The 4 Most Common Pests for Autumn & Winter

Look out for these 4 common pests in Autumn & Winter time, moving into your home, business or agricultural premises, causing damage to your property and risking your family and staff's health.

1. Mice

Mice will reside outside during the summer where it's warm and there's plenty of natural food sources. As the weather starts to turn colder and wetter, these rodents start looking for buildings where they can build nests and scavenge enough food to see them through the winter.

Commercial properties in particular are ideal targets for these pests looking for somewhere to live as they are mostly unoccupied at night and will often have plentiful food supplies available.

Not only do these rodents make short work of any food left on top of worktops, they can prove to be very destructive of properties, and have been known to gnaw through wires and other materials in homes and commercial properties, risking the structural integrity of walls and plumbing systems.

Mice can enter buidlings through gaps as small as 1cm. This makes proofing buildings against them quite difficult, but regular maintenance of this can keep them at bay. Look for evidence of this damage, as well as rodent tracks, nesting and droppings to determine whether your business premises or private property might need the help of AJ Pest Control.

2. Rats

Like mice, during the winter months rats are also looking for alternative shelter, food and warmth. This is the time that they move into homes and commercial buildings to find more cover and a better source of food. Their sharp teeth have the capability of chewing through concrete, brick and even ½-inch thick sheet metal which can cause a lot of damage to homes and business premises.

Rats are also capable of carrying wide range of different diseases and infections that can be passed to humans which is why being aware of an infestation and regular upkeep is so important.   

3. Squirrels

Due to the scarcity of protected shelter, squirrels will often move into the lofts of homes, businesses and agricultural properties for the winter months. They prepare for winter's lack of food by storing it in a safe location and attics of private and commercial properties are perfect for that. Their gnawing risks damage to your property and they can also become aggressive when you try to remove them. 

If a grey squirrel is caught, it is an offence to release them back into the wild and must be humanely destroyed. The red squirrels however, are a protected species and it is illegal to destroy or damage a shelter being used by a red squirrel. We would recommend consulting AJ Pest Control before attempting to deal with a squirrel infestation because of the laws surrounding their treatment.

4. Wasps & Hornets

Although not considered a pest as much as in the Summer, this is the time of year that the wasp and hornet queens are looking to find somewhere protected, warm and dry to hibernate over the winter. Unlike their drones that die off in the Autumn, wasp and hornet queens start looking for an ideal location such as an attic or a shed for their new nest.

When the weather does begin to warm up in Spring, they will start chewing up wood to build the first few combs of the nest and start laying eggs to grow the new colony.  

Contact AJ Pest Control

Whether you need the advice of AJ Pest control for an infestation problem in your home, business or agricultural premises, or require our assistance in regular maintenance of a pest problem, get in touch with us today or call 01799 542505. We'll be happy to help and work out the right solution for you and your property.