Our client had called reporting rats running in his house. He had called in the local council but was not too impressed with their approach to the situation, and he therefore requested a second opinion. When we arrived the elderly gentleman spared no detail as he proceeded to explain the situation to us.

We inspected all corners of the property to determine if the rats were just using the property for their food shopping or if they had bigger plans to set up residency in the flat.

It did not take long to find evidence of nesting! As we looked behind the sofa that the chap was happily sitting on, we noted a lot of debris which resembled chewed foam and fabric. The gentleman got up to allow us to pull the sofa out from the wall. As we did, a rather large well-fed Rat jumped out from within the frame of the sofa, ran directly over the trainees feet, much to his shock and my amusement. It then darted across the floor and down a hole in the floor it must have made earlier.

On further investigation, we discovered that the rats had not only built a nest under the seating area of the item, their entrance and exit was approximately 2 inches away from the gentleman normally parks his bottom! We asked the chap “were you not aware of any signs that this may have been going on” to which he replied “Well, I did feel some movement underneath my seat last night but just presumed it was a touch of wind!!”

It seems that with reports in the press of  increases of Rodent activity, it would appear that they are not satisfied with intruding into our homes to steal our fruit and bread, they are now brazen enough to become flat mates and then have the cheek to insist on sharing our creature comforts too. How long before they gain control of the TV remote control?!

On a happier note, we cleared that rat problem and by working together with Rentokil Hygiene Division, we utilised a Drain Inspection Camera which located the source of the infestation: a broken mains drain beneath the property. We cleaned his sofa and removed all the dangerous bacteria and even got him a quote from an upholsterer to repair the damage. Pests eliminated, source found then sealed and everything returned to its original state. One happy customer. Plus an even happier trainee technician with an experience he will re-tell down the pub for many years to come.

So next time you feel a vibration in your seat, just ask yourself : “Are you sure that was just a loose spring?”

Read another pest sofa story here – do you have any of your own to tell us about?

What Lies Beneath is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

It was a nice thing for the trainee to do though. There were some awkward spaces and the rats were kind of in an air vent thing which was difficult to get to. He is doing OK, he is reading the training material and learning quickly but it’s important to bring common sense into it and put it into practical terms. Technicians eventually take stage 1 BPCA accredited training and HD Technicians take stage 2. To be honest I think this is a bit unfair. It would be better if the stage 2 was optional to everyone. HD Techs look after High Dependency customers.

There have been a lot of visits to get through because we are coming to the end of the quarter and to get best state of service all clients must have had most of their premises done. I plan what I have to do using a PDA and paper copies in case the PDA doesn’t work. There are also client’s reports so there is some paperwork to do. If you keep everything up to date and running it’s a lot easier. There could be a lot of paperwork to do if you didn’t. I think I have about 1700 routines for my patch over the year!

(Read: New Tech on the Block)

My Patch as a Rentokil Technician is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog

It slows you down a bit because you have to take time to explain everything but it’s the best way to learn from a practical point of view. I did it myself at the beginning, was a good way of learning stuff from people.

(Read: Radar? Check!)

New Tech on the Block is a post from: deBugged - The Rentokil Blog