Pest control in Shere for plots and smallholdings

Pest control in Shere is mostly plot work: rats and mice in feed rooms and outbuildings, ticks and fleas on dogs and horses, harvester termites stripping the grazing, flies around stables and scorpions under rocks and wood piles. Combat Pest Control serves Shere from Johannesburg, and we plan every visit around the whole stand, not just the house.

What makes Shere different

Shere sits east of Pretoria, beyond the estates of Pretoria East, where the suburbs give way to agricultural holdings. Stands are big. Most have a main house, a cottage or flat, a garage or workshop, and often stables, chicken runs, kennels or a vegetable patch. Between the plots there is open Highveld grassland and bush that has never been built on.

That mix is exactly what pests like. Open veld supplies a steady stream of field mice, ticks and termites. Animal feed, bird seed and dog food give rodents a reason to stay. Long dry winters push insects and rodents indoors looking for warmth, and the summer storms bring ants, flies and flying termites out in force. A plot in Shere will never be pest-free in the way a flat in town can be, so the goal is control: keep pests out of the house and the stores, and keep numbers low outside.

The pests that matter most on Shere plots

Rats and mice in outbuildings

Feed rooms, tack rooms and garages are where rodent trouble usually starts. Rats chew through bags, foul the feed and then follow pipes and roof gaps into the house. We place lockable, tamper-resistant bait stations around the outbuildings and along walls, set traps in roof spaces, and point out where feed storage is feeding the problem. Our page on rodent control around Johannesburg and Gauteng explains the method in more depth.

Ticks and fleas

Dogs that run free on a plot pick up ticks in the long grass, and the ticks then drop off in kennels, on verandas and in the house. Fleas build up in the same places. Treating the dog alone rarely solves it. We treat the kennel, bedding areas, lawn edges and paved surfaces at the same time you treat the animals with your vet's product, so the cycle is broken in one go.

Harvester termites in grazing

Bare patches in a paddock or lawn, with small holes and cut grass pieces scattered around them, are the classic sign of harvester termites. They cut and carry grass underground, and in a dry year they can strip grazing badly. Subterranean termites are a separate risk to timber in buildings, especially older outbuildings with wooden frames.

Flies, scorpions and spiders

Stables and chicken runs breed flies through summer. Scorpions shelter under rocks, logs, bricks and building rubble, which most plots have somewhere. Spiders follow the insects into sheds and onto stoeps. A residual barrier around the house, combined with tidying the hiding places close to the walls, keeps most of them outside.

How a visit to a Shere plot works

We walk the plot first. That means the house, the roof space where we can reach it, outbuildings, feed stores, kennels and the edge of the veld. Most of what we find is about access and food: a gap under a workshop door, feed stored in bags on the floor, a compost heap against the cottage wall. Then we treat what needs treating and explain what you can change.

Treatments are odourless and non-staining, and you can stay on the property throughout. Keep children, dogs and horses off sprayed surfaces until they are dry. Bait stations are locked, so a curious dog or a chicken cannot get at the bait. On larger plots we often set up a scheduled monitoring visit so the stations are checked and refilled before the population rebuilds.

A common mistake on smallholdings

Many plot owners scatter loose rat poison in the feed room or on the ground. It feels like action, but it puts dogs, cats, owls and chickens at risk, and the rats that survive learn to avoid it. Bait belongs in locked stations, placed where rats run and away from where animals feed.

A Shere tip: store feed off the floor

Move feed, seed and dog food into metal bins or sealed drums on a raised pallet, and sweep up spills each evening. Rats on a plot follow food more than anything else. Take that away from the outbuildings and the bait stations do far more work.

What it costs and why

A plot costs more to treat than a suburban house because there is simply more to treat: outbuildings, stables, kennels and a long perimeter. The main drivers are the size of the stand, how many buildings need attention, which pests are involved, and if a once-off treatment will do or regular monitoring makes more sense. Travel out to Shere is part of the picture too. Each page shows a guide "from" price, and our pest control price guide explains how quotes are built. If a single wasp nest or a few ants is all you have, we'll say so honestly.

Combat Pest Control is run by Jason van Heerden, who has 25 years of experience in pest control. We are SAPCA registered and registered with the Department of Agriculture under Act 36 of 1947, we offer service within 24 hours, and general treatments carry a 3-month guarantee. We also cover pest control in Silver Lakes and nearby Mamelodi, and our main Johannesburg pest control page shows everything we treat.

To book a visit to your plot, call 084 200 2700, or WhatsApp us a photo of the droppings, bite marks or damage and we'll tell you what you're dealing with.