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How to Get Rid of Rodents

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Mice and rats can pose some of the most difficult pest control problems for homeowners. They can squeeze themselves through extremely tiny spaces and wreak havoc everywhere they go.

At ABC Home & Commercial Services, we have years of experience eliminating and preventing rodent problems in homes or businesses. Here are some tips from our extermination experts on how to get rid of rodents.

Seal up entry points.

By closing off entry points to your home, you can prevent rodents who live outdoors from sneaking inside. Mice and rats can flatten and contort their bodies to fit through spaces that seem like they would be too small. To test whether or not a mouse can squeeze through an opening, see if you can fit a pencil inside. It the pencil fits, the mouse can too. Seal up cracks and holes in the foundation, walls, and molding.

Seal up food.

Mice and rats can chew through … Read Full Post »

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5 Facts About Bed Bugs

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Bed bugs are infamous for the problems they cause in households. They can ruin your mattress, cover your skin in bites, and keep you from sleeping soundly at night.

In order to better prevent bed bugs from infesting your home, it helps to become more informed about their habits. Here are five facts about bed bugs from our team of pest control experts at  ABC Home & Commercial Services.

1. Bed bugs can live anywhere – not just in your mattress.

Lots of people associate bed bugs with dirty hotel rooms or old mattresses. But bed bugs can pop up anywhere and everywhere, as long as they have access to a source of food. They can hide in your suitcase or clothes – or even nightstands, dressers, and other furniture – and travel from one location to another easily.

Be careful to examine your luggage after hotel stays and be wary of purchasing used … Read Full Post »

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Silverfish Infestations: What A Homeowner Should Know

. Posted by in • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

Have you noticed a small wingless, silver-colored bug in your home with a flat, oval-shaped body, long antennae and six legs? If so, you may have the beginning of a silverfish infestation.

Silverfish are medically harmless to humans and mostly a nuisance for homeowners. These creatures can stain clothing, contaminate food and damage paper goods. Silverfish are more common in humid environments, so you are more likely to find them in bathrooms, attics and crawl spaces. Silverfish are very quick, so if discovered, these creatures often dart away, making them difficult to catch or identify.

Silverfish problems can be difficult for homeowners to control on their own. Usually, the quickest and easiest way to get rid of a silverfish problem is by calling in a pest control professional. We’ll now go into more detail about these pests so you have the information you need to make an informed decision about how to … Read Full Post »

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Spotting Lyme Disease from Ticks

. Posted by • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

In recent years, the population of ticks has increased on a worldwide scale. This means that you are more likely than ever to find an unwanted passenger attached to your skin after spending time outdoors. Aside from being gross, ticks feeding on your blood can also be dangerous. These parasites are carriers of numerous types of disease, and the most common culprit is Lyme disease.

If you spent time outside or noticed tick bites on your skin recently, it is important to be on the look out for any signs or symptoms of disease. The earlier Lyme disease is caught, the better. Here are some tips for spotting Lyme disease from ticks from our team at ABC Home & Commercial Services.

What do ticks look like?

The first step to determining whether or not you might have contracted a disease from a tick is affirming that a tick definitely did bite you. There … Read Full Post »

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Summer Mosquito Control

. Posted by • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

 

With warmer weather comes exposed skin, and mosquitoes just can’t seem to resist the feast. Nobody likes the itch red bumps mosquitoes leave behind, but did you know those bites can also be extremely dangerous?

Mosquitoes are carriers of deadly parasites that claim thousands of lives each year. At ABC Home & Commercial Services, we want to help our customers better understand mosquitoes and learn how to protect themselves. Here are some facts about mosquitoes and tips for summer mosquito control.

Mosquito Facts

• There are about 200 different species of mosquitoes in the United States.
• Mosquitoes can transmit all of the following diseases: Malaria, Dengue Fever, Zika Virus, West Nile Virus, Yellow Fever, Encephalitis, Chikungunya Virus.
• In addition to viruses that affect humans, mosquitoes can carry diseases that are extremely harmful to dogs and horses.
• Different mosquito species like different types of standing water for their larvae.
• Sites where mosquitoes lay their … Read Full Post »

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Fire Ant Prevention

. Posted by in , • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

Summer in south is known for many things, and unfortunately one of them is pesky fire ants. These creepy crawlers create nests all over your yard and venture into your home for food. If you encounter them, you might end up with some nasty stings.

