What pests does a Stil Bay house actually get? Mostly ants, cockroaches, flies, fleas and rats or mice, with the mix shifting through the year. We treat all of them, for people who live here full-time and for owners who only open up the house in season. Here's what tends to turn up, when, and what we do about it.
A year in a Stil Bay house
Winter, when the town goes quiet
Rodents are the main concern once the holidaymakers have gone. A house with nobody in it, and a few bags of pet food or bird seed left in the garage, is an easy winter home for mice. Rats look for the roof. Owners often only find out months later, when they open the front door to the smell.
Spring
As the weather warms up, ants get busy and start sending trails indoors towards anything sweet. Fleas pick up too, especially where there are dogs or cats, or where a pet has been staying at the house.
December and January
Full houses mean more cooking, more rubbish and more doors left open. Cockroaches do well in busy kitchens, flies gather around bins and braai areas, and ants find the sugar bowl within a day of the family arriving.
Closing up again
When everyone leaves, they leave crumbs, half-used packets and full bins behind. Flour and pasta that sit in a cupboard until next season are a common source of weevils and pantry moths.
Fish, braais and flies
A lot of people come to Stil Bay to fish, and fish cleaning is one of the biggest fly and rodent attractions around a coastal home. Offcuts in a kitchen bin can draw blowflies within hours in summer, and rats will tear open a bag left outside overnight. The local tip that works: bag the scraps and keep them in the freezer until bin day, and hose down the cleaning table and braai area when you're done rather than the next morning.
Signs something has moved in while you were away
- Droppings on counters, in drawers or along the pantry shelves
- Ant trails running from a window frame or plug point towards the kitchen
- Small moths around the pantry, or tiny beetles in an open packet
- Dogs or cats scratching more than usual after a few days at the house
- Dead flies on the windowsills, which can point to something rotting nearby
How we work
Every job starts with an inspection to find out why the pests are there, whether that's an entry point, a hiding place or a food source. Then we treat to match:
- Ants: baits that the workers carry back to the nest, so the colony goes, not just the trail on the counter.
- Cockroaches: gel baits in the cracks where they shelter, plus a barrier outside.
- Crawling insects in general: odourless, non-staining residual sprays inside and out.
- Rats and mice: lockable bait stations, traps or tracking powder, plus advice on sealing up the way in, and sanitising once they're gone.
- Weevils and pantry moths: clearing out the infested food and treating the cupboards. Larger stores may need fumigation.
For a normal treatment you don't need to unpack the cupboards or move out, and everything is safe for children and pets once it's dry. Because the sprays are odourless, there's no chemical smell waiting for guests either.
Where people go wrong
They treat when they arrive instead of before they leave. By the time the family walks in for the holidays, the mice have had a whole winter and the cockroaches have been breeding undisturbed for months. A treatment just before you lock up, with bait stations left in place, means the house is in far better shape when you come back.
How much will it cost?
It depends on what we're treating, the size of the property, how long the problem has been building, whether any proofing is needed and whether follow-up visits are part of it. Travel out from our George office is part of the picture too. A single ant treatment in a small house is a modest job. A rodent problem in a large holiday home, or regular pest control for a guesthouse or restaurant, is a bigger one, and commercial clients usually go onto a service contract. If a few shop-bought ant baits will sort out your problem, we'll say so.
For more detail on specific pests in town, see cockroach control, rodent control and insect control in Stil Bay.
We're SAPCA registered, we've worked in the Garden Route for more than 25 years and our treatments come with a 3-month guarantee. Call 044 012 5011 and tell us what you're seeing, and when the house is next occupied.
Questions we get asked
Do you come out to Stil Bay?
Yes, Stil Bay is part of the area we cover from our office in George. Let us know where the house is and when someone can give us access.
Can you treat the house before we lock up for the winter?
Yes, and it's often the best time. We can treat for insects and leave lockable bait stations in place for rodents while the house stands empty.
Will there be a smell when guests arrive?
No, the residual sprays we use are odourless and non-staining. Once they've dried, guests won't notice anything.
Do you work for guesthouses and restaurants in Stil Bay?
Yes, we do commercial pest control as well as homes. Busy kitchens and accommodation usually do best on a regular service contract.
What does the 3-month guarantee cover?
If the pests we treated for come back within three months, we come back and re-treat them at no extra cost.