Having fully stocked my van the previous Friday, I set off on a 50-minute journey to a food production client to carry out of their monthly service visit. With me is my chocolate Labrador Bailey who, now the weather has cooled, accompanies me a couple days a week. 

I have a short meeting with the company rep to see if they have any concerns regarding their BRC inspection the previous week. Pest control passed with flying colours once again so back to the van to kit up with poisons for the external control point checks. 

The company is based on a large industrial estate where Prokill is responsible for the external servicing of the majority of the buildings as well as internal services of a number of companies based there. Due to the surrounding fields and dykes, the estate has a year-round problem with rodents. 

That done I head off to check the inside traps. We don’t use poison internally due to audit regulations so only snap traps in boxes. As part of the insect control, every second mouse box has an insect glue trap attached to the base. These, plus the numerous moth pots located throughout the warehouse, must be checked. Any activity found during the service visit must be noted for later recording on the various ‘activity’ records contained within the service record book.  

Due to it being a quarterly visit, there are a number of extra tasks over and above those of a normal monthly visit.

All the electronic fly killer glue boards must be changed and all catches recorded so it’s back to the van to restock before setting off with my ladder to get it all done before lunchtime. Bailey gently wags her tail and looks pointedly at the glove box where her lunchtime treats are hidden! 

Just over three hours later and it’s up to the office to complete the paperwork and discuss any issues. Due to a previous incident where a potential threat was discovered on a delivery pallet, the need for a dedicated quarantine area and sample tent were discussed as well as a request for Prokill to supply a Pest Awareness session for all the staff. That done and all paperwork completed, Bailey gets a quick run and a handful of treats before we head off to service a large meeting venue in the centre of Cambridge. 

Straightforward and simple, the service visit takes just over an hour to complete with a request from the client to supply two electronic fly killers for the kitchen. A dead mouse found in the cellar matched the location of one seen by a member of staff running in through a propped open door the previous day. 

Advice given about the need to keep the doors closed and a thorough inspection of the area to check for other possible ingress points completed, we once again hit the road - this time to a possible bed bug infestation in a domestic property. 

Sure enough, we find bed bugs hidden behind the headboard in the main bedroom and a quick history check with the client revealed she had come back from Spain the week before and had suffered what she thought were mosquito bites in the hotel she was staying in.

Notoriously difficult to eradicate, I try to manage my client’s expectations and advise her of the actions she must take prior to treatment starting. All agreed and an appointment made to carry out the initial treatment the next day, we head off to our next call of suspected rodents in a loft. 

Sure enough, a thorough inspection reveals numerus mouse droppings and I start the first treatment phase before completing the paperwork with the client and heading off home.

It has been non-stop but it’s all in the day of a Prokill pest controller.