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Your Guide to Holiday Lights in Houston

. Posted by in • Houston
the houston skyline during the holidays

Are you looking forward to enjoying festive holiday lights in Houston with your loved ones this holiday season? In a big city, there are enough variations in holiday light displays to suit anyone’s preferences. Do you love huge, glittering winter wonderlands? Maybe you prefer smaller, more intimate neighborhood displays or cheery holiday parades. Whatever your favorite holiday activity might be, something out there is perfect for you this season.

It’s wise to start planning as early as possible for the holidays. Parking and traffic are always an issue in the Houston area. Ticket sales are already in progress for ticketed events and usually sell out fast. Free events are trendy too. Fortunately, some advance planning can help you have a great time with as little hassle as possible.

To see holiday lights in Houston this year, first check out these beloved Bayou City traditions:

  • Lightscape at Houston Botanic Garden: Featuring hundreds of thousands … Read Full Post »
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What Can I Do About Flying Carpenter Ants?

. Posted by in , • Houston
a winged carpenter ant

Carpenter ants do not always fly, but when you spot a winged version of one of these creatures, it could mean trouble. These pests can damage your home by chewing through a variety of wooden structures.

As adults, carpenter ants are about a quarter of an inch to three-fourths of an inch in length. Their segmented bodies are typically black, reddish or multicolored, and they have hair on the tip of their abdomen. Adult worker ants are usually wingless, but reproductive carpenter ants have wings and can look a lot like flying termites. These winged reproductive adults are also called “swarmers.” If you see these pests around your property it typically means there is a carpenter ant nest nearby. Unfortunately, this might also mean that these pests are damaging the structural integrity of your home.

Carpenter ants swarm when they are mating, which typically happens in the spring or early summer. The … Read Full Post »

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Cockroach Versus Beetle: What Pest Do I Have?

. Posted by in • Orlando
a cockroach

When you spot a bug running across the floor, you may wonder what exactly you just saw. Yes, it’s the old cockroach vs. beetle debate: Was that some type of beetle? Most of us don’t want beetles in our houses, but at least they don’t have quite the ick factor that cockroaches have. Or was it—shudder—an actual cockroach? Fortunately, there are several distinct characteristics that can tell you which insect you just saw, even if you only spotted the pest for a second before it zoomed out of sight. (Hint: If it looked like the image above and it moved that fast, it was most likely a cockroach.)

Identifying the Differences Between American Cockroaches, Oriental Cockroaches and Beetles

There are several main types of cockroaches that people commonly find in their homes. Two of them look very similar to each other, namely American and Oriental cockroaches. Both of these types of roaches … Read Full Post »

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How To Identify Spider Bites Versus Bed Bug Bites

. Posted by in , • Houston
a bed bug crawling on someone

Most of the time, we do not see the bugs that bite us. In fact, we might not even know we have bites until long afterward. At this point, it is too late to catch the pest in action. What makes things more complicated is that many different kinds of bug bites look alike. If you do not know when you were bitten or where you were when it happened, it’s difficult to know what bug bit you.

Two of the most common offenders are spiders and bed bugs. These bug bites can make you itch in the same kind of way as flea or mosquito bites can. They can also make you itch like hives or chickenpox. Their bites might look similar, but there are some things you can look out for to help figure out what kind of pest bit you.

One sign to watch for is the pattern of … Read Full Post »

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What Causes Cockroaches in Your House?

. Posted by in • Houston
a cockroach climbing up a wall

What causes cockroaches? This is a good question to ask whether you have a cockroach problem in your home or not. Cockroaches are frightening and disgusting to most. Worse yet, they can actually transmit serious illnesses to people. Knowing what causes cockroaches will help you avoid attracting these pests into your living space.

The bad news is, there are lots of things that can attract cockroaches into your home. Many of us leave pet food out in bowls, or dirty dishes in the sink. We also don’t always wipe down the stovetop and kitchen counters as soon as we should. Unfortunately, these common and seemingly innocent behaviors can actually draw cockroaches. Keeping up with housecleaning, especially in the kitchen, goes a long way toward combating roaches. Still, even the cleanest houses can have major roach problems. Let’s learn more about these pests to find out how to keep them away from … Read Full Post »

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What Do Bats Eat?

