Mosquito Control Kensington

Kensington has the feel of an old railway suburb, with modest homes on small plots, corner shops and warehouses never far away. Our work here is mostly rats, cockroaches and pigeons, and how bad each one gets depends a lot on how close you are to the industrial side.

The local picture in Kensington

Pet fleas are the main biting complaint. Bird mites can appear indoors when pigeons nest in the roof and then abandon the nest.

Kensington sits on flat land between Maitland and the Ndabeni and Epping industrial areas, close to the railway lines that run out of the city. There is little natural vegetation, so pests rely on what people leave around. Winter stormwater can back up in older drains, and in summer litter blows along the railway reserve.

Rows of older semi-detached and free-standing houses make up most of the suburb, many with pitched corrugated roofs and backyard rooms built over time. Some are a hundred years old in parts, with timber floors over shallow voids. Factories, workshops and storage units nearby add bigger buildings with loading bays, where rats are never short of a meal.

How to tell you have a problem

1. Itchy, raised bites on arms, face and feet that were left outside the covers.
2. Day-time bites on the ankles while sitting in the garden, which points to Aedes breeding nearby.
3. Small dark mosquitoes resting on shaded walls, under the eaves or behind curtains during the day.
4. A high-pitched whine near your ear just as you fall asleep.
5. Wriggling larvae, sometimes called wigglers, in pond edges, buckets, bird baths or pool covers.
6. Swarms in the evening near a water feature, drain or neglected pool.

From the technician

When our technician arrives, the first thing they check is the gutters. Blocked gutters full of leaves hold water for weeks after rain and are one of the most overlooked breeding sites in Cape Town homes.

How the treatment works

Source reduction always comes first: we walk the property and find every place water collects, from gutters and drains to ponds, water features, plant saucers and covered pools, and tell you which ones to empty, fix or cover. Water that cannot be removed, such as ponds and drains, can be treated with a larvicide or insect growth regulator that stops larvae becoming adults. Adult mosquitoes rest in cool, shaded places during the day, so we apply a residual spray to the undersides of shrubs, hedges, eaves, patio ceilings and other resting areas. For events or heavy problems, ULV fogging can knock down adult numbers quickly, but it only works properly when combined with dealing with the breeding sites.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our mosquito control service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Keep pool water circulating and treated, and drain the water that collects on top of pool covers.
• Clean gutters after winter so they do not hold water through summer.
• Fit mosquito screens to bedroom windows and use a net over cots in summer.
• Stock ornamental ponds with small fish that eat larvae, and keep water features running.
• Store old tyres, tins and containers under cover or throw them away.

How much will it cost?

Cost depends on the size of the property, how many breeding sites there are and whether larger water bodies such as ponds or drains need treating. A once-off treatment is priced differently from a programme of visits through the summer season. Fogging for an event is quoted on the size of the area, and the quote itself is free.

Mosquitoes start building up once the weather warms in October and peak from December to March, especially after a wet winter has filled ponds, vleis and gutters. Calm, humid evenings are the worst, while the strong south-easter actually keeps them down on windy days. Numbers drop sharply when the cold, wet winter sets in from about May.

Mosquito Control questions from Kensington

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