Tag: pest control

RID Pest Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response

Updated: 02/08/2020 Effective: 12:01AM Monday 3 August

To our valued clients,

We hope you’re keeping well during these current events. We wanted to reassure you that RID Pest Control is constantly monitoring the situation and changes to information on Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Please know that the well-being of our clients and staff is our utmost concern and we are fully committed to ensuring the safety of our clients and staff.

For these reasons, we have implemented several extra control measures during this period. As professionals who deal with pests and pesticides on a daily basis, sanitation and prevention of contamination is second nature to us. We are COVID safe!

We’ve implemented several noticeable changes that you may see at each service visit:

  1. We request that clients please advise us at booking if you are suffering from any cold or flu like illness, even if you believe it is not COVID-19. This includes any person who ordinarily resides at the property we are to attend;
  2. We require you to let us know if you have been a close contact for anyone who has or is suspected of having COVID-19 in the past 21 days;
  3. We will be routinely washing hands, sanitising our hands upon arrival and wearing disposable gloves for the duration of the service;
  4. You’ll see us wearing a face mask where possible, however, because a face mask presents a chemical contamination / safety risk for our technicians there are situations where wearing a face mask is not appropriate. We will generally advise of your need to vacate the property in such a situation for your own safety and that of our technicians;
  5. We’ll refrain from shaking hands or any greetings of a close physical nature;
  6. We’ll be wearing additional PPE as required and where possible;
  7. We’ll be maintaining 2m safe personal distance;
  8. We’ll be cleaning and applying disinfectants to our equipment between service visits;
  9. We may in some cases limit the scope and extent of internal services provided. We’ll advise you if you should expect this.
  10. We are ensuring that we limit contact with surfaces in your premises and offering to apply disinfectants to any points of contact we make with door handles, benches, furniture etc;
  11. We’re allowing extra time on our schedule so we can talk you through anything we need you to do on our arrival;
  12. We’re not accepting any drinks, food or offers to sit down at customer’s homes – please don’t think us ungrateful for this offer, we are navigating this together.

As restrictions increase (we’re all at level 3 now) and hopefully decrease we will review our limitations and covid policies so some changes we’ve implemented in the field may not be reflected here. We appreciate your support and understanding during this most unusual time.

You can help us maintain a safe working environment by preparing your premises for us to complete our work by:

  • Letting us know, in advance, if you or anyone in your premises has cold or flu like symptoms;
  • Disinfecting/Cleaning door handles before we arrive (if we are treating inside your premises);
  • Pay by direct deposit to avoid our exposure to cash or cards etc;
  • Ensure all kid’s toys, pet toys, food/water bowls etc. are out of the way so we don’t need to touch them to move them. Ideally 1m away from internal walls, outdoors away from the building or moved inside.
  •  Be prepared to vacate your premises by taking a walk or drive whilst we perform our services, subject to restrictions and limitations by government;

We thank you in advance for your understanding and full disclosure, if we need to reschedule because of any concern held by our staff or you in relation to continuing with a service.

In these times, there is an obvious and increased need for hygiene related services and RID are able to provide disinfection and sanitary services to help protect your business or workplace.

Got a business? Hygiene / Santising Services are offered by us!

If you have any questions or concerns in relation to our Covid-19 update please contact us on 0414 567 977.

Stay safe, stay well and remember we’ll get RID of ‘em.


Note: We may make further and sudden changes to our temporary Coronavirus related policies and procedures – these changes may affect you and the service we can provide – Any future changes may not be reflected here immediately – your understanding that this is a fast, evolving situation is appreciated.

Ballarat Pest Control Services

A Truly Local Ballarat Pest Control Company

Looking for Pest Control Ballarat?

RID Pest Control are your local, family owned professional pest exterminators. Our pest controllers / technicians are available in Ballarat 7 days a week. Our pest control team are experts in ant control, bed bugs control, spider control,  wasp control & eradication, flea control, rat & mice control, cockroach control, termite management, rodent control.
In short, RID are ready to assist in handling all kinds of pest problems, domestic pest control and commercial pest control, from flying & crawling insects to birds, bats, possums and snakes if you’ve got pests in your property in Ballarat then you need RID.

Continue reading “Ballarat Pest Control Services”
Roof Rat Control in Ballarat

Autumn Brings In Rodents!

Rodents are starting to really seek out the warmth and comfort of your homes at the moment. We’re seeing cooler conditions and a growing reliance on heating our homes.

