Calls about pest problems in Leed shave gone down by more than a third as the council battles to get rid of rodents. Juliette Bains looks at how the war is being won.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being ploughed into a service to protect Leeds residents from pests.
Leeds City Council’s pest control team received £223,000 last year to combat problem pests and it seems it was money well spent.
Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that the number of calls to the team were down by more than a third last year – that’s 2,000 fewer enquiries than in 2010.
The team, based at Millshaw Park Way in Churwell, typically receive around 80 calls a week about pest infestations, ranging from mice and rats to wasps and moths.
Ian Masterton, manager of Leeds City Council’s pest control team, has been in the job for 30 years.
He said: “I’ve always been interested in the countryside and used to be a gamekeeper before naturally migrating into this.
“A lot of people don’t like their job but I still love it after all this time and for me this is a way of life.
“It really challenges you and you’re often thrown into difficult situations.
“It’s not as simple as putting poison down and killing things. You have to work out where the pest is coming from and choose an appropriate method to deal with it effectively.
“You get a great deal of satisfaction when you’ve worked out how to tackle a problem and it’s becoming more and more common for us not to use pesticides.
“The rodent issue isn’t as big a problem as you would think and we are returning to traditional methods and try wherever possible to catch them humanely.
“It’s a good job there are people like us who are up for doing the job because a lot of people are squeamish these days.”
Lately, the pest control team have changed their strategy – something that Ian believes has contributed to the significant drop in call-outs.
Rather than focusing on dealing with a problem after it has happened, they are looking to raise awareness of how to prevent rat infestations in the first place.
Ian said: “We have received less calls because people are starting to realise that we will not just send out a man with some poison.
“We are handing out leaflets offering advice on prevention first.
“If you don’t provide pests with food and somewhere to live in the first place then they won’t come and pester you.
“Obviously if rats are inside the home it is a health risk and we will treat that differently.
“Rats are not fussy about what they eat. You can bet your bottom dollar that if there is a house where refuse has been allowed to build up outside for three weeks or so, you will find rats.
“But when we had the bin strike in Leeds people expected the number of calls we received to go up but it actually went down.
“I live in Wakefield where we have a fortnightly bin collection and if you recycle correctly and use your other bins as well and all the rubbish remains contained it will be fine. It’s strange to me that people see rats as totally abhorrent whilst mice are seen as a lesser evil.
“Mice are far more likely to get up on your work surfaces and spread things like salmonella.”
He added: “We want to feel like we are winning the war but rats and mice will always be there. It’s just about controlling the problem.”
Rats are born pink and blind and can squeeze through holes of less than 10mm in size even when they are fully grown.
They become sexually mature at just three months old, when they can have up to 12 offspring in a litter. A female mouse can also be impregnated the same day as giving birth.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the worst-affected areas for rodent complaints are inner city areas, from LS1 to LS13.
Calls to the pest control team generally rise in the winter, when the rodents start looking indoors for food and warmth.
But it’s not just mouse and rat infestations that Ian has dealt with over the years.
“When people think of pest control, they automatically think of mice and rats”, he said. “But we deal with fleas, ants, squirrels, moles, wasps, pigeons, cockroaches, bed bugs, woodlice, beetles and woodworm.
“Wasps are my favourite pest to deal with. They are the most challenging and the added risk of getting stung heightens your awareness and makes it more exciting.”
In 2011, the city council’s pest control service was swamped with calls about wasps, which are usually treated with a pesticide powder.
More than 3,000 calls came in about the insects in just one summer.
But the worst incident that Ian can remember involved bed bugs, which are flat, slow-moving and bigger than fleas.
They spread easily and are currently a worldwide problem as they are difficult to detect and often transported from country to country.
Ian added: “We went to a house where a young child was being treated for anaemia but when we got there we realised the corners of his room were covered in bed bugs and they were biting him so much that he had become anaemic.
“I’ve also seen entire blocks of flats infested with cockroaches and mice.
“Hoarding also seems to be an increasing problem. With that comes pests because often there is a food source that hasn’t been removed.”
Anyone can call the pest control team and receive help and advice, with the exception of tenants of private landlord-owned properties who will be charged a fee.
Prices vary for other pests and more information can be found by visiting the Leeds City Council website at www.leeds.gov.uk and searching for pest control.
For free advice about pests and infestations, telephone the pest control team on 0113 222 4406.
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