Pest Control & Fumigation Southern Peninsula

If you reside anywhere in the Southern Peninsula Area anywhere between Fishoek, Glencairn, Noordhoek, Kommetjie, Muizenberg and beyond all the way to Lakeside in the Southern Suburbs and have a pest problem that needs immediate professional attention, look no further. We are a private pest control company that services the entire Cape Town Southern Suburbs and surrounding areas.

We offer a professional pest control service in the Southern Peninsula. Our services include all crawling and biting insects and all rodent species including moles.

We also Our Pest control services in the Southern Peninsula includes the following:

1. Rodent control (Rats and Mice)
2. Cockroach control (All species)
3. Ant Eradication
4. Mole Control
5. Biting Insects (Fleas, Bed bugs, Mites)
6. General Fumigation of Interior and Exterior Perimeter for maintenance
7. Drain Fumigation for control of (American Cockroaches)

Do you have a pest control problem in Cape Town that you urgently want to get rid of? Are you hearing strange scratching noises in your roof at night? Does your kitchen crawl with cockroaches? Is something biting you at night while you sleep?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to consult with us immediately,

Below is a more detailed explanation of the pest control services and procedures.

Our operational approach and methodology to eradicate your pests permanently and safely without leaving a damaging biological footprint is our main priority. Our fumigation & eradication services have yielded excellent results in the following environments:

• Domestic Properties
• Hotels & BnB’s
• Kitchens & Pubs
• Restaurants
• Dorms & Backpackers
• Daycare centers
• Shopping centers
• Hospitals
• Security Complexes & Estates

Now lets look a bit closer into the various common insect and pest problems most people face and how we go about eradicating them.

How To get rid of Cockroaches

Cockroaches can be divided into 3 predominant species in Cape Town. German Cockroaches, American Cockroaches, and Oriental Cockroaches. Each cockroach species has its own habitat preference, breeding cycles, and resilience level. Individual species needs to be approached with a specific application that is most effective for their successful eradication. If the approach is done correctly you can be cockroach free for many months, even years.

Some cockroach species resilience levels are high and require a more aggressive approach, for example, a spray and gas fumigation treatment followed up with a gel and granular application roughly 7-10 days later. Others are easier to eradicate which will simply require fumigation by targeting the correct areas.

Lets look at each cockroach eradication process individually.

German Cockroaches

These are the small brown cockroaches mainly found in kitchens. They frequent areas like the kitchen cupboards, Cupboard hinges, kettle, bases, Refrigerator motors, Stove tops and many more. They prefer to breed and nest in dark warm places. At night mainly, they come out in search of food, crumbs, moisture, anything old unwashed plates in the sink left overnight. these quickly become food sources for German Cockroaches.

Many clients try everything before they call a professional pest control company in cape town to assist. You might have tried things like doom foggers, chalk sticks commonly bought in China Town and local hardware, but offer limited to no success at all.

Reason for this is because there is a specific process you need to follow in order to break the life-cycle of these roaches. Spraying them with Doom or Dy-roach ten times a day does nothing but build up their resistance to the active ingredient found in them. This actually makes the pest controllers job slightly harder since the cockroaches are a lot more resilient to the chemicals after many weeks or months of exposure to the off-the-shelf sprays.

If you would like to get rid of your German Cockroaches quickly – contact us now! We have a tried and tested solution that works every time.

American Cockroaches

These are the big, fat, flat cockroaches you see mainly coming out at night and sitting on the walls. They crawl inside your home on the walls through open windows or on the floor under doors in search of fresh water sources and food.

They are broad dark brown in color with wings. Many people are under the impression they can fly, but they only used their wings to soften the landing since they are such big, heavy insects… Gross!

They mainly prefer to reside in the sewerage drains which are dark and damp. At night they crawl back up through the drainage pipes and into your bathroom up the plugs and overflow holes in your bath and wash basins.

If you have a suspended wooden floor, this is another ideal hang-out for American cockroaches. They usually find a hole in the floorboards and enter the house through those at night.

