Defender® Installer of the Month | February | Bruce Environmental Services

Defender® Bird Spikes Installer of the Month winner for February is Bruce Environmental Services for a fabulous install using the Defender Curved Ridge Spike. Huge congratulations to them!

Bruce Environmental Services hails from Inverness and has been covering the entire Highlands and Moray area of Scotland for over 10 years. They are a family-run pest control business run by husband and wife team, Lee and Livvy Bruce. Livvy runs the office, taking calls, booking jobs in and scheduling Lee who is out on the road carrying out the pest control jobs. He has a vast amount of experience, holds the Advanced Pest Controller qualification and is continually developing his understanding of pest control, legislation, latest products and information. As we all know, pest control is an incredibly interesting and rewarding subject as there are never 2 jobs the same. When Lee and Livvy can finish a job knowing they are leaving the customer is happy, it makes the work worthwhile. Customer satisfaction is the key to Bruce Environmental Services.

Bird control is their speciality but they cover all pests from insects, rodents, moles and rabbits, not only for domestic properties but also offering commercial contracts providing customised pest management plans tailored to the establishment.

Lets take a look at the particular job that won Bruce Environmental Services this award. The owners of the property had been "pestered " by pigeons for many years. The pigeons would sit on top of the roof ridge causing a build-up of guano on the tiles below which required regular roof cleaning. The owners of the property were having sleepless nights due to the noise of the birds scrabbling around under the solar panels.

Lee cleaned off the bird guano from the ridge tiles using the spray disinfectant, Germ Clear. This will kill off any harmful pathogens that might be harbouring in the pigeon guano. Then Defender® Curved Ridge Spikes were installed the entire length of the property roof to prevent the pigeons from being able to perch here in the future, saving the customer money on regular roof cleans. As we know, removing birds from the ridge tiles, often means the birds abandon the property altogether. These particular spikes use the extra long pins that deter seagulls as well as pigeons. The bases have integral anti-topple stabilisers which keep the spikes in place while the silicone cures and ensures the most determined bird won’t be able to move them during this time.

We asked Lee and Livvy why they chose Defender® Bird Spikes, to which they answered ‘Quite simply put, we feel that the Defender® bird spikes are the best materials on the market for bird proofing. When we quote for a job, we advise our customers we only use the best products available. Not only are the materials of great quality, the price is very competitive. The Defender® gull spike is our go to product on any gull proofing job. I know they work well and last for many years.’ Well, you can't argue with that!

Finally, we love to ask our tradies for a funny pest control story. Lee remembers on one occasion being called out to a commercial contract who had never had any pest problems in the 20+ years of trading. One morning, a field mouse was found on the shopfloor hiding under a crate. No evidence of pest activity was found to support that the rodent had been living in the store or that it had been there long. As the mouse was found near the front door of the premises, he decided to review the CCTV. They saw a farmer walking into the store after just cultivating his field and a mouse jumped out of the farmer's pocket and ran straight under the crate. It was clear that the farmer had no idea it was in his pocket as he continued shopping, oblivious to the mouse. The mouse was caught and released without any further issues and the farmer saw the funny side when he was informed and told to check his pockets in the future.

If you have a bird or pest problem and are in the Highlands & Moray area of Scotland, don’t hesitate to contact Bruce Environmental Services to advise and help you solve your bird or pest issue.