Blog – Page 63 – School Of Bugs

When you hear the word pests, you know that it is bothersome and unpleasant. It gives you sleepless nights and a crawly feeling during day time. We know pests for their notoriety and their destructive nature, we should get rid of pests, at the soonest time possible. Maybe you also have an idea of what is the worst household pest around. Here are the list of pests you wish will not land on your home. Cockroaches They are the creatures that are most hated because of their disgusting nature. They can crawl anywhere, and some of them can fly. You can find it outside and inside your home. You know when you have an infestation when there is a pungent smell emanating under your sink, in cracks, vacant rooms, drawers, or cabinets. You will also see droppings, eggs, and sheddings, which is another sure sign that there are cockroaches in your place. They can bring many diseases and health-scare such as salmonellosis, food poisoning, diarrhea, they also carry Salmonella Typhi, which causes Typhoid, among others. Also, they are hard to get rid of because they can survive for a few months without food and a few weeks without water. Elimination can also take weeks to a few months. The best way to get rid of them is to hire a professional pest control technician who can check if you have an infestation in your home, and once confirmed, they will be the one to treat your home and make it cockroach free. There is also a possibility of these creatures to crawl back into your home. What you can do to prevent this from happening is by covering holes or drainage where they can climb and keep your counters and sink free from food crumbs and keep your trash cans covered. Rodents No one would like a rat in their home, no matter what size it is. They are highly dangerous and can cause a lot of diseases. You'll know when you have rat infestations when you see a lot of rodent droppings around cupboards, under the sink, and in places where you stock your food. You will also notice food bags having holes in them. Another sign is a stale smell from hidden areas, which are mostly because of rat urine. There is also an apparent chewing on walls, floors, or any other entry point in your home. Simple steps you can take to minimize their presence is by sealing any gaps or entry point. Look for damaged drains with holes in them and remove any clutter or garbage in and outside your home. Make sure you do not leave any open food bags, leftover food on your table, or sink. Clean, not just your kitchen and dining room, but every room in your home. This may not work so well, so the best way to deal with these pests is to call the exterminator cause they are experienced in dealing with these problems. Reinfestation may or may not happen and will depend on the preventive measures you will take. Make sure that these rodents won't have reason in coming back to your house by keeping your house free from clutter, removing potential food sources, and create a well-maintained garbage disposal area. Bed bugs This problem is not just present in low-income areas, but also in high-end communities in homes of the rich even. If there are people who have these critters hanging on their clothing and they went to visit your house, you are sure that they will leave these pests on your couch. Another way of them getting inside your home is when you purchase old furniture or bed frames that have bed bugs in them. When you or anyone from your household then bring these critters in your bedroom via your clothes, you will have an infestation of bed bugs soon. They will crawl, bite, and draw blood as much as they can. You will suddenly have pangs of itchiness that don't seem to go away, and sometimes there is a severe allergic reaction that will require you to take anti-allergy medicines. Bedbugs are difficult to remove because they hide in bed linens, folds of blankets, or pillowcases, they will also hide in corners of desks and drawers, even in wallpaper or sofas and box springs. They are hard to catch because they also move fast. What you can do is remove all linens and garments and launder everything but do not transfer your things from one bedroom to another cause you will just infest the other areas of your home. See all possible hiding places for bedbugs, such as bed frames, drawers, sofas, bed foam, furniture, rails, headboards, carpets, so forth and so on. You must thoroughly clean and vacuum these places, you can also buy dust or bed bug spray to fight off these critters. There are available sprays and dust solution to get rid of them. Make sure you do the treatment continuously for three times with ten day interval. This is to ensure that the bed bugs coming out will still be treated. There are also bed bug monitors available in the market to make sure that the bedbugs will not crawl back and live with you again. Also, you need to make sure that whenever you go on a vacation, or you spend the night away from home; you need to examine the bed for any bugs, and you also have to inspect your luggage or your bags upon your arrival at home - it is always better to be safe than sorry. Termites You may find your home so elegantly designed, and you feel proud of having such a classy home, not knowing your ceiling can fall off soon because you have an uncontrolled termite colony that's been there for years. Termites cause billions of dollars of damage, not just in the US but in other countries. Termites eat wood, including the frames and its foundation, they also feast on books, boxes, drywall, and furniture, and they can damage your home in three to eight years. You will know if your house is infested if you see mud tubes, notice winged termites that look like ants, but bigger. You can check if there is an active infestation if you see these mud tubes and open it to check for any traveling termites inside. You can also knock on parts of the wall and hear a hollow sound, which means the wood is already damaged inside, but the outer surface is still intact. Sadly, this can't be fixed with sprays and pesticides by yourself. It requires special skills to rid your house of these pests. Knowledge of the potential points of entry and identifying critical areas is a must, so the professionals will inject the right pest solution into the ground, foundation, on the walls, and even underneath the concrete slabs. You may choose between liquid and bait treatment, but the more lasting is the liquid solution because protection usually lasts for up to 5 years. Although all the termites may not be zeroed in for a few weeks to a few months, as long as you get the help of a reputable company to provide pest control service, you are in excellent hands. Fleas If you have pets living with you inside your home, then this is not something new to you because you have probably experienced this at one time or another. Fleas can be disturbing, and if you or one of your family members has an allergic reaction to the flea saliva, they will probably have skin rashes that start with an annoying itch. This is when your immune system overreacts to the flea bite and releases an excessive amount of histamine, which causes intense itching. The spots often look like reddish dots and appear on the lower leg, ankles, and feet and do not easily go away as long as there are still fleas around. The best way to treat the flea infestation is by treating your dogs first. Talk to the veterinarian on what is the best way to eradicate the fleas from your dogs or cats and how to control said pests. The next, you have to take care of, is removing fleas from your house. You may start by vacuuming every space in your home, every room, and every nook and cranny. You must not forget to vacuum spaces under the bed, furniture, upholstery, cushions, pillows, bed, and big appliances. Remove all pet beddings and other toys that may have larvae or eggs in them. Check every room where your pets usually go, and every carpet needs vacuuming. By vacuuming, you get rid of the flea eggs, pupae, and larvae since you need not just remove the adult fleas but also the eggs. Some insecticides are safe to use in flea removal and which you can use as another step after vacuuming the entire area. You are not allowed to breathe easy yet because you still need to make sure that no more flea pupae are lying around. What you can do is to continuously vacuum in the next few weeks until there are no more signs of fleas anywhere, most especially on your pets. If you want to learn more about various insects, then checkout our site categories, we have a bunch of articles there that are totally worth reading: Pest Category Ladybugs Termites Roaches Spider P.S. That’s it for this article. I hope you enjoyed reading it and if you think it might be useful for someone else then please share it on social media, email or your own website! It really encourages us to write more content and grow the site! All the best Steve