Get rid of roaches

Roaches are not a pleasant thing to deal with, in fact, most people panic when they find them in their home. They worry about how they got them and if they are dirty etc. The fact is roaches can come from anywhere. You can bring them home on a shopping order or one can hitch hike home with you on your shoe. One gravid roach, or roach with children, can get bad fast. So what is one to do when faced with such a problem? I can tell you what not to do. Do not spray and do not set off foggers. This will only spread or push the roaches deeper into hiding. Yes you may kill some, but the drawbacks are worse. Baiting is the best way to control them. Gel baits work best. Maxforce or avert gel are good ones. Avert dry flowable bait is good also. Bait stations work effectively also. The best way to handle bait gel is to put dots in corners of cabinets or behind splash boards, always using caution and keeping safety in mind. Another good tool is the victor roach pheromone traps. One very effective tool to incorporate into your plan is gentrol. This is a growth regulator that will prevent the roaches from reproducing. A comprehensive and integrated approach is the best way to go with roaches. You can buy some of these products at your local home store or hardware store, or online at a do it yourself website. Good luck.

Signs of a mouse probelm

How do you know if you have a mouse problem? What kind of signs should you look for? First and fore most would be droppings. If black specks start to show up in areas then it could be mouse droppings. They look like skinny tic tacks with points ends. Another sign is holes in boxes or other food products. The next would be gnawing. The last would be simply sighting them. Sometimes unusual activity from a cat or dog can alert you to a problem as well. If you suspect a mouse problem then buy some product to start the elimination process of call a professional, as mice can get out of hand quite quickly. Happy Hunting!

Mice in cold weather

I'm going to start to angle the blog posts to mice, rats, and other rodents as we are all brought into the colder months. Ever wonder how mice know your house is warm and decide to come in and set up shop for the winter? It's a simple as shutting off the lights in your garage during the daytime and look as how many areas light is still coming in. These are all perfect areas for mice to enter. Same goes for your own front door. How's that weather stripping? Missing? If mice are scurrying along and suddenly feel heat escaping from under the door, they come right in. Heat escapes from space around pipes and wires that are coming into your home. Heat escapes under doors. Heat escapes and mice love. So the best way to prevent mice from coming in is to seal off all these kinds of holes and gaps to the best of your ability. Regular old foam will work, or a product called Stuf-fit, even caulk. Just plug up the holes.

Electric mouse killer

Building a better mouse trap has long been a goal for men to strive for. After all, the US patent office has thousands and thousands of patents filed for mouse traps. One traps that has come down the pike is an electric mouse traps and an electric rat trap. These traps basically kills the mouse or rat with an electric shock, making more humane than a snap trap. The drawback to these traps is that they are expensive and they require batteries to maintain them, adding to the expense. With the cold weather finally hitting the east coast, the questions and concerns about mouse and rat control start to ramp up as people search for was to keep mice out and catch the mice they already have. Tis the season.

Pest Control

The idea behind pest control is just that. Control. When faced with an infestation, the best approach to take is an integrated one, analysing the situation and incorporating a number of measure to try to eliminate the problem or at least to get control of it. Some situations, like bed bugs, may just be able to be controlled, depending on the situation and the willingness of the client to do their part. One thing I find and many of my colleagues express dismay in is the customer who expects you to come in with a magic wand and with one service get rid of their problem with no follow up and no cooperation on their part. Sometimes this can be done, but it's a rare case when you can walk in and get complete control in one visit. This is one of the reasons it's called pest control and not pest elimination, although there are some companies that advertise this. Perception is key.

Exterminator. A perspective.

Exterminator, pest control technician , pest control operator, pest management professional, the bug man. We've been known by many names over the years, but no matter how fancy or foul a name you give us, one thing is for certain, you have to have a knack for the industry. You can hand anyone a B&G sprayer and say go to town, but the pest control industry is so much more. You need an analytical brain and a sharp eye for detail. There are alot of things to consider when faced with an infestation. Customer services, earning the trust of your customer, determining the best and the safest approach to your problem, understanding where the problem may have originated, and sometimes, how to diplomatically ask the customer to do his or her part.
Over the years I've worked for pest control companies, I've owned my own business, worked for Univar, a pest control products supply company, and presently work as a support services manager, where the department of pest control falls under. Just as the names of our professional positions have changed, so has the industry and it's philosophies. I've seen Dursban TC come and go, Baygon bait come, go, and come back, and great chemicals like Termidor come to market. I am sure that there are colleagues out there who have been around since the days of cloridane too. With all these changes one thing has stayed the same. The fact that the pest control industry is a united group of men and woman who really love what they do and, although sometimes under appreciated and under paid, still continue to do a great job to help the public. Hats off to us all!

