Wildlife Law, And What Cannot Be Treated
Some of the things people ring about are protected, and a firm that offers to deal with them anyway is offering to break the law on your behalf.
Bats
Protected Whether Or Not They Are There
All British bat species and their roosts are protected. The roost is protected whether or not bats are in it at the time, which is the part that catches people out - an empty loft in January can still contain a protected roost.
That means no treatment, no proofing that would block access, and no disturbance. Work in a roof where bats are suspected has to be planned around them, and sometimes needs a licensed ecologist.
If you think you have bats, the Bat Conservation Trust runs a national helpline and that is the right first call. Nothing we do will disturb a roost, and anybody who offers to clear one without mentioning any of this is not thinking about it properly.
Gulls and nesting birds
The Kent Coast Question
Wild birds, their nests while in use or being built, and their eggs are protected. That includes herring gulls, which are also a species of conservation concern, and it is the single most common thing we have to say no to on the Thanet and Medway coasts.
So we do not remove active gull nests. What can be done, and does work, is everything on a different timescale:
- proofing before the breeding season - netting, wires, spikes on ledges and chimneys, fitted properly and maintained
- waste management, which is the actual food supply
- removing nesting material outside the season
The same applies to feral pigeons in the sense that proofing and waste are the real answers. Pigeon proofing as a service is no longer offered on this site, and we will refer you rather than pretend otherwise.
Badgers, and rodenticide rules
Two Different Kinds Of Constraint
Badgers and their setts are protected. Not treated, not disturbed, not interfered with. Where a sett is causing a genuine structural problem there is a licensing route and it is not ours - it is Natural England's.
Rodenticides are constrained too, and this is the part that affects most jobs. Professional use is governed by stewardship rules: permanent baiting is not a default, baits have to be protected from non-target animals, and carcasses have to be searched for and removed to keep them out of the food chain.
That last point is why an outdoor rodent job includes returning to search, and why "just leave some down permanently" is not an answer we will give. Secondary poisoning of owls, kestrels and foxes is a real consequence of doing it badly.
Bees
Almost Never A Pest Control Job
Honeybee swarms want a beekeeper, who will usually collect one free. The Kent beekeeping associations maintain swarm collector lists.
Bumblebees are docile, the colony dies off in late summer, and the nest is not reused. Left alone, it solves itself in weeks.
Solitary bees - the ones in the mortar joints or the lawn - do no structural damage and do not sting in any meaningful way.
We will tell you it is bees and that you do not need us. That conversation is free and we have it most weeks in the summer.
Common Questions
Can you get rid of the gulls on our roof?
Not an active nest - they are protected. Proofing outside the breeding season and sorting the waste is what actually works.
We think there are bats in the loft.
Ring the Bat Conservation Trust helpline first. Roosts are protected whether or not bats are present, and we will not disturb one.
Can you just leave bait down permanently?
No. Stewardship rules do not allow it as a default, and it puts owls, kestrels and foxes at risk through secondary poisoning.
Going further
Advice Worth Reading First
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One published price, and an honest account of why everything else is quoted instead of listed.
Read more ›Pests In A Rented Home: Who Is Responsible?
General information rather than legal advice, and the short answer is that it usually turns on how they got in.
Read more ›Pest Control And Your Food Hygiene Rating
The treatment is half of it. The paperwork is the half that gets scored.
Read more ›Preparing For A Treatment
Some of this genuinely changes the result. Some of it just saves time. Both are worth doing.
Read more ›Which Trade Does What
We would rather tell you it is somebody else’s job than take the money and leave you with it.
Read more ›One-Off Treatment Or A Contract?
Contracts suit some premises and are a waste of money for others. Here is the honest test.
Read more ›Pests When Buying Or Selling A House
It comes up more often than people expect, usually at the worst possible moment in the chain.
Read more ›Pest Control In A Flat Or A Block
The hardest part is rarely the pest. It is that the part of the building causing it is not yours.
Read more ›Get A Free Quote
Tell us your postcode and what you are seeing. We will come back with a time and a fixed price before anything is booked.
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