Bay Pest Services owner-operator Chris Brunel offers insight into how you can be your own pest controller. Photo / File
Bay Pest Services owner-operator Chris Brunel offers insight into how you can be your own pest controller. Photo / File
Bay Pest Services owner-operator Chris Brunel has had more than 30 years of experience and has passed on some words of wisdom of how to deal with pests in lockdown.
Most creepy crawlies don't warrant a call to the pest controller during lockdown but a few words of advice froman expert can help you out in the meantime.
Pest control is only partly an essential service, meaning they respond to dangerous situations such as a large wasp nest or a rat infestation, which could result in fire from chewed wires.
But that's not to say there would be none and for non-life-threatening pests, as unpleasant as they may seem, you're on your own.
The biggest prevention tip from the controller with more than 30 years of experience was to ensure all pets were up-to-date with their flea treatments.
Fleas, often brought in the home by household pets, had a tendency to infect carpets and multiply rapidly.
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"That doesn't warrant an emergency callout from a pest controller, so you'd be living with them for the duration of the lockdown," he warned.
Gisborne cockroaches, one of the larger cockroaches between 20mm and 45mm, are one of Brunel's most common callouts.
"People are really freaked out by them," he said, adding that they could not help with this problem during lockdown.
He said bringing in firewood was a big contributor to roaches inside the house and off-the-shelf products could help.
Spraying the firewood, the area it is stored and the area in your house you will put it helped keep numbers down, as well as the edges of entranceways such as doors and windows as a precaution.
Rodents made up a large portion of their callouts, with calls every day.
Bay Pest Services' Chris Brunel near the monster wasp nest near Rotorua last year. Photo / File
"They're turning up in their hundreds."
This was down to reduced rubbish and food in the CBD and fewer people around which would normally frighten them off.
