Pest Control in Thame

Thame is a thriving market town in south Oxfordshire with one of the widest High Streets in England. The town centre has a lovely mix of timber-framed, brick and stone buildings that give it real character and these older properties bring the kind of pest problems that come with age. The lime mortar in the older walls wears away over time, creating gaps where mice squeeze through. The timber frames of the medieval buildings can shrink and warp over the centuries, opening up spaces between the frame and the infill panels that mice use as entry points and routes through the building. The pubs and restaurants along the High Street create food waste that attracts rodents to the service areas and back yards.

The River Thame runs along the southern edge of the town and the meadows and ditches along the river create habitat where rats are active year-round. Properties on the streets closest to the river and on the southern side of town see the most rat activity, with the animals moving between the waterside cover and the gardens and outbuildings nearby. The allotments and the green spaces around the Cattle Market area also provide food and shelter for rats. When the River Thame floods, which happens after heavy rain, rats are pushed up from the meadows into the residential streets.

Thame has grown with new housing developments on the north and east sides of town, built on farmland that previously supported large numbers of rodents. These newer estates see plenty of mouse activity through cavity walls and around service entries and wasp nests are common across both the old town and the new developments through summer. The surrounding farmland means agricultural pest pressure is always present, with rats and field mice moving closer to the town from October onwards as the fields are cleared and the cold weather arrives.