Because we keep our home warmer than outside conditions rats and mice also known as rodents are hitting the jackpot when they stumble across your home! They seek the harbourage and ideal living and breeding conditions within our homes as soon as the weather cools.

Roof Rat in Ballarat eradicated by RID Pest Control
Roof Rat

Rats and Mice are living in your roof void, wall cavities and even sub floor spaces this Autumn and Winter! Why? Because it’s so much nice there than outside in the harsh cold!

RID Pest Control notice a very distinct change in service requests as soon as April arrives… from noises in the roof to chewed and damaged electrical cables it’s the start of rodent season!

It’s only going to get more intense as populations migrate to better, warmer and more suitable habitat during the long cold winter. Between April and September rodent activity in Ballarat is at it’s peak! With a very pronounced peak in around June/July. We’re often asked why they thrive in homes during winter…. perhaps the best explanation comes from Brad, our rodent expert…. his response is often this “think about the heat you generate in your home, it rises, and that heat in the ceiling is kept there by insulation… so rodents take advantage of this and make their homes right on top of you…. and because they have favourable climate, a good place to live and often a good food source nearby they’ll breed year round”.

Brad is a specialist technician at RID Pest Control and he deals with Rodents every day predominately in commercial and industrial environments where the evidence is often very different to residential settings. Often the only way rodent activity can be identified is when stock is soiled or damage is done in a commercial setting. There is not often anyone about to hear noises in the roof at night like a home!

“Rodents are incredibly agile and advantageous creatures who adapt exceptionally well to the urban environment” says Brad.

Effective rodent control in Ballarat is made easy with RID Pest Control who are industry leaders in the most effective, safe and sound rat and mouse treatments Ballarat.

Give us a call on 0414 567 977 for a fast response!

Frequently Asked Questions

Rodent Control / Rats & Mouse Treatments FAQs

Q: When is the best time to get a rodent treatment?

A: We often feel that residential treatments are best reactive, so when the noises start you get a treatment scheduled quickly! This is more than likely April – July each year. In a commercial situation, for example at your business, factory or restaurant – best to get a program in place before the cooler months!

Q: Is the treatment safe for my children and pets?

A: In short, yes! RID use a range of products that are relatively speaking quite safe especially when applied the way we do it. Some rodenticides ( the poisons that are in bait) can be very harmful to pets, this is common in readily available over the counter products like ‘brodifacoum’ in Rat Sak products. It take a very small amount to be potentially lethal to a dog. The rodenticides used by RID aren’t quite like this! They’re still potent to rodents but not so much to pets. The required dose for the average size dog is over 3kg of bait consumption. This just isn’t going to happen because as part of our risk assessment we use lockable rodent bait stations as well as strategic placements where pets and people cannot easily get access to baits. The other thing is we won’t use enough bait on one site to put your pets at risk! It’s also worth noting that our baits contain Bittrex, a human taste deterrent so your children certainly won’t eat any. Not that they could get near it anyway! All of that being said, RID can offer trapping and non bait based treatment options!

Q: Do your rodent treatment work?
A: Of course! We guarantee it! We provide a free service period or warranty with all of our treatments which means we guarantee to get RID of rodents! If we don’t we’re back at no further cost to you! We have specialised training and a solid understanding of the behaviour and habits of rodents and so we are able to guarantee that we can control any rodent problem because we place treatments where they’ll be most effective using the latest products not available to consumers.

Q: How long does it take to stop rodents?
A: Typically within 1 week that party in your roof is well and truly over! Where the infestation is quite significant and numbers are larger it can take a little longer…. We often advise 10-14 days for complete control and this varies depending on the severity of the infestation…. based on customer feedback it’s almost always under 1 week!

Got rodents in your home or business?

Get Ballarat’s most trusted Pest Control Service – RID Pest Control

Free Rodent Control / Rodent Treatment QUOTE

Red back spider in Ballarat in summer.

Change of season awakens pests of all types

As we all prepare for balmy sunshine and less freezing nights and start craving the smell, taste and social delight offered by the backyard barbecue there are millions of pests just awakening from their long winter slumber.

In actual fact winter is all about hibernation and survival of the fittest. Most pest populations dwindle to almost nothing with common household pests like spiders hunkering down and hoping to make it out the other side of winter, pests like ants tend to become quite sluggish and are focused on survival as opposed to intense feeding and we often see pests move indoors to find a comfortable environment to get them through… even mice and rats crave these conditions and that’s why winter brings many pests inside your home – it’s simple… harbourage! Warmth, shelter, comfort and more often than not enough food to sustain the winter.

