#5 – Rats & Mice
Especially when it’s cold outside, rodents tend to seek refuge in your home. Regardless if you invited them or not. These critters can nest in your attic, walls, and garage. It is said that if a rodent can fit its head through an opening he is able to squeeze in the rest of his body. Rodents cause some problems including chewing holes in your walls, burrowing in your attic insulation, and/or chewing through electrical wires, which can make a fire hazard. Typically you don’t know you have a problem until you begin hearing them crawling around. A good rule of thumb is when the weather changes, or there has been too much rain, rodents will begin looking for shelter. Like humans they want a warm quite place, out of the elements. Look for places rodents can come in around the outside of your home, search high and low. Trim vegetation (plants/trees) that may be touching the house. Seal up all opening you may find outside. Most of the time if you can stop the rodents outside you are less likely to get a problem.
#4 – Spiders
Not that I like spiders, but there are benefits to having them around. Spiders feed off other insects and can actually help diminish a pest population. Of course using spiders as a means of pest control is not exactly a good strategy, mainly because they can only eat so much. Spiders also multiply, and unless you like collecting spider webs, or like the Munster mansion look, it is not very effective or eye appealing. Spiders are actually harder to get rid of because they do not groom themselves. A lot of pesticides out there are mainly stomach poisons, which in terms mean they have to ingest it in order for it to be effective. Since spiders do not groom themselves like other insects, they may walk across the applied product(s) and never be affected by it. The best advice when dealing with spiders is to knock down there web. This usually discourages them. They would much rather be in a spot were their net is going to stay intact.
#3 – Cockroaches
Even though there over 4,500 species of cockroaches around the world, there are only about 70 species found in the United States. We mostly deal with about 5-6 of the species here in The Metro Atlanta area. Cockroaches prefer food sources such as sweets, cheese, meat products, starches and grease. They also feed on plants, vegetables and fruits. Cockroaches are nocturnal feeders, and it’s when they are most active. During the daytime, they hide in the wall cavities, roof voids, sub-floors, crevices and cracks in the kitchen and bathroom. Cockroaches contaminate food and cause the spread of various diseases such as cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, typhoid and leprosy. It is very important to keep the areas where you eat clean and free of food leftover crumbs. For example in the sides between your refrigerator or stove, crumbs of food can get in between and make a very inviting buffet.
#2 – Ants
Mainly a nuisance pest, ants compete for with humans for food sources. Some ants can cause damage to your home for example carpenter ants. Other ants like the imported fire ant may not come in your home, but they will let you know you are intruding in their territory by stinging you. Ants can be very tricky, most often than not when homeowners see a trail of ants they will spray them down with some type of brand name insecticide. This is the biggest mistake they can do. Ants follow a trail of pheromones and usually the ants bringing food back and forth to the colony only account for 2%-3% of the colonies population. Also a lot of the pesticides sold at your local store are considered repellants, meaning that the ants will find another way to get to where the food source. Trailing the ants and sealing the areas where they are coming from is the best strategy. Also cleaning the area where they are trailing with some type of ammonia based cleaner, like windex, will break the pheromone track.
#1 – Termites
The most notorious and expensive pest of all is the termite. In Metro-Atlanta there is a saying that goes like this “You have homes with termites, and homes that are fixing to get termites”. A recent study from the University of Georgia (UGA) has found that for every square acre there are about 16 colonies of termites. Each colony can have anywhere 300,000+ termites in it causing a real problem for GA homeowners. Each year termites cause over $2.5 billion worth of damage to homes and businesses, and typically the damage is not covered by insurance. These silent devastators creep up around and under your home silently eating your home from the inside out. The best way to keep termites at bay is to keep up with your termite warranty. If you are buying a home it is very important to have a thorough inspection of the home too look for previous damage and/or current activity. This inspection is just as important as your home inspection. Some Georgia homeowners have a false sense of security by thinking that if they don’t have termites they don’t need service. This can be further from the truth, as these homeowners end up spending thousands of dollars on treatment and repair for their home. When it comes to dealing with termites in Atlanta prevention is the best remedy.
Black Widow Spiders seem to be everywhere in the Georgiathis time of year, but it's not because there are more of them. It's the time when they're big and robust and noticeable, andalthough bites from the pitch-black spider with the telltale red hourglass arerarely lethal — just a few people die from such bites nationwide each year — treatmentshould be sought immediately. Consider a black widow bite a medical emergency.
Most people that are bitten experience severe pain, especially ifbitten in the armpits and/or groin area. Some women have described it as “morepainful than childbirth”. The best treatment is black widow antivenin at thehospital, which works “within minutes,”. We here at Future Services, INC. get morecalls about black widows at this time of year than any other. Some clients callshortly after their pest prevention service, saying they still have spiders. Butthe only way to kill black widows is to spray a toxic substance directly on them.Spiders usually will not pick up the active ingredient in pesticides the wayother insects do. The active ingredient in pesticides is absorbed through fat,but black widows don't have fat on their exoskeletons — they're covered with awaxy substance. Black widows for the most part live outside, behind the sidingmaking them also hazardous to Dogs and cats, which are susceptible to a black widow'svenom.
Black widows release a neurotoxin that generally causes severe,painful cramping of large muscles. The pet may appear to be having a seizure, andmay have shallow, irregular breathing. They can go into shock, their stomachscan be tender and they can even become partially paralyzed. Prolonged paralysiscould last as long as 10 days to three weeks, she said. There are no hometreatments for animals that have been bitten by a black widow, so if theyexhibit any of the symptoms, take the pet to a vet immediately. The bite couldprove fatal, depending on the severity of the bite and the size of the animal. Smallerdogs and cats would be more susceptible.
The best thing is always prevention. The places to look for these unwelcomed guests are around the foundation of your home, close to gutters down spouts, and under splash guards. Their web is real messy and has no real form like other spider webs. If you have found black widows in or around your home please be careful, and DON"T handle them, especially keep children and small pets away. Also remember that the typical black widow with the hour glass is a female, and most probably has laid her eggs. Call us and we will be happy to inspect your home. Click Here to schedule your inspection.
It's the curse of pesticides: They kill more than just pests. Yesterday, I wrote a story about how beekeepers in the Worcester area are concerned over plans to use a common grub killer to beat back a tree beetle infestation because it is toxic to bees.
But at Northeastern University, a team of researchers are meeting success with a more natural form of critter control.
Rebeca Rosengaus, an associate professor of biology along with former Northeastern postdoctoral fellow Mark Bulmer and a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have figured out a way to potentially control termites with using nothing more than a type of sugar molecule.
Here's how: The researchers knew that a tropical termite species can survive despite living in bacteria and fungus ridden nests. It turns out, the scientists discovered, the termite saliva and fecal matter contain a protein that destroys those bacteria and fungi.
But if researchers fed termites a glucose derivative, known as GDL, it inhibited the fungus-fighting proteins. Termites fed GDL in a lab died five days after being exposed to a fungus while 70 percent of those not fed GDL and exposed were still alive 12 days later. Their work was reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
One day, such an approach could be used to combat the $30 billion in damages that termites cause to homes, businesses and crops each year. Today, termites are often fought with chemicals that can spread to waterways and into living organisms. Rosengaus will continue experimenting with the molecule, especially in urban areas where termites are a particular problem.
"We're far away from saying this is the future of pest control,'' she said. "But it seems a very appealing alternative strategy."
thanks to the Boston Globe.