Pest-Proofing for the Spring Season in Murfreesboro

Pest-Proofing for the Spring Season in Murfreesboro

Tennessee Pest Control: Spring Pests

Spring season brings fresh air, warmer weather, and pests! Because of spring’s climate, household pests, including ants, roaches, mosquitoes, termites, rodents, and other pests start emerging from hibernation, looking for a food source and a place to nest. Before these pests emerge in droves, now is the perfect time to prevent them. Check out our tips on keeping unwanted spring pests away from your Tennessee home!

Seal All Entry Points

The smallest crack, crevice, or hole can let pests inside your home. Check around the exterior of your home, including your foundation, pipes, windows, doors, and HVAC units for these areas. Cockroaches, rodents, wasps, ants, and more will gain access and cause several problems in your home. If you notice any openings, seal them tightly with caulk. For doors, consider utilizing a sweep to seal the gap between the floor and the door. Utilize screens on doors and windows and make sure they’re always in good repair.

Eliminate Stagnant Water

The combination of warmer weather and standing water will attract pests like mosquitoes and roaches to your property. Standing water is a major pest attractant and allows them to multiply and thrive, making it essential to remove it. Check your exterior and interior for leaks. Even dripping faucets and loose fixtures can attract pests. Check your yard for any items that could collect water and remove them, including flowerpots, old tires, tarps, toys, etc. Also, consider enclosing your crawlspace to help reduce moisture and control temperatures inside your home.

Store Your Woodpiles

Many pests will utilize our firewood to hitchhike their way inside our homes. Place and store your woodpiles at least 20 feet away from your home. For extra protection, consider placing them in plastic containers with lids and elevate them off the ground to prevent termites and roaches from living in them. Before you bring it indoors, inspect it for pests and brush them off.

Clear Clutter

Starting early on your spring cleaning could pay off in keeping pests away! Consider starting at the lowest level of your home and working your way up to declutter. Clean the floors, dust, sweep, mop, vacuum, and remove unnecessary items from your closets and drawers. Get rid of old newspapers and cardboard boxes in storage, as these can attract rodents looking for a place to nest. In your yard, remove old tree stumps, twigs, and other debris. Likewise, rake up all the leaves and continue mowing on a regular basis.

Clean Up & Properly Store Food

Mice and rats are looking for food to survive, invading our kitchens to find it. It’s important to clean your kitchen and safely store leftover food. After each meal, wipe down your counters and clean up any leftover crumbs or spills. On a regular basis, sweep and mop your kitchen floors, and don’t forget to clean under your appliances too. Take your garbage out regularly, using trashcans with lids. When storing food, make sure you utilize airtight containers.

While utilizing these pest prevention tips will always help keep bugs from invading your home, sometimes it’s best to call a professional for extra protection. Your local pest control company can assess your home, identify any sources of pest problems, and provide you with a pest control and prevention plan.

Add Termite Treatment To Your Spring To-Do List

Add Termite Treatment To Your Spring To-Do List

Spring brings warm weather and the need for spring cleaning. When making your spring to-do list, make sure to include pest control with it. The warm weather brings pests out in droves, whether emerging from their overwintering spots or searching for a mate to reproduce with. One of the most common spring pests are termites. Spring marks the beginning of termite swarming season, when termites leave their colonies in search of a mate to form a new colony with. Don’t forget to make termite treatment a priority on your spring checklist!

Termites can go undetected for long periods of time, causing significant damage to your home. Once you identify the signs of termites, the next step is to determine the best termite treatment for your situation. Here are some of the most common termite treatment options:

Pretreatments

Pretreatments are termite treatments carried out during the construction phase of new construction. It is also preferable to use pretreatments when building additions to an existing home. When used before the physical infrastructure of a home or addition is laid, pretreatments are more effective and cost-effective. Pretreatments typically consist of a combination of liquid termiticide (often containing borates), termite bait, lumber treatment, and in-soil barriers.

Barrier Treatments

Barrier treatments create a physical barrier between termites and your home. A trench is dug around your home’s perimeter, and the soil that is removed is heavily treated with a termiticide. The treated soil is then refilled into the trench. In some cases, a physical wall made of rock, sand, mesh, and plastic is built inside the trench’s outer wall. This adds another layer of defense between your home and termites.

Liquid Treatments

The most common termite treatments are liquid treatments. These treatments are effective for termite infestations in your home’s interior. Holes are strategically drilled in both the foundation and the wood in these treatments. The termites are then forced to emerge after termiticide is injected into the holes. Termites are then exterminated using termiticide spot treatments.

Bait Treatments

Bait stations containing termiticide-laced wood, paper, or cellulose are placed in the ground around your home. Termites are drawn to the bait and consume it. The termiticide is slow acting, allowing termites to return to the colony and spread the bait to others, effectively killing the colony. Bait stations can be used in places where surface treatments cannot be used, such as near foundation drains and areas covered by slabs or flooring. Bait stations are a long-term and effective treatment solution.

While it can be tempting to attempt termite control yourself, it is usually best left to the professionals. If you have a termite infestation, contact your local pest control company for a termite inspection to determine the best treatment options for your home.

