I’m a pest control expert – here are the worst things I’ve been called out to deal with on Christmas Day
A PEST control expert has told of the horrifying things he’s been called out to deal with on Christmas Day.
Stuart Halliday, 42, owner of Kill and Cure Pest Control, says mice and rats are the number one thing families should be worried about during the festive season.
And he’s seen more than enough pests during his 26 years working in the business.
He told The Sun: “Over Christmas people are leaving out much more food than usual.
“We’re putting out Roses and Quality Streets on the table and we fill up our waste bins quicker. It just means we’re giving extra food sources to mice.
“People are also leaving food out for Santa Claus. I’ve been called several times because people have woken up on Christmas morning to find that it wasn’t Father Christmas who ate what they left out – it was mice.
“It’s the time of year we have to be most careful. You have friends and family who open doors and windows and all of a sudden they’ve let things in.
“Mice and rats will just walk in – it’s cold and wet outside and inside is dry and warm.”
Even Christmas Day isn’t a day off for Stuart, who has had to rush out to customers’ homes to deal with rodents in previous years.
He explained: “One time a woman burnt her turkey, so she opened up her back door to let the smoke out.
“She came back in the kitchen half an hour later and there was a rat eating her Christmas pudding. It wouldn’t leave and she was horrified and called me in.
“I couldn’t catch it – I had to shoot it on the kitchen counter. The pellet went through the rat and into the Christmas cake
“They couldn’t eat it after that – it had a poison pellet and rat brains in it.
“I’ve also been called out when people have had their big meal and left the plates on the table.
“One man then went and had a nap on the couch and woke up to a mouse sitting on his belly.
“People get a bit lax, they have a few too many sherries and then they let their guard down. People just have to be a bit more wary this time of year.”