plenty of traps laid down.

How to get rid of roaches the easy way

My wife is terrified of insects, so over the years I’ve spent a lot of time and effort to keep her away from even seeing them. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve managed to do so most of the time. Her worst nightmare of all is the cockroach, and recently I saw one in our kitchen.
I found out how to get rid of roaches on the Internet, and managed to do just that without her even being aware that we’d had one in the house. If she had seen it, I think her screams would have been heard a mile away!

Why chinches ruined my holiday

My wife and I have recently returned from a holiday in Spain, and apart from one major issue it went very well. The only drawback was a problem with bed bugs, which decided that I was some kind of buffet dinner for them to peck at every night. I complained to the hotel receptionist, but her English, and my Spanish, weren’t good.
I told her we had chinches in the room, but my accent may have thrown her. That’s the Spanish word for bed bugs, and eventually she got the message and called in the local pest control experts.