If left untreated, fire ants can run rampant in your yard and even start nesting in or underneath your home. At ABC Home & Commercial Services, we are fully equipped to handle even the nastiest fire ant infestations. But we want to help you prevent fire ants from overwhelming your yard before we have to resort to professional treatment.

Here are some things to know about fire ant prevention: how to spot them, and how to kill them.

Facts About Fire Ants

Fire ants range in size from 1.6 mm to 5 mm. They are a dull red color, which can look reddish brown or reddish black depending on … Read Full Post »

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5 Common Summer Pests

. Posted by in • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

If you haven’t guessed from the sight of sunburned shoulders and the sounds of kids enjoying temporary freedom from school, summer is officially in full swing. And while that means splashing in the pool, grilling in the back yard, and celebrating with fireworks, it also often means it is time for common summer pests to pay a visit to your home.

Being vigilant with preventative pest control and observing any potentially harmful insect populations in and around your home can be essential to reducing the likelihood of full-blown infestation. Are you wondering which creepy crawlies you should be looking for during this summer season?

At ABC Pest Control, we are proud to offer numerous solutions for getting rid of pesky insects year-round. Here is a list of five common summer pests we warn our customers to watch for during the hottest months of the year.

1. Fire Ants

After ants are finished hibernating through … Read Full Post »

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Keep Pests Off Pets During the Dog Days of Summer

. Posted by in • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler
Keep Pests Off Pets During the Dog Days of Summer

You protect your home from pests, but what about your pet? Things only get worse during the dog days of summer.

Pests that love pets include fleas, ticks, mosquitoes and even bed bugs. These pests aren’t just annoying, they could be extremely dangerous. According to CDC data, “illnesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled in the U.S.”—mostly due to warming temperatures. Many pests, especially biting insects, thrive in the heat. The diseases they may carry—Zika, West Nile, Lyme, and chikungunya—are also sensitive to temperature changes.

Some key findings of the CDC report include:

  • A total of 642,602 cases of disease caused by the bite of an infected mosquito, tick, or flea were reported in the U.S. and its territories from 2004 through 2016.
  • The number of reported tickborne diseases more than doubled in 13 years and accounted for more than 60 percent of all reported mosquito-borne, tickborne, and fleaborne disease cases.

With so … Read Full Post »

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6 Ways to Keep Pests from Traveling with You on Vacation

. Posted by in • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler
Keep Pests from Traveling with You on Vacation | ABC Blog

Summer vacation and family getaways go hand in hand. Camping by the lake, hiking in the hills and cooking in the grass are all quintessential summer activities. Enjoying the great outdoors is one thing, but no one wants to bring the outdoors home with them.

Typical vacation pests include ants, roaches, flies, mosquitoes and rodents — but perhaps the most feared is the bed bug. And in Texas, the chigger.

Common Vacation Pests

● Ants
● Roaches
● Bed Bugs
● Flies
● Mosquitoes
● Chiggers
● Rodents

Don’t let the fear of a fly keep you from enjoying the great outdoors! But, seriously, there are pests you just want to flat out avoid — bed bugs and chiggers, just to name a couple of the more difficult to get rid of.

Once you know where you are headed, you can look up if any specific pests might be a threat to you. For example, chiggers are normally found in moist, … Read Full Post »

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Carpenter Ant Awareness Week — 3 Signs and 4 Prevention Tips

. Posted by in • Dallas-Fort Worth, Tyler

It’s almost Carpenter Ant Awareness Week (every third week of June) and we’re here to share carpenter ant signs and prevention tips. Know what to look for and what you can do to deter carpenter ants from your home in the first place. If you’ve dealt with carpenter ants, you don’t want to again, and if you haven’t, you never want to. And you won’t — not if we can help it!

Anyone who has experienced a carpenter ant infestation is well aware of the havoc they can cause.

Carpenter ants are just as capable as termites of inflicting damage to your property. They like damp or decaying wood, removing small pieces to assemble their own nests. Although carpenter ants do not eat the wood like termites do, they can similarly infest your home and cause lasting damage.

To avoid structural damage to your home, early detection is key. Check out these 3 signs of carpenter … Read Full Post »

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