To successfully eradicate these critters, requires us to locate all the sewerage drains on your premises, open them, and fumigate the crap out of the cockroaches. You will still find plenty of dead ones laying around in the mornings, for a few days after the fumigation was done, but once you have the source of the problem under control, it could take up to a year or even longer for that drain to be re-infested. With this approach you wont see another disgusting American cockroach for a while again.

Oriental Cockroaches

These little oval shaped cockroaches are mainly found in dark damp, cool places. They nest and develop in huge “colonies” packed tighly together and are usually found in the garage or any crevice in your roof or basement.

At night they crawl through pipes and other access points in search of food and moisture. They are not fussy eaters and will chow pretty much anything left behind including dirt and organic matter like fruit peels, bread crumbs, and rotting meat.

These cockroaches can easily transmit deceases as they crawl around in your pantry and sinks in search of food.

I don’t find them to be particularly resilient to any Pyrethroid base chemical and usually, one good fumigation inside and the outside perimeter will do the trick!

Rats

These are the scampering sounds you hear at night. They scratch and run around in your ceiling floorboards in search of food and material to create a cosy nest up there. They roof rats are fond of aerolite to create a little nest and start breeding.

Where do rats come from?

Rats usually become a problem in Winter when the night temperature drops and when the rain comes. The rest of the year they are quite happy living outside in their burrows underground.

Once the cold and wet sets in they go in search of higher -ground, i.e The roof of your house. Also, if you have a suspended floor, they knaw through the wood and come up at night, run on counters and eat whatever they can get hold of like fruit, bread and any other organic food.

What do rats eat?

Rats love citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and even guava and avocado trees. In many cases, I came across houses where either the neighbor or the client has a fruit tree and a pool or one of each. This is ideal for rats since they have a food source, a fresh water source, only lacking in a bed, hence your roof or suspended floor becomes their new home.

How do we effectively eradicate Rats?

We use a baiting procedure to get rid of rats. It consists of two treatments of an all-weather waxy block winch we place as close to the burrows as possible or scattered inside the roof. Within a few hours, they will start feeding, depending on how hungry they are and within 2-5 days the problem will be gone.

Do they die in the roof?

No, they won’t die inside your roof and stink up your house. The bait allows multiple feeds and once it starts taking effect its too late. The rat knows something in the immediate facility is making them sick so they move off in search of a fresh water-source to try and flush or neutralize the effects… too late.

Mice

Mice and rats have different food preferences and habitat conditions. Mice are much smaller in size and prefer anything with grain and flour in it. They are very cautious feeders and super skittish. They will nibble on a food item and quickly and run off, not feeding for extended periods of time. This is unlike a rat that will sit and devour something for as long as he pleases or until the food source is depleated.

What do mice eat?

I find mice are very attracted to dog and cat food. This because many of them contain flour and grain as roughage for the dog and to bulk up the food. Mice have an acute sense of smell and can locate weet and flour from miles away. Once they find the dog food, they will feed multiple times a day, grabbing a pellet and running off, This can happen multiple times throughout the day as well as at night. Later they will move into your pantry and start tucking into any cake flour and cereals stored away.

I always urge animal owners to please pick up any leftover chunks after 30 minutes and put it back into the bag. The food bag should be stored in a separate container to suppress the smell of chunks from mice.

Where do they come from?

Like Rats, mice are quite happy living outside in the field in their underground burrows. Its only when the temperature drops drastically that they tend to move to higher ground. Mice also love suspended wooden floors where they are safe from predators like cats and dogs but have easy access to the inside of the house for a regular supply of food and water.

How do we get rid of Mice?

Because mice are such cautious, nervous feeders, we need to keep that in mind when baiting for mice. We need to put down many cardboard boxes inside to allow the mice to feed and run multiple times a day.

Also, mice don’t necessarily prefer the same bait as rats. I find them more drawn to softer pasta sachets and also softer bait blocks that can be broken into smaller bit sized chunks.

Moles

Moles can reek havoc on the most beautiful of lawns and gardens in a matter of days. Cape Golden moles are predominantly found in the Cape Town Areas.

