It is common around the holidays for families to stock up on lots of extra food. There will likely be people visiting and staying for days at a time, so the best thing to do is buy as much as you can to avoid going back and forth to the supermarket in and out of the cold weather. Before you know it, your entire pantry is full, and you are ready for all of your guests. But there could possibly be a few unwanted guests who were patiently waiting for you to fill up the cupboards – destructive pests. Most people realize that there is a chance that rats and mice will invade a pantry easily if it is not kept tidy. They are great climbers and will get into anything they can claw through, such as a bag of pancake mix. But insects such as beetles are also very attracted to the food we normally store around the holidays, such as cereal and boxed pasta. There are also what are called Indian meal moths that can show up spontaneously. They can only live for about a month, but in a weeks’ time a female can lay a couple hundred eggs where you keep your edible goods. The best thing to do to keep rodents and pests away is to basically just keep everything clean. Sure, you may disinfect your countertops and keep dishes out of the sink, and that is all good. But the pantry is a different place that is darker most of the time, so you have to be a little proactive to keep pests out of there. Before you go to the store and stock up on holiday food, remove everything from your pantry and cupboards, and give those normally ignored areas a good cleaning from the inside out. While you are doing so, keep an eye out for any holes, cracks, or other openings that you may not have noticed before. If after you do this you still notice traces of pests, call an experienced exterminator to help you eliminate them from your home. When the winter of the year approaches, you need to be aware that there are always wild animals out there that are looking for food and shelter. And, if your home is not sealed up where they can’t get in, you will eventually begin to hear scratching or scurrying sounds in your attic or down in your basement. Also, you may notice droppings that have been left behind by a species of wild animal that has recently invaded your home. There are a few kinds to be aware of in the colder months, ones that are somewhat more aggressive than others. Raccoons are probably the most aggressive wild pest that you could ever encounter. They are always digging through trash cans (their efficient hands help them to remove the lid off the can and ruffle through trash easily), and they will leave a big mess behind. Not only are they destructive, but they carry fleas and ticks as well. So, if you have a pet in your home, such as a dog or cat, your animal could possibly attain them from the wild species that has come in. There are other types as well, such as roof rats. These rodents reproduce at a high rate. Squirrels are also prone to invading the upper parts of your home, as well as bats. Do an inspection of your home to seal up the holes and/or cracks that you find, make sure all trash near your home is carried off, and be sure that the areas where you cook and grill outside are clean. You also should be sure to not leave bird food or pet food out in the open where these wild animals can find it. If you still have pests around after you have taken these steps, contact a professional exterminator, they’ll take care of the problem so that you can rest assured knowing your home is pest free. When the bedbug epidemic began to return to the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s, people were confused as to where they all came from all of a sudden. Out of the blue there were reports of hotels and residences being overran by these very irritating insects, and no one seemed to know how to prevent them from getting into their home or business. Hotel owners had to deal with websites that listed them as bedbug infested lodging facilities (websites that got lots of hits on a daily basis) and homeowners or renters complained to their landlords repeatedly. Is there anything you can do to stop bedbugs from getting in? At the outset of the spontaneous bedbug return, many folks began to look at home remedies that could be used against them. One of the most popular ones was the use of isopropyl alcohol. This was not only used to heal up the physical bites that they got from the bugs, but also to clean the areas in the building where they reside. Putting alcohol in a spray bottle and saturating the areas where you spot them (on your mattress, in drawers, etc.) will run them out of there. Natural remedies became increasingly popular, especially the use of lavender. Although many of us enjoy the smell of it, bedbugs cannot stand it! If you spray your bed’s box frame and mattress with lavender oil, the chances drop of them trying to infest those areas. You can do the same with tea tree oil, it has the same effect on them. If you think your clothing has been invaded by bedbugs, wash them in hot water and dry them in very hot heat. Although these natural remedies can work, to be sure any bed bug infestation is taken care of properly, it is best to call an experienced exterminator to help you to get rid those nasty critters once and for all. One of the most irritating pests on the planet is bedbugs. Why? Because people never see them coming until they have already been deluged. By the time the person knows anything, they are already scratching what they think may be bites from other insects, such as mosquitos. But, the truth of the matter is the parasitic bedbugs have quietly bitten and sucked blood from your body while you were deep in your slumber. They are known to attack in the wee hours of the morning according to experts, but no matter what time they come out the results are always the small, reddish bumps wherever the host (you) have been bitten.
There are a few ways you can tell if you may have bedbugs in your mattress. The first and most obvious way is to take a look at your sheets upon awakening in the morning. Bedbugs will leave a series of small blood spots on your bedding. If you notice these stains up near your pillow, inspect the mattress from that area first. Wherever you see the spots, there is a good chance that they are very near that section. But, you will have to work a little to see the bedbugs with your own eyes. Sneaky and fast, bedbugs know how to stay out of sight. Still, if you take a close look all around your mattress, there is a chance that a cut or some other opening in it is where they are escaping to before you can get a glance of them. Sometimes, a mattress cover will work in ceasing their activity, but if they are deeply imbedded inside then you may simply have to get a brand new one. Before bringing a fresh bed set into the room, hire a licensed professional exterminator to be sure that it is safe to haul in new furniture, pieces that can easily get infested by your aggressive bedbugs. Termites are one of those insects that know how to adapt to different environments very well.
Most people think that the only way they can survive is if they are in a place where there is some moisture present. This, of course, would explain why many of them are found first in the basements of homes that have become infested, then they gradually make their way to other areas as they eat through wood. But, the truth of the matter is that termites can bring their own water source from the places that they were before, and live just fine as they continuously damage the interior wooden panels, walls, and other edible areas. The real reason you need to rid your home of termites is because the fast rate that they eat. It will also always depend on how large a colony is when figuring how much damage they can really do in a particular period, but the average sized colony can go through a foot-long wooden 2x4 in half a calendar. So, in six months, they could be ruining the steps that lead down to your basement, but you probably won’t know until they collapse under your weight, and you fall through them. Still, there are some species of termites that can eat even faster than that, much faster. The Formosan termite is said by experts to be one of the most destructive kinds, and are actually nicknamed the ‘super termite’. The average homeowner would probably not know the difference between the species unless they did some spontaneous research. And, even after they found out what kind has invaded their living spaces, they still will need assistance to get rid of them. The best way to do this is to hire a reputable, experienced exterminator. |
AuthorProfessional Termite and Pest Control in Jersey City, NJ is now in it's second generation of ownership. With more than fifty years of experience, and a reputation of going above and beyond for our clients, we have become known locally as the "go to exterminator" who can solve really tough pest infestations. Archives
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