Pest Control Dorset from Pest Wright Pest Management.

Cluster flies

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Leave a comment

Its that time of year when the cluster flies start to become a nuisance again. The adults live harmlessly out of doors through the summer, but start to enter buildings, usually lofts and roof spaces and also through gaps in windows, in the autumn to hibernate, quite often in large numbers. The adult fly lays its eggs on damp soil and vegetation, when they hatch the larvae bore into an earthworm and feed on it until it dies, at which time they bore back out and pupate in the soil.

To get the best results from treatments it is best to wait until there has been a hard frost as this will force most of the flies indoors, but if the infestation is very bad you may want to consider earlier treatment with a second treatment when it is colder.

moles

Posted on March 2, 2013 by Leave a comment

Over the last few years the mole population has increased dramatically, this is thought to be partly due to the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, when farmland was out of bounds to mole catchers, and the removal of strychnine as an approved poison for mole control in 2006.

In gardens most mole damage is aesthetic, but their tunnelling in borders can cause valuable plants to wilt and die, and I have seen rows of vegetables and fruit destroyed by mole tunnels.

In farmland, however, the damage can be more serious. If silage is contaminated by the soil from mole hills it can be spoilt, and when eaten by livestock can cause listeriosis, which can lead to the death of the animal. Expensive machinery can also be damaged by soil and stones pushed up by moles.

Nowadays it is considered that the traditional use of traps is the most humane and effective method of mole control.

 

Otters

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Leave a comment

As the number of otters in the wild increases dramatically, so does the risk of them preying on valuble collections of Koi carp in private ponds. Although the otter is fully protected by law it is possible to erect electric fencing to keep them away from the water.