Wild Deer Management.

There are six species of deer present in the UK.

    >Red

    >Sika

    >Fallow

    >Roe

    >Muntjack

    >Chinese Water Deer

Damage to landowners can be great and costly; farmers may suffer loss of crops, forests may suffer browse damage and loss of trees, formal and private gardens can be devastated by the presence of deer, golf courses and amenity sites can also suffer great financial losses.

Although five of the six species of deer in the UK have open and closed seasons, there is provision in law to prevent serious damage by deer outside of these seasons.

There are several reasons for the management of deer;

Animal Welfare.

Over population of deer can have serious detrimental effects on the health and condition of deer present in that area.

Prevention of Damage to crop and timber stock.

Left unmanaged a large deer population can cause damage in the tens if not hundreds of thousands of pounds in a very short amount of time.

S.S.S.I.

Many Sites of Special Scientific Interest are designated for ancient woodland, mosses and lichens or other flora and fauna reasons.  The presence of high numbers of deer in these areas may be detrimental to the National Heritage.

Road Traffic Collisions.

It is estimated that around 70 000 collisions occur each year between motor vehicles and deer on the UK’s roads. This results in over 450 human injuries and several human fatalities every year. Competent management of deer in high density population areas, is a must to reduce these numbers.

    >Head counts

    >Cull plans

    >Management plans

    >Critical response

    >Onsite culling

These are all services offered by Aardwolf Pest Control’s qualified operatives.

Park Deer.

As Park Deer are predominantly kept to provide venison meat for human consumption, then damage from these deer is not usually a problem as regular culling takes place.  At Aardwolf Pest Control we offer a culling and management service.  We can also provide critical response to injured or wounded Park Deer.

The Mink is a ferocious predator of waterways, lakes and ponds.

They will kill ducks and ducklings. No egg is safe and fish are part of their staple diet. Quie often ponds containing collections of valuable Koi Carp are wiped out in a short period of time. Also the disappearance of water voles can often be linked to the presence of mink.

There are 2 legal methods of mink control available to us, trapping and shooting. The use of lethal and non-lethal traps is permitted for the control of mink but each situation must be surveyed to determine the type of trap best suited to the site. Both types of trap must be checked at least once every 24 hours to comply with current legislation. All mink caught in non-lethal traps must be humanely dispatched as soon as discovered. It is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act to release mink back into the wild.

Mink may be legally shot, but due to their preferred habitat shooting is not a very effective method of control.

Grey squirrels are classed as an invasive pest species in the UK.

They can be very destructive if they gain access to lofts or buildings and cause huge amounts of damage to trees and forestation areas by bark stripping.

Squirrels may be controlled in 3 ways:

Trapping squirrels is probably the most effective method of control as they are quite easy to catch. The use of lethal and non lethal traps is allowed and these must be checked at least once every 24 hours to comply with current legislation.

Shooting can also be an effective method of control if the situation allows. Drey poking and the shooting of squirrels can achieve good control levels.

In certain part of the UK it is legal to use poison bait against grey squirrel. Only one bait is approved for this use and may only be used in specially designed and approved hoppers.

Birds.

Aardwolf have years of experience in the control of feral pigeons and all other wild birds. Feral pigeons especially can be a health hazard, spreading diseases such as Ornithosis, Salmonella and E.Coli. In addition to this they are quite messy, defacing buildings and vehicles with their droppings.

Get in touch today to see how we can hep with your pigeon pest issues.

Canadian Geese

These birds were first kept in the UK for ornamental purposes.

The escape of domesticated birds combined with the huge migratory numbers now seen, can cause health problems around lakes and ponds and on amenity sites. The fouling of grass areas combined with habitat destruction has resulted in Canadian Geese being placed on the Open Pest Licence.

Preventative measures against their breeding can go some way against controlling their numbers but culling the birds and egg pricking / oiling has the most effect.

Canadian geese may be shot at any time of the year but once young are born it is important not to orphan dependent birds. During the flightless period at the end of June they may be rounded up and caught to enable humane dispatching.

Pricking or oiling eggs to prevent hatching is another method of control available. This must be carried out to a strict timetable and may require many visits to the site.

The Mole causes problems for both the farmer and homeowner.

Although small, this mammal can do untold damage to grass crops, domestic lawns and amenity sites.

The soil mounds that are excavated during the digging of tunnels usually contain stones which if allowed to remain on the surface will cause considerable damage to lawn mowers or industrial grass cutting equipment. If the soil is removed from the areas of excavation then dips in lawns will appear.

Mole control comes in two forms; gassing with aluminium phosphide or trapping. Both of these control methods are carried out by licensed operators.

Gassing can be a very effective means of control if done by a trained operator. The use of traps is also an effective method of control but uses a lot of man hours in its deployment.

Infestations are surveyed and assessed on an individual basis to decide the most appropriate method of treatment.

Rabbits cause many millions of pounds worth of damage to crops, allotments, amenity sites and gardens.

We offer a comprehensive control service and complete a site survey to identify the most effective method of control.

Shooting the animals after dark is a favoured method to reduce numbers where access to burrows is a problem. Where there is access to burrows then gassing rabbits with aluminium phosphide is usually the most effective method of control.

Fencing problem areas can also be an effective non-lethal method of control but it is often difficult to install and can be a costly alternative to culling.

We offer a comprehensive Fox control service.

Whether you're a farmer, game keeper, poultry owner or home owner red foxes can cause you problems. These range from the age old battle of farmer and fox to the manmade problem of urban foxes raiding our homes and gardens.

With 10 years' experience we have a proven track record of successfully dealing with foxes by all legal methods. We have developed good working relations with local policing authorities and an open firearms licence allows us to deal with all fox related problems quickly and efficiently.

We also offer advice and installation of non-lethal protection methods to protect your livestock and property.

Written reports of all actions are available along with photographic evidence if required.

Ants:

The common Black Ant has become a common problem in and around homes. We can offer a good level of control using the latest and very safe professional insecticides which once applied can carry on working for several weeks.

Wasps:

We offer a fast and effective treatment to destory all wasps in the nest, normally in a single visit. Visit www.waspnestexpert.co.uk for more information.

Fleas:

The most common flea that feeds on cats, dogs, and humans, is the Ctenocephalides Felis. The treatment includes advice on the things you need to do before we carry out our treatment. The latest treatments are very safe for your family and pets, and normally only one visit is required to control the infestation.

Bed Bug:

If you are one of the increasing number of people affected by bed bug, we can carry out a very effective treatment using the latest professional product for safe and quick control of bed bug infestations.

Cluster Fly:

As temperatures drop in Autumn, cluster fly form vast clustering masses in roof spaces and lofts. As the central heating comes on, they find their way into bedrooms etc: and become a most un-welcome visitor. We can fumigate the roof voids killing any infestations safely.