Moles are territorial and you will only find one mole every 100m2 which means all those molehills are caused by only one mole. Often moles will move between properties by digging a network of tunnels underground. Runner moles are identified by the little tunnels you can see from the surface.

Moles are happy feeding on roots of trees, plants grubs, and earthworms. They are mainly active deep underground where they build tunnels that lead to various chambers for feeding, storing food, breeding, and sleeping.
They will live and nest in shady areas and only come to the middle of the lawn to feed and hunt.

Moles become more active closer to the surface just after it rains. The reason for this is because the soil is moist and softer to dig and plow through. They have very poor eyesight and tend to run along a cement or brick paving from their nest towards the feeding zone.

when you have a mole problem, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, step on the runner moles tunnels and never flatten the molehills before the pest control guys, that’s us, arrives there. We need the site, or crime scene, to be left uncontaminated so we can identify where the most recent molehills are, where he’s nesting predominantly and where his feeding areas are.

Bed Bugs

The Bed bugs is a small blood-sucking parasite… Gross!!!
There are various species of bed bugs around the world. Adult bed bugs we mainly find in Cape Town are 5mm long, reddish-brown to brown in colour becoming purple after feeding on their host. Bed bugs have well-developed antennae, prominent, simple eyes with the ability to quickly climb rough porous but not smooth surfaces.

Bed bug lifecycle begins with a small white egg approximately 1mm in length which takes about 10 days to hatch. Once the eggs hatch, they grow into adults after 6 weeks. Immature nymphs are translucent (clear) in colour.

More about bed bugs

Higher warmer temperatures actually speed up the life-cycle of bed bugs from feeding to maturing to movement. Bed bugs thrive in warmer days and are in their comfort zone in higher temperatures. They are attracted to heat and feed on blood. It feeds on warm-blooded mammals (pets) and humans and spread where the blood is readily available. Bed bugs are not known to transfer or carry any harmful diseases to humans.

Bed bug Life-Cycle

Males produce 2 to 3 eggs per day often large groups of eggs are present.
Eggs are approximately 1 mm in length, white to yellowish white with a mosaic pattern.
The female can live up to a year and during this time she can lay hundreds of eggs.
Eggs hatch within 6 to 11 days and you not hatch in temperature is below 14 degrees Celsius.
Bed bugs are hemimetabolous, which means the nymphs look like the adults.
The images cycle last for 5 to 80 weeks and in the absence of a human host will also feed on other mammals like rabbits, mice or poultry.
Bed bugs can stay without food for long .s of up to 500 + days. Under favorable environmental conditions.

Where are bed bugs found?

Unhygienic places are not a preference for bed bugs nor a source of them. In Cape Town we have successfully treated for bed bugs in many affluent areas like Newlands, Constantia, Claremont, Bantry Bay and the Southern Suburbs and Peninsula and it makes no difference if the place is clean or dirty you can still be affected by bed bugs. Messy or untidy homes are not a preference to bed bugs because all they are concerned about is regular feeding and access to their food source. They are excellent at hiding from humans and can spread very quickly. Your home is a prime hideout for bed bugs because the temperature is regulated and ideal for breeding and life-cycle development. They can hide anywhere in your homes cupboards, cabinets, base of beds, behind baseboards and on bed mattresses.

If you would like to read more about Bed bugs – click here

Fleas

Adult fleas feed and breed exclusively as parasites of warmblooded animals, especially mammals, like humans and dogs and cats in domestic environments. Certain birds may also be at risk. Whilst they show a certain degree of host preference, fleas are by no means specific and will feed on any other animals if there is no “normal” host around. They are not fussy eaters, in other words, if you have blood, you are food.

In fact fleas tend to be more nest than host-specific, simply becasue the adults may feed on the blood of a variety of animals, the larvae requires more precise conditions which are associated with the habitats and nesting habits of the hosts rather than the characteristics of their blood. Wall-to-wall carpeting also provides a safe, undisturbed environment for flea larvae to develop.

