Baiting for Mice

Baiting for mice with poison has always been a questionable practice in my opinion, especially in a household environment for a few reasons. One thing is of course safety. Poison can be deadly and the average homeowner is not always the best at reading directions let alone a label. I see visions of mouse bait packs being tossed behind fridges and sofas and every which way. This is not good. The next reason is once the mice get into this tasty treat then they die. They die inside. The old wives tale where they run outside to look for water is not true. The last time I looked we all had a pretty good supply of water in our own homes. Mice will die behind your walls, under stoves, in your sofa. They will die anywhere. Then they smell, and depending on what time of year it is you will also wind up with a bad fly problem. I think you can have just as good a result if not better in trapping the mice with glue traps and snap traps. You have more flexibility with these items and they are much safer. Once you catch the mice you can toss the trap and count your dead. Happy Hunting.

Food Roaches and thier control

German roaches have alot of nicknames like food roaches, dirt roaches, and plain old roaches. There are many tools in the arsenal to control and kill these roaches that reproduce at a rate of about 40 babies per egg. Some things that are effective against roaches would include gentrol point source, phantom, maxforce roach gel, avert roach dust, victor pheromone traps. These products speak to an integrated approach to the control of roaches. One thing you do not want to do is spray with a repellent or agitating chemical. This would simple disperse the roaches to other areas and render the baits ineffective. Phantom is a product that is non-repellent and works pretty well on these insects. Baits are always very effective, especially when used in conjunction with gentrol. Good luck and happy hunting.

Mites

The word Mite can instill fear in just about anyone who fears the itchy buggers. Mites are truly scary because they are unseen. Many times mites are not even a pest control issue, but a medical issue, when dealing with scabies for instance. Other household mites include bird mites, dust mites, rodent mites, straw mites. The great thing is that all of these mites have a treatment. The best way to get rid of a mite problem is to find and eliminate the source and treat at the source. Then take care of the residual mite problem or the secondary infestation as needed.

catching and trapping mice

Mice can nest in furniture, bedding, sofas, and chairs. Mice can get in via the slightest crack or gap and once they are in they make themselves at home. I've heard of stories of mice who clear out a hole in the stuffing of sofa cushions and drive homeowners crazy as they try to figure out where they are hiding. The fact is, unless you are extremely lucky, finding a mouse nest can be impossible. The best defense is a good offence. So at the first signs of mice, which will usually be droppings or food destruction, make a list of products that you will order on your friendly "do it yourself" pest control products website or to pick up at your local home store. To save and buy in bulk I recommend the websites. Keeping the safety of children and pets in mind, you will want to pick up snap traps and glue traps. Mice are curious creatures, so you should have no trouble trapping them all if you set up and follow a good trapping program. If you actually see a mouse scurry across the floor, then I would place glue traps in that area. Next you will want to identify areas of heavy mouse poop. IN this area set up many snap traps. Use an assortment of attractants on the triggers. Chocolate syrup, cheese, peanut butter, and cotton are great ones. A product called Provoke by a company called Bell is formulated specifically for mice and works wonders. The trick to a trapping program is not to be greedy. Place out alot of traps. It might look ugly for a while, but it will increase your success rate. If after a few days you only have caught a few mice, then the next step is to clean up the mouse droppings with bleach water (wear gloves), and take the traps up. Look for more signs of droppings. If more occur then start the process over. If there are alot of droppings in an area you will want to consult a professional for cleanup as massive amounts of droppings can be harmful.

Lice

Back to school time is here and with it comes the possibility of your children coming home with something other than homework. Lice is one of those things that can send panic through a household, but it doesn't have to. Start with prevention. Be sure to ask your children not to share hats or scarves. Wash hats and outer wear on a regular basis. If your child does contract lice or if someone in the classroom has lice, follow the recommendations the school nurse sends home. It is important to know that lice are feeble and can't survive very long off of it's host. Use a knit comb and a product prescribed by your pediatrician for lice and you will be good to go. Once fantastic website that I will share with you is www.headlice.org . This will help you more than you can know. Good luck and rest easy. Panic only brings ulcers.

Online Pest Control Products

Do it yourself pest control product websites have been around since the start of the Internet I would suspect. They serve a purpose so that consumers can buy the product that professionals can buy to use on pest problems they are experiencing. Just like those who like to change their own oil or hang their own ceiling fan, there are those who want to tackle their own pest problems. Many times they want to use the same pest control products that the professionals use, but many distributors require a license to buy direct from them. This is the why I think DIY pest control product websites are so popular. As always, if you are a die hard DIY guy and buy your products online, be sure to read the label and be extremely careful with how you use the product.

Small Flies

Being bothered by small flies? Can't seem to find where they are coming from? Small flies can be very bothersome because they seem to appear out of no where and never seem to go away. You have to ask yourself some questions and maybe do some investigating as well. Have you had any leaks lately? If so then the area that is wet could be breeding these flies. Go to the area of the original leak and make sure all is dry. Maybe you have a leak and you don't know it. Check under your sinks, look in the pipe chase closet where the pipes for your bath tub and shower are located, if you have a soil pipe in the basement that runs above ground, look for obvious cracks, check the basement and garage for any free standing water, If you have a fridge that has a catch pan underneath it to catch moisture, check it and make sure it is dry. As you can see there are quite a few areas that can be breeding these flies, and as you can tell already, they love moisture. If you find any of these issues then once the problem is corrected the fly problem will go away shortly there after. The flies can be fruit flies in which case you will want to look under things like your fridge or stove or anywhere a piece of fruit might have fallen and rolled to. These flies can breed in something as small as a teaspoon full of spilled fruit juice. Next take the trash bags out of your trash can s to make sure they inside of the trash can is dry and free of any spills. Again, once the rotten fruit is gone the flies will follow. Look for old and forgotten bags of potatoes or onions. Stuff like that. The other problem can be your plants. If you have alot of live plants in your home and you accidentally over water them, this over wet soil can breed fungus gnats. Check your soil, correct the habit or over watering, and the problem will go away. Small flies can also be coming up from your pipes. The lining of you pipes get gooked up with slime and buildup that breeds these flies. Garbage disposals are notorious for this. One way to check is to simply place paper cups over all your sink drains and then the next morning look to see if any flies were caught under the cup. If not, repeat the process when you go to work and when you come home check under them again. Last and worse case scenario of all is the possibility of a broken pipe under your home. This is the most expensive to correct. If this is the case and the plumber comes out to fix the problem be sure to absolutely insist that they not only fix the pipe, but that they also excavate all the wet soil and replace it with dry fill or your problem will continue forever.
So with all this information, how do you get rid of your small flies? Most of them can be taken care of by correcting the source or moisture. There are also enzymes you can buy like drain gel if they are coming up from your pipes. Correcting the problem is the best way to battle and win the war against the small flies. Good Luck.

Provoking Mice with Provoke

There is a great product on the market that can assist you in luring mice to your snap traps and other mechanical traps. It is called Provoke and it is formulated by Bell Labs and it has been working like a charm. I used to get frustrated when I placed out all these traps in an account that clearly was being over run with mice and caught only one, and that was if I was lucky. I did find that my success rate increased big time when I started using Provoke and so I thought it would be a good idea to put it out there. Most professionals already have heard of this product, but many homeowners have not. If you currently have been having a rodent problem and you have a pest control professional treating the situation you can ask him (delicately) if he or she has tried provoke or if you are trying to trap the mice yourself then you can look for the product online or at an over the counter pest control product store. Either way, it is a useful tool to have in the battle.