Pest Control in Mowbray

Living with pests in Mowbray

A lot of the housing is Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached cottages and terraces, many converted into student lets or split into rooms. Shared walls, old suspended timber floors and crumbling air bricks give rodents and cockroaches easy movement between homes. Blocks of flats near Main Road add shared ducts and bin rooms. The commercial strip around the station has takeaways and small grocers with busy back yards.

The Liesbeek River runs along the eastern side, joining the Black River near the Observatory boundary, and its banks are a natural highway for rats. Table Mountain's Devil's Peak side rises behind Groote Schuur, bringing heavy winter rainfall and damp walls. Old stormwater drains under the streets connect the river to the houses.

The pests we get called out for most in Mowbray

Rats are the top call, especially in houses near the river and the Main Road shops. German cockroaches are rife in shared kitchens of student houses. Bed bugs and fleas move with tenants and their furniture, and fishmoths like the damp older homes.

Rats and mice

Norway rats burrow along the Liesbeek banks and move into homes through broken air bricks and under floors. Roof rats use the overhead cables and trees along the narrow streets.

Cockroaches, ants and other crawlers

German cockroaches spread fast in shared kitchens and through the walls of semis. Fishmoths, ants and garden spiders are steady background visitors.

Flies, mosquitoes and wasps

Mosquitoes breed in slow pools along the river in late summer. Flies cluster around the takeaway bins near the station.

Fleas and bed bugs

Bed bugs often arrive with second-hand mattresses and furniture at the start of the academic year. Fleas show up when a house with pets changes hands or tenants.

Wood borer and timber

Old pine floorboards, skirtings and roof timbers in the Victorian cottages are prime territory for common furniture beetle. A beetle certificate inspection before buying here is well worth it.

Pantry pests

Student kitchens with half-open bags of pasta and cereal collect weevils and pantry moths. Corner shops and food outlets need regular checks of their storerooms.

Hygiene and disinfection

Landlords commonly book a disinfection between student tenancies, and food outlets near the station benefit from routine sanitising. Shared bathrooms in digs are worth including.

Birds

Pigeons roost around the station and on shopfront ledges along Main Road. Egyptian geese use the river banks and nearby fields but rarely cause trouble at houses.

How a visit works

We start with an inspection, because the right answer for ants is different from the right answer for rats, and guessing wastes money. Where we can, we go least-toxic first: gel baits for cockroaches and ants, tamper-resistant bait stations and snap traps for rodents, and insect growth regulators that break the breeding cycle. Residual sprays and dusts are applied only where they are needed, such as wall voids, cracks and roof spaces, not sprayed across every surface. Proofing is part of the job, so we point out or seal the gaps that let pests in. You get a post-treatment report so you know what was used and where.

Everything we treat in Mowbray

Questions from Mowbray

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