See us at Stand 76 -The Business Generator
Date: 8am – 4pm, Tuesday November 16th 2010
Venue: Meadowside Leisure Centre, High Street, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1TL
Lichfield10k Road Race
This year the annual Lichfield10k event is sponsored by Midland Pest Control Ltd, a family run pest control company, which is celebrating its Tenth year in business in by expanding its Birmingham base and opening a new office on Station Road in Lichfield.
Keen amateur runner Ruth Hurley, Financial Director and co-owner of Midland Pest Control, came up with the idea of celebrating their company 10 year anniversary with themes relating to the number 10 and explains: “celebrating pest control is a tricky one - not many clients want to shout about the fact they’ve had a problem with ants or rodents, it’s just not savoury, but we wanted to mark the occasion as well as celebrating the launch of our new office in Lichfield. Having run the Lichfield 10k last year and being impressed by the level of professionalism of the event my husband and co-owner of Midland Pest Control, Steve Hurley, suggested we sponsored the event this year. I have signed up a team of ten friends and colleagues, some willing, some not so, to come and run on the day – so the pressure is on for team MPC!”
Ruth and Steve are excited about their newly opened Lichfield based Midland Pest Control office, as Steve Hurley comments, “this is a great opportunity for the company to expand into a wider market and it’s an area we have both grown up in so we have a real sense of ‘coming home’. We are opportunely ‘open for business’ just as the wasp season has got under way! We offer a fast and effective service which is completely safe for use in and around any home environment. Midland Pest Control Ltd's approach is quick, efficient and discreet. Neither vehicles nor uniforms carry the words ‘pest control”.
Midland Pest Control offers a comprehensive range of pest control and prevention services, from removing wasp nests and rodents to eradicating pigeons and the potential health risks as a result. As a full member of the British Pest Control Association, the only auditing body of the pest control industry all Midland Pest Control Ltd technicians are thoroughly trained in all aspects of pest control. For further details visit their website www.midlandpestcontrol.co.uk or call Freephone 0800 542 8412.
Giant Rats or Coypu?
To listen to the live discussion regarding giant rats and the rat population throughout the Midlands area between the Managing Director of Midland Pest Control Ltd, Steve Hurley, and Danny Kelly of BBC WM on Thursday 19 April 2010 at 3.45pm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p009chwr/Danny_Kelly_19_08_2010/
King rat: Two-and-a-half-foot 'ratzilla' shot on estate as super-sized rodents are found in UK
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:38 PM on 19th August 2010
When Brandon Goddard picked up an air rifle and went 'ratting' with mates at a rodent-plagued estate, he had no idea that he would come face-to-face with a 30-inch monster.
The 31-year-old cleaning firm manager today told of the terrifying moment when five huge rats burst out from behind a wall - each about the size of a large cat - and galloped past him.
And he said: 'They were more like "ratzillas" than rats.'
Invasion of the Giant Rats!
By ALASTAIR TAYLOR
Published: The Sun Newspaper 19/08/2010
HORRIFIED neighbours told yesterday how their homes are being invaded by giant rats - including a 30-INCH LONG monster that was shot dead.
The rodents, twice the size of common types, are plaguing an estate in Bradford, West Yorks, often appearing in kitchens and lounges.
It is feared some could be "super rats" from South America.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3102460/Invasion-of-the-giant-rats-in-Bradford.html
The Coypu
The Coypu is a large semi-aquatic rodent which is native to South America. It was introduced to the British Isles in 1929 when fur farms were set up in Sussex, Hampshire, Devon and Norfolk. The farms were sited mainly in lowland areas which are rich in rivers and streams. During the 1930's coypus escaped from captivity and despite repeated attempts to control them, they have adapted well to their new British habitat, breeding extremely successfully in the countryside of East Anglia. Today the Coypu, along with the Grey Squirrel, are a constant reminder of the folly of introducing foreign species into a new country without fully considering the consequences.
Superficially the Coypu and the Brown Rat are rather similar in appearance, hardly surprising as they are both rodents. But the blunt square shape of the coypu's muzzle and it's webbed feet clearly distinguish it, not to mention it's size. In fact it is one of the largest rodents in the world exceeded only by the South American Capybara (more about that later). The picture below highlights some of the differences:
Biology:
Size: The Coypu is about 1 metre (39 inches) in length from the end of it's muzzle to the tip of it's round scaly tail. The tail alone accounts for about one third of it's length. It has short rounded ears, and small eyes that are set high on the head (like those of a beaver) so that it can see clearly whilst swimming.
Weight: Adult males weigh about 7kg (15.5lbs) though some have known to reach 9kgs with the female about 1kg lighter.
Colour: The coypu's fur is specially adapted to keep it warm and dry in winter. Long, coarse guard hairs conceal and protect the soft velvety under fur. This under fur, known as nutria (Spanish for otter) in the fur trade, is the reason why the coypu was bred in this country. The general colour of the coypu's guard hairs is dark reddish or yellowish brown, masking the slate grey nutria. The tip of its muzzle and chin have white hairs and whiskers.
Breeding Season: Breeding is continuous throughout the year.
Gestation Period: This lasts for four and a half months.
Number of litters/Year: Working out the sums...only two.
No of young/litter: This is usually 2 - 9 per litter.
Food: This animal eats plants, including; grasses, sedges, reeds, water parsnip, reed -mace and even water lilies.
Predators: The young are taken by foxes, stoats, dogs etc.
Distribution: East Anglia.
One sign that coypus are about is their burrows. These are often made in ditches or soak-dykes that lie behind many of the raised banks in the Norfolk Broads, and sometimes extend for 5 metres or more. The burrow entrance is usually at river level and there may be more than one exit, the first leading onto the land and others leading back into the water. Coypus usually emerge from their burrows and become active just before sunset, returning underground again just before sunrise. In Britain they do feed during the day which is not the case in S. America. Within their home range the establish continuous runways through the vegetation on which they feed, eventually circling back to the water again - still under cover of the vegetation. On land they move slowly, with a crouching gait. But if disturbed they will bound away rapidly.
The picture above shows mum and baby for, like rabbits, coypu are prolific breeders. Their gestation period however is long for a rodent. From above it lasts for four and a half months, so just two litters a year are produced. Each litter consists of from two to nine young which are born fully furred and with their eyes open, a distinct advantage. They can move about within a few hours of birth. Longer gestation times in the animal kingdom usually mean that the young are more prepared to face the world when they are born. This is not the case with a human because our systems are more complicated and also human babies need the time with their parents to learn as they grow and to program the brain.
The mother coypus nipples are situated high on the sides of her body so the young can ride on her back and suckle while she is in the water. On land they feed on either side of their mother as she lies on her stomach. The young are weaned after seven or eight weeks, but mature at different times, depending on sex. The females are sexually mature when three to five months and the males when five to seven months old.
The adults have only man to fear, or sometimes dogs, the young can fall prey to foxes, weasels, stoats, otters, brown rats, dogs, owls, herons and hawks. Similarly, although a cold winter may take a heavy toll of young coypus - they die of starvation and exposure - nearly all of the adults survive. The population is reduced or contained because the females abort their litters in a severe winter; after losing a litter in this way a female will not bear young again until the following June or July.