Pest complaints on the rise in East Renfrewshire

The councils says that in recent weeks, it has started to receive an increase in pest complaints.

It usually experiences a slight increase of activity at this time of year, but it believes some of the increased reports at the moment may be due to the ongoing pandemic.

Some of the reasons for this include:

• Pest Control companies have had to scale back their response to treat only emergency and urgent call outs;

• The good weather has meant more work in our gardens, possibly disturbing field mice and nests;

• The increase in pedestrians and cyclists activity may have increased the number of sightings in local streets;

• The reduced use of car parks and some community land may have given rodents the peace and quiet to breed and establish a hold in areas where they traditionally would have been disturbed or would be spotted and treated accordingly.

An update on the pest control service posted on the council’s website says: “Whilst we’re aware this is a worrying time for our residents, we hope to provide a limited but high quality pest control service while ensuring the health and safety of our customers.

“All routine/non-emergency contract visits have been suspended. However, we’ll leave baits and traps in place to ensure you have a level of pest control protection.”

The council added that its pest control contractor is continuing to help by treating infestations affecting the inside of properties and is also treating heavily impacted garden areas, or a wider area infestation affecting a large number of neighbouring gardens.

The council also recommended that if residents do have concerns about isolated incidences or sightings affecting their garden area then it may be advisable to consider the option to self-treat the problem using products available in hardware stores.

Further advice can be given by East Renfrewshire Council’s Environmental Health Team by emailing [email protected]