. Posted by in , • Orlando
a bat hanging on a tree.

Bats have gotten a bad reputation from movies and urban legends for attacking humans and drinking their blood. In reality, people are not the food of choice for bats. However, not all bats are alike—there are hundreds of species of bats, and they feed on a wide variety of things.

For example, some types of bats eat plants and plant parts like pollen, seeds, nectar and fruit. These bats typically like bananas, figs and mangoes the most. As the bats move from plant to plant, they often help distribute seeds and pollinate plants along their path. These plant-eating bats may also target other sweet things, such as the sugary water used in hummingbird feeders.

There are also some bat species that eat meat and drink blood. While bats don’t typically attack humans, some kinds of bats will eat other kinds of animals, such as lizards, fish, birds, frogs and other bats. Additionally, … Read Full Post »

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What Are the Big Black Ants in My Home?

. Posted by in , • Houston
a big black carpenter ant on a piece of wood

Finding big black ants in your home can be shocking and scary. What exactly are they, how did they get in and what are they looking for? Most of all, how can you get rid of them, fast? Unfortunately, most big black ants found in people’s homes are carpenter ants. They’re called carpenter ants because they build their homes in wood by chewing and tunneling through it. Much like termites, if they aren’t discovered and eliminated, carpenter ants can cause a lot of hidden structural damage in a home.

Unlike termites, which also look to some people like big black ants, carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood. Rather, they use their large mandibles—their strong mouthparts that are used for chewing—to build tunnels, called galleries, by crunching up the wood. Instead of swallowing the wood, they spit it out, creating wood shavings that look a lot like loose, shredded sawdust. Along with … Read Full Post »

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Black Wasp in Texas: Identification & Control Tips

. Posted by in , • Houston
a black wasp on Texas wildflowers

Texas is home to many different types of creepy-crawlies that sting, bite or otherwise cause trouble for people. This includes thousands—yes, thousands—of different species of wasps. One type of wasp commonly found in Texas is black wasps. True to its name, a black wasp in Texas is a flying insect with a narrow, black body, long black wings and a stinger.

Most black wasps in Texas are cricket hunters, so named because they sting crickets (or sometimes grasshoppers or katydids), drag their paralyzed bodies to their wasp nests and lay eggs on the crickets’ backs. When the wasp eggs hatch into larvae, the wasp larvae have ready meals waiting for them—the crickets.

While their reproductive habits are definitely gross, there is good news about black wasps. If you find one in or near your home, you can breathe at least a little bit easy, because black wasps are not known to be … Read Full Post »

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How To Identify Different Types of Wasps in Florida

. Posted by in , • Orlando
a cicada killer wasp on a leaf

If you have noticed some six-legged creatures flying around your property, you are probably wondering what kind of insects you are dealing with. Since some insects look alike, it can be difficult for homeowners to figure out what kind of bug is well, bugging them. Wasps are one of the most common flying insects that homeowners encounter, but not all wasps will hurt you. Although some of these creatures are dangerous to humans, some other types might even be beneficial and help get rid of other pests.

Some of the kinds of wasps that you might find on your property include cicada killer wasps, mud dauber wasps, paper wasps and yellowjackets.

Cicada Killer Wasps

As you can see in the image above, the cicada killer wasp is about an inch and a half long, and it’s mostly black with orange wings and some yellow markings on its abdomen. They can look scary because … Read Full Post »

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What Do Mosquito Larvae Eat?

. Posted by in , • Houston
mosquito larvae eating bacteria in standing water

If you have a mosquito problem in your home or yard, one of the best ways to control these pests is to target their larvae. While adult mosquitoes are the ones that bug most people with their itchy and painful bites, it is sometimes easier to get rid of these pests if you catch them earlier in their lives.

Female mosquitoes can lay eggs as often as every three days. They typically lay these eggs on top of any area of stagnant water that is protected from the wind. This might include areas like tree holes, abandoned tires, kiddie pools and water sitting in an ornamental pond. Mosquitoes can even lay eggs in as little water as the rain that can gather in an overturned bottlecap.

In the right conditions, the larvae typically hatch from the eggs about 24 to 48 hours after a mosquito lays them. However, if environmental conditions are … Read Full Post »

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