Pest Control Hindhead

Pest Control in Hindhead

Hindhead sits high up on the Surrey-Hampshire border in the GU26 postcode, surrounded by the heathland and woodland of the Devil's Punch Bowl and Hindhead Common. The village is perched on one of the highest points in Surrey and the National Trust land around it creates a wild and beautiful setting. The housing is spread along the main roads and scattered through the trees, with a mix of Victorian and Edwardian houses, 1930s builds and some more modern properties. That woodland and heathland setting drives the pest picture here. Grey squirrels are common in the extensive tree cover and squirrel problems in roof spaces are among the most frequent call-outs. They get in by chewing through fascia boards and soffits or finding gaps where branches overhang the roofline.

Brown rats are active along the streams and ditches that drain the common and through the rougher ground at the edges of the woodland. From there they move into gardens and outbuildings, especially during the wetter months. The larger gardens in Hindhead often have compost heaps, wood stores and outbuildings that provide shelter for rats. Mice are a constant issue, particularly in the older properties where the original construction has developed gaps over the years. The exposed position of the village means buildings take a battering from weather and tiles lift, mortar cracks and gaps open up around windows and doors more quickly than in more sheltered locations.

The heathland around the Punch Bowl supports ground-nesting wasps through the summer and nests in the sandy soil are common along paths and garden borders. Above-ground nests in lofts and sheds are just as regular. The opening of the Hindhead Tunnel took the A3 traffic underground and made the village much quieter, but it did not change the pest pressures that come with being surrounded by some of the most extensive heathland and woodland in southern England.