Homeowners can identify the most common signs that pests have taken up residence in their homes. How to identify a pest infestation? Simple examples of physical evidence are quick and easy to identify:

How to identify a pest infestation: Clues

Dirt 

Traces of dirt and grime can often be found on the walls and other parts of your home. In addition, you may find greasy smudges on the walls, which come from rodents rubbing their bodies against surfaces. Furthermore, there might even be traces of fur or hair left behind. Evidence of discarded food may be found on the floor or in the corners of rooms.

Odours

Pest infestations in a home will often be the cause of strange smells. These could be from droppings or food left behind by insects or rodents. Pests can even end up dying in your home, causing an unpleasant smell resulting from the decomposition of their bodies.

Droppings

Droppings are amongst the most common infestation warning signs that pests have taken up residence in your home. Watch out for urine trails and fecal droppings.

Homeowners can tell what kind of pest they are dealing with by noting the shape and size of the droppings. For example, insect droppings are generally small and most often go unnoticed. On the other hand, rodent droppings are larger, and vary in shape, depending on the type of pest. Pest droppings are often found on the floor, behind appliances and furniture and in wall spaces.

Damage to fabric

Damaged fabrics in a home can be a sign of a pest infestation. Fabric damage can include scratches, stains and holes in clothing, curtains and furniture coverings. Fabric damage is usually caused by a rodent or insect infestation.

Noises

Many pests, especially rodents, are nocturnal. They can often be heard as they scamper about, squeaking and scratching in wall spaces and other cavities.

Nesting material

Finding nesting materials around a home is also a sign of infestation. Pests can use practically any material they can find for nesting. This includes paper, grass clippings, leaves, fabric, and much more. Nests can be found in places that could be termed “hidden,” such as inside walls, and behind appliances.

Discarded body parts

Besides leaving droppings, pests also leave body parts such as discarded skin, fur and wings. Try to note what kinds of body parts you have found so you know what you are dealing with.

Damaged plants

Be careful to watch out for any damage that occurs on your plants. Plant damage caused by pests may be located inside, or outside, your home. Signs of gnawing, or patches on leaves are signs of pest infestation.   

Missing objects 

Many rodents are thieves. They love picking up little items, especially shiny objects, and taking them back to their nests.  Waiting and watching can only lead to things getting worse. It’s time to contact pestcontrol.me.uk. Their technicians will show you how to identify a pest infestation. It’s the one pest control company whose services stand out from the others. Hiring pest control our services, at the first sign of trouble, could be one of the best things that you could do. 

How to identify a pest infestation: CCTV

Rodent infestations are becoming more prevalent. As a result, the demand for investigative equipment such as CCTV drainage cameras is on the rise. The ability to locate a problem without the need to dig a trench or remove brick work is important. This means that the pestcontrol.me.uk pest infestation services are not only reliable but also far less invasive than alternative methods.

How to identify a pest infestation: thermal imaging

Thermal cameras identify heat sources. Body heat from small mammals or even from a wasps’ nest can be spotted using a thermal imaging camera. As well as finding the pest you can also use the thermal camera to look for clues. Thermal imaging is brilliant for locating missing insulation in the cavity of a property’s wall.

How to identify a Rodent infestation

Small rodents love to use wall insulation for nests and often carve out tunnels in the walls cavities. The thermal imaging camera can be used to locate the area where insulation has been removed by a rodent. The gaps create pockets of air that change the temperature of a walls surface. Consequently, creating a contrast in the colour pallet of the thermal image.

How to locate wasps’ nests

Wasps’ nest are a common problem, especially in the warmer months. They can often be found in wall cavities and roof spaces. The heat given off by the wasp activity can be located using thermal imaging.

How to use thermal imaging to identify a pest infestation

The main advantage is the time that is saved in investigative and exploratory work. Moreover, looking around your property with a thermal imaging camera highlights things instantly. Furthermore, you will not need to rip out walls or lift floorboards. Consequently, minimising disruption and speeding up diagnosis.

The other advantage is that it will physically show you the problem areas, showing you where infestations lie and presenting a picture of the pest, or damage caused by the pest can help you to understand the scale of the problem.

Thermal cameras come in all shapes and sizes with varying price tags. Indeed, a simple attachment for your smartphone means that there is a thermal imaging can be available to everyone.

How to identify a pest infestation: night vision imaging for tracking vermin

For tracking down pests in the dark a night vision camera is a must. When darkness falls pests can be much harder to see with the naked eye. However, by using a night vision camera you can easily scan the area and spot the subjects from up to 100m away. Night vision cameras are lightweight and easy to use. Simply point and push the button and the screen will show you a crystal clear image of the culprits even in pitch black.

pestcontrol.me.uk: Initial site survey

In conclusion, all the pestcontrol.me.uk technicians will carry out a full site survey using a hand held (CCTV) camera unit. This will aid us to correctly identify the pest species and give us access to difficult locations.

For smaller insects a microscope is often required to reach the correct identification. Once we identify the species, the correct knowledge of its biology and behaviour will help us plan the most effective treatment strategy for eliminating the problem and preventing it from reoccurring. We believe that site surveys are the most important view part on any job.