Pest Control in Crook

Crook is a former mining town sitting on a ridge in the hills of west Durham, surrounded by open farmland and moorland. The town grew around the coal industry and the terraced rows that housed mining families still make up a large part of the residential fabric along the main roads and the streets off Hope Street, Church Street and the High Street area. These Victorian and Edwardian terraces have shared cavity walls, connected roof spaces and suspended timber floors and this interconnected construction makes them easy for mice to move through. Mouse control is a year-round need in Crook and the town's hilltop exposure to cold Pennine winds means mice push hard to get indoors from early autumn.

The streams and burns that drain the surrounding hills run through and around the town and brown rats follow these watercourses into the built-up area. The rough ground and overgrown former colliery sites scattered through the landscape provide additional habitat and rat activity is common in the residential streets that border these areas. Allotments and gardens with compost heaps, bird feeders and pet food also attract rats and we see a pattern of activity that peaks in the colder months but never fully drops away.

The surrounding moorland and farmland bring grey squirrels and field mice close to the edge of town and these animals head for buildings as the season turns. Wasp nests appear in the roof voids and outbuildings of the older properties throughout the summer and we handle wasp nest removals from June through to September. Crook's position in the Durham hills means the growing season is shorter and the winters longer than in the lowlands, but pests adapt to those conditions just as the town has done. Our technicians cover Crook and the surrounding villages of Willington, Tow Law, Billy Row and Howden-le-Wear.