Urban myths dispelled - rats on the rampage

Has anyone ever told you that you are never more than six feet away from a rat? If so, do not believe them. This scare tactic is one we don't use to terrify our client's at Pest Purge. There may sometimes seem like a lot of the furry critters around but the reality is that there are not millions of them living near us and they are rarely as close as six feet away. They generally roam up to about 200m from their lairs, quite often their territory is even less distance than this. As long as they have somewhere to kip down, some nice tucker and a cool glass of Pinot they are happy. If you want to get rid of rats quickly, take away their Pinot, or their prawn and marie rose sauce sandwiches. This will really wind them up and they are likely to up sticks and clear off down the road in search of the next free meal. Keep rats at bay by doing some sensible spring cleaning, get your waste management sorted out, keep foodstuffs locked away and any bin areas nice and clean and tidy. They flourish in waste and mess, the cleaner we all are the less chance they have of becoming established. Another urban myth you may want to laugh at relates to 'critter fritter' a customer who picks up some fried chicken from a fast food outlet discovers that an unusual tasting piece is actually a batter-fried rat. Chomp chomp, too late, ha ha I hear you say. My local supplier has always been superb - does anyone fancy some southern fried rat? finger licking good!

Wasps and bats - unlikely bedfellows

Quite often we visit old buildings, at the owners request to sort out a wasp nest or two. Once we get into a loft space we have to survey the area, checking out nooks and crannies for our guests. The species we often find, living with the wasps and spiders are bats. So far we have 18 species in the UK (17 breed here), they range from the tiny pipistrelle, weighing in at around 5g (less than a £1 coin!), to our biggest bat, the noctule - which is still smaller than the palm of your hand! The key thing to note about bats is that they are protected, in theory they are safer that the Queen herself (God bless her). You may not disturb bats, harm them, capture them, handle them, move or remove them (dead or alive) or interfere or damage their roosts. These little creatures are a big "no-no" as far as pest controllers are concerned. If you commit a bat crime, chances are you will be prosecuted and beheaded on the spot. No chance of getting rid of your wasps with bats around. Protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) they are a wonderful part of our wildlife and biodiversity. We love bats, we dislike wasps and if they are both shacked up together they must all be left in peace - even the spiders!