Mice Rats Rodents

Winter time is here and with it brings the potential of a mouse infestation. Why to be proactive by winterizing your home so to speak by using a popular monitoring tool, the glue board. Your garage is an easy access point for mice as is your basement. These areas often times have openings or pipes and wires that enter with gaps where mice can enter. Step number one would be to seal these gaps. Next I would say to place out these glue traps under and behind things. Check them often to see if anything was caught. The best thing to do is to pick up a bulk pack from your local pest control supply shop or online at a do it yourself web site. They come in boxes of seventy two. Catchmaster and Victor are two good brands.

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.

Ground Wasps

The little black wasps that hover close to the ground are back. I watched a person walking down the street near a field look over and realize these ground bees were hovering around and he went crazy. flapping and running like the world was ending. Fact is they are not that aggressive and usually leave you alone. They are around for a short time, then they are gone. If you feel the need to treat them a simple garden spray will do.

Bird Mite Panic

Bird mites become a nightmare when home owners find a bird nest in a vent or under an air conditioner and they remove it, only to find these tiny bird mites all over that suddenly start biting anything in their path. In a previous post of mine entitled, what else, Bird Mites, there is a link at the end of the post that gives a level headed insight into the bird mite and shows us that although pesky, can be controlled without bombing your house with fumigants. Some have asked about products that can be bought to help in the crusade in getting rid of them. Sterifab would be a good product that you can find at an online pest control products store and a professional product that is sold is Talstar that is a miticide on the label. If you think you need to spray I would recommend calling a professional. Mixing and using professional chemicals can be dangerous and caution always must be used. Having said all this, you can rest assured, bird mites can be controlled and eliminated by using your head and not your heart.

A better mouse trap

Is there really a better mouse trap out there? Can mice ever be stopped? We can do our best to exclude them from our living space and when they do invade, we can do our best to get rid of them. Electronic mouse repellers only work for a short time if at all, all the others take patience and brain power. If you have a mouse problem the best advice is to buy an arsenal of mouse control products and throw everything at them. Don't be greedy. Buy alot of product and use it all. Don't be afraid of over kill. Use snap traps, glue traps, baits, mechanical traps. Use caution also. If children or pets are present. Be very careful. You'll never catch all the mice in your house with three snaps traps set under your sink. Go to town and happy hunting.

Roach traps

As nasty as roaches are, they are one of the easiest pests to control in my opinion because of the great arsenal of products available for their control. Baits, sprays, glue boards, and pheromone traps. Victor has a great trap that attracts roaches using a sex pheromone that can be used effectively as a monitoring tool to see how a control program is going, or for use in extremely sensitive situation to knock down the population. With pheromone traps and a good IGR like gentrol, you can rid a site of their roach problem. Be sure to stress the word patience in this case. Happy hunting.

Big ground bees

Big ground bees around this time of the year (late July and August) could usually be identified as cicada killer wasps. These "big bees" are solitary ground bees that dig a hole in the ground, leaving a pile of sandy like earth outside the hole. This hole is where the wasp will place a paralyzed cicada and lay it's egg in the paralyzed body. So how do you get rid of these mad scientist bees? Well, usually if then bee is not in an area that disturbs you then it is best to leave them alone. They are not aggressive bees. If they are in an area you frequent then you will want to treat the entrance hole. This is best done with a good professional grade insecticide dust. It should be done at night when the bees are not flying around. It should be done very carefully. Be sure to wear long sleeves and pants, eye goggles, gloves. Approach with an escape route in mind. If you are nervous you can purchase a tool that allows you to dust the hole from a far distance called a bee pole. These professional products will need to be bought online at a good do it yourself pest control products website or an over the counter pest control supply store or distributor. Be careful and good luck.