Spring time!

Well now we’re officially heading into the pest control peak season… spring and summer are our busiest seasons! Pests start to succeed, they come out of hiding and amass huge numbers just to keep you on edge.

Why? Well the winter is tough and in the ecosystem pests are in there is more than weather to worry about… while spring and warmth bring good numbers of pests to our doorstep the reason is because food is abundant! Everything from the flies that spiders feed on to the plants and sunshine craved by ants and wasps is abundant in the warmer months!

I often compare pest activity to human motivation… people are out and about and enjoying life during the warmer months more so than the winter months. Pests are the same… although the climate has a lot to do with this it’s not all about that… as I’ve explained above the ecosystem for pests is much more active in the warmer weather.

Spring awakens the winter survivors who have the perfect conditions for breeding, feeding and spreading! Did you know? A spider egg sack and contain hundreds of baby spiders called ‘spiderling’ or ‘slings’. You’ll only ever see them during spring and summer in the Ballarat area!

Can you spot a Wolf Spider? Ballarat Spider Control
Can you spot a Wolf Spider?

Pest Invasion

So we know the warmer weather is coming… and we know that the pests are coming too!

Our top pests in spring include: spiders, termites, cockroaches, ants, wasps and snake removal!

This is no time to hide under the blankets… it’s time to dust off the outdoor setting, fire up the barbecue and soak up the outdoors with all it’s warmth and sunshine!

Sound good?

It’s might also sound good that you don’t have to experience a home full of spiders and other creepy crawlies this spring or summer! RID Pest Control offer complete spider control and general pest management treatments that will be sure to keep the cob webs away, spiders gone!

Spider Control in Ballarat

RID use only the most effective treatment methods in the control, prevention and treatment of all kinds of spiders including webbing spiders, red back spiders, white tail spiders, black spiders, house spiders and any other kind of web making spider you can expect to see in the Ballarat region.

Our technicians are all qualified and experienced in dealing with spiders all around your home! From colorbond fences to eaves, windows, patios and alfresco areas we will deliver outstanding service and a 100% spider free home with a full service warranty included with our services.

Spring and summer are the perfect times to book in your spider spray and treatment!

RID Pest Control provide Ballarat and it’s surrounds with professional pest control services offering spider control spraying, effective ant treatments, wasp nest eradication, bee swarm and hive removal, snake handling & removal and a host of other pest control services all in high demand right through the warmer months.

Trust Ballarat’s best pest control business – RID Pest Control – truly professional – genuinely local!

Call David, Jo, Brad, Jim, Geoff & Stuart today on 0414 567 977

Red back spider in Ballarat in summer.
Summer Spiders: Red Back Spider in Ballarat. Located on colorbond fencing.

Article by David Ward – RID Pest Control Ballarat – Owner/Operator

 

 

European Wasps

European wasps are an invader! These guys have no natural predator and are very capable of getting through an Australian winter. They thrive at this time of year (Late Summer) and nest sizes are typically approaching their largest size towards the end of summer.

Failing to get onto a wasp nest this season usually means that you’ll be one of the first to find wasps milling around the barbeque or pet food bowls later in the year. We’ve seen active nests as early as late August with the residents telling us the wasps were in the same spot last year but seemed to vanish over winter!

European Wasp Control
European Wasp

This isn’t the case. Wasps have a complex social structure and the Queen will typically live through the colder months with very little need to exit the nest where she’d likely perish in the cold. Tasmania is usually our biggest indicator here in Ballarat. If Tassie has a big and early wasps season we’ll get a similar impact here in Ballarat.

2015 was a significant year for wasps… they were about with incredibly huge numbers and something we don’t see very often at all, in fact not for a least the previous decade had we seen European Wasps in such numbers. What can cause this is warmer than usual winter conditions but also a lack of action by landowners and homeowners in the 2014/15 summer to eradicate or have professionally treated European Wasp nests.

So what makes your home a wasp haven?

There are so many attractive features around many homes in the Ballarat area it’s hard to list them all. What we can suggest is no home is immune from wasp invasion. They will typically make a nest anywhere they want. This could be in the ground or in a roof or wall cavity.

