Common Cockchafer
If you venture outside in the evenings at this time of year and conditions are right you may well be bumped into by a large beetle known as a “May Bug” or “June Bug”! They are in fact the Common Cockchafer, (Melolontha melolontha), meaning big beetle and they belong to the Scarab family of beetles. Adults can grow to 30mm long and have distinctive white coloured triangles along their sides with hairy brown bodies and orange coloured antennae which resembles a fan. It is the antennae that enable the males to track females at night by detecting pheromones. The adults will only live...
Read MoreWasps and Wasp Control in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Ringwood and Verwood.
If you think that by living in towns like Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch or Ringwood that you will be immune from experiencing wasps and their nests, think again! The wasp is highly adaptable at setting up home in the most unusual and unlikely places. The common wasp is a highly sociable insect living in colonies containing a single queen wasp and many workers (females) and drones (males) and is recognisable by its yellow and black stripes. In some extreme cases one colony can consist of a nest with up to 10,000 individuals! The fear of wasps is known as spheksophobia.The queen wasp builds...
Read MoreWeather Damage
With the mild weather, heavy rain, very strong winds and storms lately, our properties are suffering the effects. Even if our properties have not been directly affected, neighbouring areas could still be waterlogged causing displacement of animals including rodents or moles. It is worth just spending a few moments looking around your house or building to see if any damage has been done by the elements. It may be that nothing has been damaged by the winds, but if a roof tile has been dislodged or an air brick damaged it could lead to unwanted “guests” like mice or rats, birds or...
Read MoreGrey Squirrel – Pest Control
Grey Squirrels were originally introduced from America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and since then have spread widely and today they are a well-known feature of parks, gardens and woodland especially in Poole, Bournemouth and surrounding areas, producing different reactions amongst the general public and while many people enjoy seeing and feeding them, others see them as nothing more than tree rats. They are certainly very entertaining by their very nature of being extremely agile, but they remain a serious pest, not only to forestry but to homes and buildings too,...
Read MoreBritish Summer Time
With Easter now gone, we are into British summer time and can expect warmer weather, that is if nature responds and the sun eventually comes out for longer periods. At this time of year animals are busy setting up homes to increase their numbers and already the signs are there that this is happening. Birds in particular are busy and without foliage on bushes and trees, they can be seen building nests in various locations. Rooks and crows are evident in wooded areas and even garden birds, like the Robin, have had nests in a couple of gardens I have visited locally. Seagulls are pairing off and...
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