Pests can cause significant damage to buildings, crops and other property. They also pose a threat to human health by spreading diseases like hantavirus, leptospirosis and salmonella.
Monitoring means regularly searching for and identifying pests and assessing the damage they cause. This information helps in choosing the best control strategies. Contact https://pestcontrolkansascitypros.com/ now!
Rats, mice, voles, gophers and groundhogs can damage your yard and garden by digging tunnels underground to eat roots, bark and seeds. They can also carry a serious and sometimes fatal respiratory disease known as Pasteurellosis. The disease is spread when a person breathes in airborne urine droplets from an infected rodent. Rats, mice and other rodents are carriers of other diseases such as typhus, leptospirosis and the plague. Our pest control services help prevent these rodents from spreading their diseases to humans and pets by providing effective and humane rodent removal.
Rodents are attracted to uncovered food, trash cans and compost piles. They may also enter homes and buildings looking for warmth and shelter from the elements. Rodents have been associated with fires caused by their gnawing on electrical wiring, and they contaminate food and surfaces with droppings. They transmit pathogens such as salmonella, rat-bite fever and murine typhus, and they can cause allergies in some people.
These slender creatures are active all year but often go through periods of dormancy or deep hibernation in winter. They have a wide range of shelters, including tree holes and rock crevices, woodpiles, burrows in the ground or under concrete and in banks of earth. The house mouse, Norway rat and roof rat are the most common rodents found in and around buildings. They have brown or gray fur and tails shorter than their head and body.
Rodent control is accomplished through sanitation, exclusion and when necessary, traps and baits. To reduce the need for traps and baits, keep food in containers that are difficult for rodents to chew through (metal, plastic) and store them away from buildings. Keep garbage dumpsters a distance away from structures, and remove vegetation such as vines, ivy or thorny plants that are used for climbing by rodents.
Regular inspections by staff and a pest control expert are key to an integrated pest management program. Inspections should include an assessment of the need for control, a discussion of preventative measures and a review of the cost, effectiveness, safety and environmental impacts of pest control methods.
Ants
Ants are one of the most common pests we deal with in residential and commercial settings. These eusocial insects live in colonies, which can contain thousands of individuals working together to perform a variety of tasks, including searching for food and building shelters. While ants do not pose a serious health risk, they can be annoying to homeowners and businesses looking to keep their spaces clean.
In the warmer months, ants are more active as they seek out food, water and new habitats. While you may not see many ants in your home or business at any given time, it’s important to keep an eye out for their trails so that you can take steps to remove them.
Seeing a trail of ants heading into your home or business is often the first sign that you have an ant infestation. It is also a good idea to check for pheromone marks, which will be left behind as the ants move along their trail. You may also notice ant holes in your walls and other locations on your property, which can indicate that the ants are looking for nesting areas.
The type of ant you have will determine the best way to control it, but eliminating their food sources and other attractants can help reduce their numbers. This includes sweeping and wiping down counters to remove crumbs and spills, keeping jars sealed that hold sugar, syrup and other sticky substances, and placing pet food and water bowls on the floor rather than in open containers. It’s also a good idea to use dehumidifiers in damp basements and crawl spaces.
You can also help control ant populations by using a product like boric acid. This is a safe and effective ant killer that can be sprinkled around ant entrances and other places where ants are found to kill the ants and their eggs. Diatomaceous earth, which is a fine white powder made of fossilized algae, can also be used as an effective ant killer.
When it comes to carpenter ants, you should consider contacting pest control services when you start noticing piles of wood shavings around the outside of your home or business, or when you hear rustling noises coming from inside walls and other areas of your house or commercial building. You should also call pest control if you notice a trail of ants entering your property. The key difference between ants and termites is that ants have much narrower bodies between their heads and thorax areas, and their antennae bend in the middle of their head, resembling elbows.
Termites
Termites are wood-eating insects that damage homes and other structures. They are also vital to the ecosystem, breaking down dead trees and transferring nutrients to other organisms. They are found throughout the world, but most termite colonies in the United States are located in the South. Termites are known for their social structure, with different species of the insect working together to forage and defend their colony.
Unlike ants, which scavenge for food and live on sugar, termites rely on fungi for nutrition. These fungi are grown in a termite’s gut and transported to other members of the colony for consumption. When termites infest a house or other structure, the pests chew through wood, creating hollow tunnels that compromise the strength of the material and can lead to structural damage.
There are two general categories of termite treatment — liquids and baiting systems. Liquid termiticides are applied to the soil around a building and create a long-lasting barrier that prevents subterranean termites from entering a structure. These products are often combined with monitoring stations placed in the yard and supplemental treatments at key points of entry into the structure. Older liquid termiticides were repellent, but current products like Termidor and Premise are non-repellent and lethal to foraging termites that encounter the chemicals.
Another option for termite control is to install a termite baiting system, which combines cellulose-based materials with slow-acting compounds that are lethal to termites. Typically, the bait is positioned underneath and around mud tubes or at other points of entry into a home. Foraging termites bring the bait back to their nest and share it with other colony members, resulting in a gradual decline of the termite population.
In addition to installing and maintaining these systems, a property owner can help deter termites by ensuring that there is proper drainage of the ground surrounding the structure. This can be done by checking and repairing downspouts, gutters, drains and leaky faucets, and by not stacking firewood against the foundation or leaving tree stumps in the yard.
If you suspect a termite infestation, contact a local pest control company right away. Do-it-yourself treatments may not be as effective and can result in continuing damage to your home or office.
Ticks & Fleas
Fleas and ticks are two parasitic pests that can be a major nuisance for both you and your pet. They are drawn to warm-blooded hosts and can be brought into the home on a host’s fur, infesting carpets, pet bedding and upholstered furniture. They are also great at avoiding detection, scurrying and jumping around as they search for their next host to latch onto.
Fleas don’t fly, but they are amazing jumpers, able to soar up to 7 inches high and 13 inches horizontally! They usually appear as a small number of brown specks on their host, and only become noticeable when a large population has accumulated. This is why it is important to use flea and tick prevention and control measures for both pets and their owners.
Ticks are larger than fleas, but they can’t fly or jump and tend to hide in shady areas or in grassy and wooded areas. They are best identified by their dark color and teardrop shape, although they can vary in appearance. Ticks can transmit diseases including tularemia, Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Both ticks and fleas can cause itching, but tick bites are usually more painful than those from fleas. They can also leave behind a rash, a scab or a red mark where the bite occurred.
The main way to prevent fleas and ticks is by using an effective pest control program in your yard, especially around your house and garage. This includes regular spraying of your lawn, bushes, shrubs, trees, sheds and fences to prevent the development of fleas and ticks.
A perimeter treatment can be used around the property to stop the migration of these pests into your yard and into your home, but this won’t protect against them hitching rides on people and animals entering or exiting the property. Maintaining a clean, sanitary yard is also key; remove brush, debris piles and tall grass and trim weeds to eliminate their hiding places. In addition, treat any shady spots that your pets frequent, such as under decks or porches or inside dog runs or kennels.