Flea Life-Cycle

Flea eggs are about 0.5mm long, oval, pearly-white in colour and laid and scattered indiscriminately in the fur or feathers of the host or in its nest or bedding. They do not stick to the host and can easily fall from the animal when the animal shakes or scratch itself. The same applies to the dark coloured faeces of the adult fleas thus creating the black and white – salt and pepper – effect associated with flea infestations. Four to eight eggs are laid after each blood meal and a single female may produce 800-1000 eggs during her lifetime, which may be as long as two years.

Flea Eradication

Selecting the appropriate flea control measures depends largely on the size of the problem. In many instances flea infestations of well kept houses can be easily traced back to pets. In the event there are no pets around, you will need to determine what the pest species is. This will help to identify possible hosts and even the level of the infestations. Control measures must be directed at the eggs as well as the adult fleas.

Ants

There are 4 main types of ants found in Cape Town which are:

• Argentina Ant (worker) 3mm long
• Black ant (worker) 3mm long
• Brown House Ant (major worker) 3.5mm long
• Pugnacious Ant (worker) 2-10mm long

Ants are social insects and live in large colonies. They are highly developed insects and some species have included phenomena such as salvery, militery campaigns and animal husbandry in their daily tasks.

In order to successfully eradicate of ants in the house you must use a combination of ant bait granules and active residual sprays which are chemicals that need to be mixed with water before spraying onto the surfaces where foraging ants regularly criss-cross.

Weeks to months of ant control can be expected indoors depending on the type of surface treated, presence of dust, grime and dirt as well as human interference.

If you would like to read more about ants – click here

Domestic Fumigation

When most people have a pest problem, they assume fumigation is the answer. This is true in many pest cases but not in all. The type of fumigation methods also varies quite drastically with different evacuation times for each. You essentially get 3 types of fumigation for domestic applications:

1. Spray Fumigation
2. Gas Fumigation
3. Toxic Gas Fumigation

When the pest controller is present on-site, he will determine the level of infestation of the insect as well as the correct procedures to take. When doing domestic fumigation there are a few points to take into consideration.

Lets look at each option separately

Spray Fumigation

This is the most “user-friendly” of the lot since the application is quick and there are minimal downtime and evacuation time involved. The chemicals are non-toxic and odorless which only requires about 1 hour to dry.

This fumigation is achieved by means of a hand-held spray pump which is used for the following:

1. Perimeter sprays for ants
2. Interior sprays for cockroaches
3. Interior sprays for Biting Insects
4. Exterior Drains

This approach is mainly used in busy offices, hotels, schools and factories. Areas where foot traffic is high and where evacuation isn’t always possible. The chemical won’t affect users in any way unless they have sensitive chests or respiratory problems.

In this instance, a minimum of 30 minutes of evacuation time is required.

If you would like to read more about domestic or office fumigation and the procedures – click here

Gas Fumigation

This is recommended when infestations are severe. In the event the home-owner has a high level of cockroaches in the kitchen and surrounding areas or a restaurant kitchen has a major cockroach problem, we would strongly recommend we do an initial gas fumigation treatment first.

This is necessary to flush out and eradicate all cockroaches or biting insects from their cracks and crevices. Especially in hard to reach places or areas in the house, office or restaurant where chemical sprays cannot reach due to electrical switches, plugs and devices.

once complete we return within 7 days to carry out a followup treatment. This is necessary to target any eggs that might have hatches or any additional insects that might have somehow escaped the initial gas. We then do a treatment which will be effective for long-term control such as gel and granular application in the event of cockroaches. For fleas we return to do a second spray fumigation to kill off any remaining fleas.

Evacuation time is 6 Hours

Toxic Fumigation

This is only used in the event of a borer beetle infestation in the wooden floors or the roof beams. The house needs to be sealed off and neighbors alerted to the treatment about to happen.

Methyl Bromide is usually the gas used to seep into all cracks and crevices of timber to eradicate all wood destroying insects.

Evacuation time is 4-6 days

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