For the foraging wasps that seem to hang around every time you’re outside these tips will help reduce their numbers appearing around your home:

  1. Avoid leaving food scraps laying around. BBQ’s should be cleaned well and sugary drink bottles or cans disposed of after use.
  2. Avoid giving the dog bones during the day. Wasps will be attracted to them. If your dog must enjoy a bone it’s best done at sunset and collected before sunrise.
  3. Don’t over fill the rubbish bin. Wasps will feed in bins with insecure lids.
  4. Cover compost well. Wasps are attracted to the odour and will feed if they can get access.
  5. Water sources are a big attraction because wasps take a lot of water. Tip up empty pots and other water sources, cover pools and keep dogs water bowls in sheltered or covered areas.
  6. Cover exposed food when dining outdoors. Wasps like sweet items but will also eat meat and other food stuff. They’re not fussy!
  7. When drinking from cans or non see through containers be cautious that a wasp hasn’t entered and consequently when you drink it you’ll be stung on the tongue! This can be a serious health emergency due to swelling.

We also commonly observe that soft flowering plants are attractive to wasps and your vegetable garden is an easy target. Wasps will chew the flower buds from capsicum, mill around corn and get amongst tomato crops so take extra care around your vege garden.

How to eradicate European Wasps?

There are many products on the market that are designed to help you DIY pest control wasp problems. Of the hundreds of products we’ve come across I don’t think there is one that provides adequate instructions on doing the job right. Whilst the poison contained within is going to do the job, more often than not it does not because of inadequate or failed application. The key to dealing with European wasp nests is to have the right tools and experience to do the job safely, effectively and without fuss.

RID Pest Control are expert wasp eradicators. We guarantee wasps are GONE the same day, our treatment won’t take several days and you’ll know right away that your home is safe again.

We’ve had calls from clients who’ve gone up to the big green shed and grabbed whatever the ‘expert’ they stumbled across told them works… they went home, tried it…. waited several days and then called us because they had no luck. Almost always it’s because they followed instructions on the label which were inadequate.

We understand that DIY products are emerging to the consumer market at a growing rate but there is no substitute for professional experience, service and knowledge. After all you’re putting yourself at risk by attempting to kill wasps around your home or yard whether you do it at night or in the middle of the day… it’s goes without saying that once disturbed wasps will attack and defend their nest.

European Wasps sting more than once. Unlike bees, they can keep stinging and it’s not uncommon for a single wasps to inflict 3, 4 or even 8 stings within a few centimetres of each other. The real concern is where a heap of worker wasps attack at once and sting you so many times you go into anaphylactic shock and possibly die from the dangerous nature of wasp stings.

RID Pest Control offer urgent and emergency call out appointments for prompt, safe and 100% effective wasp eradication services. Call us on 0414 567 977 for EUROPEAN WASP CONTROL.

European wasp control and eradication in Ballarat, all Ballarat suburbs, Ballan, Daylesford, Avoca, Creswick, Ararat, Beaufort, Lexton, Skipton, Bannockburn, Linton, Meredith,  Lal Lal and all surrounding areas.

Get a wasp pest control quote

 

 

 

RID Pest Control Shop A Docket Campaign Launched

RID Pest Control is undoubtedly Ballarat’s premier Pest Control service, we have grown to capture the largest market share in the region and have recently put additional resources into our continued growth which include marketing, additional units and employing more technicians.

We’ve just launched our latest marketing measure! RID Pest Control offers amazing savings via Shop A Docket coupons and offers.

Our offers will change every month so be sure to flip over your supermarket docket in the Ballarat area and see how you can save today!

Below is our first offer commending on December 29 2017.

 

Termites & Global Warming

Termites and Global Warming

It is an established fact that termites cause more damage in dollar terms worldwide than the combined ravages of fire, flood, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes combined.

Having come to terms with those statistics, we now have to contemplate the notion that termites are also responsible for 18% of the world’s methane output.

Many people mistakenly believe that Methane, (CH4) causes damage to the globe’s Ozone Layer, but the problem is even worse, because methane is responsible for Global Warming, and that is a far more complex and serious problem.

It’s believed that around 38% of the greenhouse gas effect is caused by methane, putting it second on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide. Methane breaks down in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide, ozone, and water, all of which absorb heat. The temperature of the atmosphere rises, the ice caps melt, and before you know it, you’re pumping the South Pacific out of your cellar.

Continue reading “Termites & Global Warming”