| SEASONAL ADVICES - SPRING |
Carpenter Ant
Successfully controlling carpenter ants requires certain skills,
knowledge and experience. Carpenter ant control involves tracking
down and treating as many satellite colonies as possible inside
and outside of the home as well as attempting to find and treat
the parent colony. Accessing the parent colony may be difficult
because it might be located high in a tree or on a neighboring
property. In such cases, your service professional may use carpenter
ant baits, but these may have varying results because of the
carpenter ants’ finicky feeding habits. If conditions on
your property (such as a large number of trees) create a high
risk for reinfestation, your service professional may recommend
regular pest management services to help prevent new infestations.
These tips will help you limit carpenter ant infestation:
- Store any firewood away from your home and remove any dead
wood or wood scraps from around the foundation.
- Trim dead limbs from trees and remove stumps. Rid your yard
of these potential nesting sites.
- Make sure that all plumbing or roof leaks are sealed, and check
crawl spaces for excess moisture.
- Water from rain gutters should be directed away from your home
and not be allowed to accumulate close to the foundation.
Pavement Ant
Individual pavement colonies can often be controlled using ant
baits, but perimeter inspection and treatment are commonly necessary
for long-term relief. Pavement ant colonies are controlled by direct
treatment of nests in the soil. Where colonies are located under
slabs, ant baits may be successful in controlling an infestation.
If baits are unsuccessful, the slab may need to be drilled and
treated underneath. These tips will help prevent a pavement ant
infestation:
- Seal cracks and holes in the exterior of the home to prevent
ants and other pests from entering.
- Keep vegetation cut away from the foundation of the home.
- Avoid using items such as stones and landscape timbers next
to the home's foundation. Pavement ants nesting under these items
are likely to infest the home.
- Keep layers of mulch in landscape beds less than two inches
thick and at least 12 inches away from the foundation.
Oriental Cockroach
Eliminating or minimizing potential harborages outside is the best
way to limit infestations of these cockroaches.
Sealing cracks in the building's exterior helps prevent these pests
from entering.
Installing screening in all vents is important.
Carpet Beetle
Your Amazing Pest Control! service professional can rid your home
of these pests, but there are a few steps you can take to protect
your clothing until your fabric pest problem can be controlled:
- Do not store boxes of clothes in the attic, garage or basement,
if possible.
- If clothing must be stored in boxes, thoroughly clean the boxes
before storage and seal all corners and openings with tape.
- Prior to storage, clean woolen and natural fiber clothing according
to the manufacturer's instructions.
- In closets, store natural fiber clothing items by covering
them with individual plastic covers.
- Consider storing clothing in large zippered plastic units.
- Use mothballs to help deter fabric pests, but be aware that
they may leave an odor that could require dry cleaning.
Cluster Fly
The best way to control cluster flies is by prevention as described
below. If it's too late and they are already inside, it takes
a professional to find and treat the right areas to minimize
the numbers of pests seen inside. If your home has experienced
a problem with overwintering pests, take the following steps
next summer to prevent a recurrence:
- Seal as many cracks and holes on the outside of the home
as possible, especially on the south and west walls where the
sun heats the home during the late summer and fall.
- Be sure that all foundation and attic vents have tight-fitting
screens.
- Check the soffit vents and any gable vents or turbine vents
on the roof.
- Have your Amazing Pest Control! professional treat the outside
west and south walls of the home near the eaves. This treatment
should be completed in mid- to late August.
House Mouse
The best way to avoid invasions of mice is to (1) provide as little
harborage as possible that might attract rodents, and (2) seal
as many holes and cracks in the outside of the home through which
mice might enter. Follow these recommendations to help prevent
rodents from seeking the shelter provided by your home:
- Keep firewood stored as far from the home as possible and
store it off the ground. During the winter, store only enough
wood next to the house to burn every couple of days.
- If possible, remove any piles of debris, stones, bricks, etc.
If these are near the foundation of the home they serve as harborages
to attract rodents. Once there, it is any easy step for rodents
to enter the building itself.
- Do not allow piles of leaves to accumulate next to the home's
foundation. This also serves as attractive harborage for rodents
- mice in particular.
- Seal any hole or crack larger than 1/4 of an inch. A good rule
of thumb is that if a pencil can fit into it, a mouse could too.
Large holes or cracks should be stuffed with steel wool or wire
mesh before sealing with caulk or foam, otherwise rodents could
chew through to enter.
- Install good, thick weatherstrip on the bottom of all doors
to prevent rodents from entering. The garage door may prove difficult
to seal completely, so the door from the garage to the house
must be sealed tightly.
- The installation of one or two wind-up mouse traps in the garage
can catch many mice as they enter. These traps can catch up to
15 mice with one setting. Ask your Amazing Pest Control! service
professional for more information.
- Remember, your Amazing Pest Control! service includes coverage
of commensal rats and mice, and much of the service provided
during the colder months is to inspect for signs of rodents and
to maintain preventive control measures.
House Spider
Regular removal of spider webs is the best way to limit these spiders.
Sealing up cracks around windows and doors helps prevent their
entry.
Switch exterior lights to the yellow "bug" light bulbs
which attract fewer flying insects on which spiders feed.
Treatments to exterior spider nesting sites can help reduce the
numbers of spiders when combined with an overall pest management
program.
Wolf Spider
The best approach for controlling wolf spiders is through placement
of sticky traps to capture the few spiders that may have entered.
Maintaining sticky traps behind furniture, to either side of
exterior doors, and in the garage is an excellent way to intercept
most spiders as they enter. Steps that should be taken to prevent
new spiders from entering, include:
- Removing or limiting heavy, ground-covering vegetation near
the building.
- Sealing cracks and holes in the building's exterior.
- Installing tight-fitting screens on all attic and foundation
vents.
- Sealing holes around pipes indoors to prevent spiders from
entering the living spaces by following plumbing lines in basements
and crawl spaces.
- Where wolf spider invasions are persistent, a professional
should be consulted to conduct a thorough inspection and recommend
possible treatments.
Yellow Sac Spider
The best approach with this spider is to find, destroy and remove
the sacs and the spiders hiding within. Steps to be taken to prevent
new spiders from entering include:
- Removing or limiting heavy, ground-covering vegetation near
the home.
- Sealing cracks and holes in the building's exterior.
- Installing tight-fitting screens on all attic and foundation
vents.
- Sealing holes around pipes indoors to prevent spiders from
entering the living spaces of the home from basements and crawl
spaces by following plumbing lines.
- Where numerous spiders and bites have occurred, a professional
should be consulted to conduct a thorough inspection and recommend
possible treatments.
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