 

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Common Springs Pests in Your Macon Home

Common Springs Pests in Your Macon Home

Macon Pest Control: Preventing Spring Pests

A household pest is any undesired animal that has a history of living, invading, causing damage to, eating food from, acting as a disease vector for, or causing any other harm to a human habitat. While most are considered a nuisance, household pests become dangerous when they pose a risk to health, property, or lifestyle.

While they can be common year-round, some are common in the spring months. Here are a few common spring pests you can find in your Georgia home:

Termites

Termite swarming season begins in the springtime. Swarming season is when young termites leave their current colony and go off to find mates and establish new colonies. If you begin to see swarmers, it might mean a colony is nearby.

Ticks

Ticks are problematic to humans and pets because they spread diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. You might begin to see an increase of tick bites in the springtime. The mild winters in Georgia don’t help with keeping ticks away for long, so you should always be aware of ticks at any time of the year.

Ants

With heavy rainfall in the early spring, you can expect to see ants finding their way inside your home. They will begin to search for food and water, which your home has plenty of.

Flies

These pesky pests will find their way inside once the weather begins to warm up. They can spread many pathogens by picking them up on their feet when landing on different items.

Prevent Spring Pests:

  • Keep windows, doors, and vents sealed
  • Use garbage cans with sealed lids
  • Keep plants and tree limbs cut away from your house
  • Fix leaks to prevent excess moisture
  • Wear insect repellent
  • Keep home clean and free of crumbs, especially the kitchen
  • Keep up with quarterly pest control

If you’re ready to begin prevention of these spring pests, reach out to your local pest control company to receive a free quote and the best plan of action to keep pests away!

Spider Control for Spring

Spider Control for Spring

Although spiders are considered a year-round pest, they become more visible and active in the spring. Overwintering pests like spiders emerge as the weather warms up to lay eggs for the approaching season. Spiders are predators, preying on smaller insects for food. They are usually not a huge threat to humans with only a few venomous species in our area. In fact, they can be quite beneficial to have around your home, working as a form of natural pest control by eating other insects you may have around.

If the thought of sharing your home with spiders creeps you out, don’t fret! Here are some spider prevention tips you can use this spring to help keep these pests out.

  • Keep your outdoor lights off at night. Many bugs are attracted to light at night, providing a feast for spiders who are hanging around.
  • Keep vegetation trimmed and your lawn mowed. Overgrown bushes, grass, and other debris give spiders the ideal place to hide.
  • Don’t stack wood or install mulch to close to the sides of your home. Spiders will not only hide out in these places but will also use them as a bridge to crawl into your house.
  • Make sure trees, shrubs, and other landscaping aren’t touching your home. Spiders will also use these to get indoors.
  • Clean up food and crumbs immediately, both indoors and outdoors.
  • Get rid of stacks of old newspapers, magazines, etc.
  • Dust frequently and vacuum weekly.
  • Make sure windows and door screens are intact. Spiders will use holes and tears to get inside.
  • Get rid of cobwebs both indoors and outdoors. Spiders will use these to store food once they catch their prey.
  • Apply diatomaceous earth to your yard. This is a nontoxic option for outdoor pest control that is harmless to humans.
  • Consider natural remedies to prevent spiders. Some common methods include the use of mint, citrus, and vinegar.
  • Contact a professional. Spiders can be difficult to get rid of on your own. A professional pest control company can help identify the type of spider you are dealing with; where they may be hiding, nesting, or getting inside; and the most effective way to treat them in your home.

 

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Watch Out for These Stinging Pests

Watch Out for These Stinging Pests

An encounter with a stinging pest can always be alarming, as they are known to have a painful sting. Since stinging pests are most active during the spring and summer, it’s important to know the most commons ones to look out for and how you can protect yourself and your family.

Social in nature, the yellowjacket can live in nests or colonies containing anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 workers. Yellowjackets tend to build their nests on trees, buildings, and in the ground. Unlike bees, these insects have smooth stingers where they can sting several times if they start to feel threatened, which can be severely painful. These insects are highly attracted to sweet foods and proteins. If you plan on having a picnic or BBQ outside, make sure to keep your food covered tightly to eliminate the chance of attracting them.

Another popular stinging insect you should be aware of this spring and summer is the hornet. Hornets can sometimes be a benefit to homeowners as they can help control common household pests; although, they can quickly become a nuisance as they will often build nests throughout your property, such as in hollow trees, in the walls of houses and attics, and even in abandoned beehives. Like yellowjackets, these insects have smooth stingers. If stung by a hornet, the stinger can get lodged in the skin at the site of the sting. Hornets will eat tree sap, fruit, and honeydew. To prevent an encounter with these insects, keep both your food and garbage sealed in containers.

Known to build construction paper-like nests on branches, porch ceilings, eaves, and attic rafters, wasps can easily infest your entire property. These pests live in small colonies and like to eat nectar, along with common household pests such as flies and caterpillars. If these insects feel threatened or their nest is disturbed, they will sting multiple times. Their stings can be painful and often cause an allergic reaction. If you encounter hornets, don’t swat at them as this will only agitate them; instead calmly walk away and they generally will not follow.

If you’ve noticed these popular stinging insects around and inside your home, it’s best to reach out to your local pest control company to inspect and safely remove these insects.

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