Rodents can cause incredible destruction to your home, leaving gnaw marks along door frames, urine stains on floors, and fecal matter scattered about the basement or attic. However, a rodent infestation also puts your family’s health at risk. In addition to poisoning food, and the various sicknesses that may come as a result, rats and mice also spread many serious diseases; here’s a closer look at five of them.
Researchers are not quite sure when the practice of spring cleaning first began. Some trace it back to a Jewish practice performed during Passover, while others believe it began as an Iranian way of welcoming the Persian New Year. Nevertheless, spring cleaning remains a tradition in American households. Continue reading
One or two mice scurrying around the office may not seem like a big deal. They won’t eat much, right? The truth is, those two mice can wreak havoc throughout your sales, school, or medical office in ways you may not realize. Here are several important reasons why you must address and remedy any rodent infestation in your office at the first sign of a problem.
Mice and Rats Spread Sickness
All workplaces should be free from exposure to diseases and unhealthy allergens. When mice, rats, and other rodents are allowed to share indoor work spaces with humans, the pests create increased health risks for the workers. Continue reading
Whether you need to screen a single home or a high-rise office building for bedbugs, a trained dog can help. Bedbug-sniffing dogs provide detection services that alert property owners to the presence of the insidious blood-sucking insects. Here’s what you should know about canine bed bug detection.
Dogs Have Superior Sniffing Skills
Canines are endowed with outstanding senses of smell. It’s no wonder that they have nasal superpowers when dogs grow 220 million receptors devoted to detecting scents. Compared to humans — who have around 5 million scent receptors — dogs are the superior sniffers.
Although it’s possible, flies can be difficult to trap and kill. Many flytraps require the fly to be lured to the trap, and sometimes attracting a fly can be challenging. The best way to protect your house from flies is to prevent them from entering in the first place. Learn what you need to know.
Flies like different foods at different stages of development. In the larval stage, flies like rotting meat and feces. Diapers, dog poop, and meat leftovers are all attractive to young flies. Adult flies like sweet things like juice, soda, and honey.
With cold weather just around the corner for residents of the Windy City, many are once again thinking about the challenges they may face during the coming winter. One of these challenges is controlling the types of pests that are able to survive even the harshest Chicago winter by moving into warm homes and buildings.
The cockroach is one of the worst of these offenders, both because of their ability to reproduce quickly and because they often carry disease-laden bacteria that can be harmful to the homeowner and their family. A good way to prevent or eliminate a cockroach problem in your home is to learn more about them and their needs and then use that information to make proactive changes in your home. One thing to remember… our homes are normally about 70 degrees even in the winter, and to the bugs, inside is like Spring all year long.
Identify Your Enemy
While some pests pose a threat to your home year-round, others are more seasonal in nature. As fall descends on the Greater Chicago area and the weather turns cooler, insects that normally thrive outdoors seek shelter from the cold. These pests include Boisea trivittata, better known as the Box Elder bug. Read on to learn what makes the Box Elder bug such a nuisance and what you can do to keep this pest outdoors.
What Box Elder Bugs Look Like
Along with outdoor activities comes the possibility of pests. An ant that hitches a ride on your picnic basket, a flea that jumps onto your playful pup, or another insect that makes its way through a hole in your window screen isn’t normally a problem. However, since pests multiply quickly, one creepy crawly can turn into an all-out pest problem, if the pests have the right circumstances.
While pests don’t typically come into your home strictly to roost in your rugs, under certain conditions, your carpets can look like massive welcome mats to these invaders. What can you do to minimize the risks of pest problems in your home’s carpets? Take a look at some of the easiest ways to reduce the likelihood that these critters and creatures will call your rugs home — but if your home’s infestation is already too difficult for you to handle, contact a pest control specialist right away.
Bedbugs are a common pest, and they are notoriously difficult to remove. You might think that if your home is in a nice area or if you have clean habits that you won’t have trouble with bedbugs, but the reality is that no household is immune from a bedbug infestation.
The best way to solve a bedbug problem is to keep it from becoming a problem to begin with. Many infestations begin because people are not aware of what causes bedbug infestations. Practice these basic prevention tips to keep your home free from infestation. Continue reading
Summer is almost here. At this time of year, people who spend time outdoors are likely to encounter yellow jackets, the unpleasant summer wasp often found at picnics, barbecues, potlucks, and parties. If you’re a homeowner, it’s important to know as much as you can about yellow jackets. Having information about these pests can help you avoid problems as the summer progresses.
