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Your Home May Not Be as Clean as You Think

. Posted by in • Austin

If you’re like most people, your housecleaning routine ends with feelings of relief, accomplishment, pride and exhaustion. The floors shine, and the toilet sparkles. Even the toaster gleams, but did you look inside? If you didn’t get all the crumbs out yourself, something small and creepy might do the job for you.

Housecleaning is quite a chore, and sometimes it’s impractical to move every appliance and cover every square inch with disinfectant and a toothbrush. Unfortunately, if you neglect the little nooks and crannies for too long, dirt accumulates, and it may become a free smorgasbord for insects like the dreaded German cockroach.

Your Home’s Dirty Little Secrets

Pests love all the obvious lures like dirty dishes, overflowing garbage cans and smelly clothes, but they also love the spots that nobody ever thinks about. Grease, dust, food particles, mold and mildew can hide almost anywhere. Here are a few commonly overlooked areas you … Read Full Post »

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10 Tips for Pest Prevention in the Kitchen

. Posted by in • San Antonio

Unless you enjoy chocolate-covered ants, the kitchen is probably the last place you want to find pests. They can chew through boxes, eat your food and litter the drawers with feces. Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to prevent them from infesting a kitchen. You might even reduce your food and energy bills in the process.

1. Keep more of your food in the refrigerator or freezer. Few pests can find their way into these appliances. Cereal and dried fruit last longer when refrigerated, but don’t put your bananas in there!

2. When possible, buy food that comes in cans or jars. Bugs and rodents can chew through plastic bags, paper and cardboard without much difficulty. Bagged frozen food is also a good option.

3. Store items like peanuts, cookies and crackers in glass jars or sturdy plastic bins. Some pests prefer a sugary diet, but all types of food are … Read Full Post »

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Alert the Pestparazzi: Mosquitoes Are Making a Big Comeback this Summer

. Posted by in • Orlando
facts about mosquitos

For the past few years, we’ve experienced instability in mosquito activity due to inconsistent rainfall. This year was different. Increased rainfall has led to denser summer mosquito populations. This year’s mosquitoes can be compared to obnoxious has-been movie stars making a gloriously successful comeback. Like yesterday’s faded starlets, they’ve been craving a second chance to steal your time and attention. Celebrities drain you by bombarding the national headlines with meaningless drama and publicity stunts. The bite of a mosquito drains you in a more literal sense.

How to Survive the Current Swarm

Protecting yourself from this year’s thriving batch of mosquitoes is essential. Not only can they ruin your cookouts and make you irritable and itchy, but they can also give you horrible illnesses like the West Nile virus. Even your pets are at risk. Infected mosquitoes can transmit deadly heartworms to dogs and cats. Fortunately, there are many ways to defeat the mosquito’s … Read Full Post »

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Our Favorite Frenemies

. Posted by in • Houston
wasps cultivated to protect citrus trees from Huanglongbing citrus greening disease pest control

Insects walk the fine line between friend and enemy. As much as we want to put them on trial for their scream-inducing and creepy qualities, pests play an essential role in our ecosystem. Here’s a list of our favorite frenemies, and for a little extra fun, we figured we would let them present their defense.

Wasps:

Although I can deliver an undoubtedly painful punch when you threaten my nest, there is much more to me than just my dreaded stinger. Formally, I’m known as Vespula Pennsylvanica, but you can call me Wasp. As a natural scavenger, I like to snack on other insects, like crop-damaging caterpillars and flies. Some of my distant cousins also play an essential role in pollination. And even though I don’t expect an invite to your next BBQ, I help reduce the number of other pests likely to crash the festivities. Plus, who can rock a yellow jacket … Read Full Post »

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The Marsupial, The Myth, The Legend: The Opossum

. Posted by in , • Austin

If you’re a longtime resident of Austin, you’ve probably seen your fair share of opossums. At first glance, these silvery, pointy-nosed scavengers don’t seem like anything special. In truth, opossums are far from ordinary; they have many unusual features and a rich and fascinating history full of myth and legend.

Interesting Opossum Facts

Here are some unusual facts you may not have known about the everyday opossum:

  • An opossum can “play dead” for up to four hours when it feels threatened, but contrary to popular belief, the reaction is actually involuntary.
  • Opossums are immune to rattlesnake venom and they often eat the rattlers that dare to strike.
  • Although commonly mistaken for a rodent, the opossum is a marsupial and it’s the only one found in North America.
  • Like a kangaroo, the mother opossum carries her young in her pouch.
  • Opossums have opposable thumbs on their hind feet. They use the digits to grasp and climb. They also … Read Full Post »
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It’s Huge, It’s Scary and It Wants Your Tomatoes!

. Posted by in , • Bryan-College Station

Once you’ve tasted fresh, home-grown tomatoes, you’ll scoff at the anemic, mass-produced ones available at grocery stores. Growing tomato plants is rewarding, but you may run into a few challenges. If the leaves and unripened tomatoes develop holes or disappear overnight, or you find dark green droppings around the base of your plant, it’s time to inspect it for one of the tomato grower’s greatest enemies.

Identifying the Tomato Hornworm

The tomato hornworm is a large, green caterpillar with a curled head and a sharp-looking red horn on its rear. A mature hornworm is between three and five inches long and its markings include white stripes and rows of false eyes on both sides. At first glance, it resembles a ghastly little alien and many new tomato growers are quite startled the first time they spot one. A closer inspection reveals that the little fellow is harmless. Its size is intimidating, but it’s soft, squishy and … Read Full Post »

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Rats in Hats

. Posted by in , • Orlando

Let’s be honest: rats don’t always have the best reputation. They’ve been unfairly linked to smelly alleyways and unwanted infestations, but that may be a hasty judgment that’s best reserved for rats of the un-fancy kind. Many consider these friendly and highly-intelligent rodents treasured pets, and in some instances, they can actually be quite stylish.

Although the idea of dressing up a rat may be challenging for some people to grasp (not unlike the idea of dying a miniature poodle pink), it’s not as uncommon as you would think. As pet fashion designer Ada Nieves explains, “The rats look very cute and seem to like wearing [outfits]. Rats are very popular these days and the owners love to dress them up.”

 

Sometimes, you have to let your rat put on a hat and strut down the runway.

Many people believe that rats are naturally dirty creatures, but these balls of fluff are exceptionally clean … Read Full Post »

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Mosquito Dangers: What You Need to Know

. Posted by in , , • Houston

Along with the enjoyment of warm weather comes the annoyance of mosquitoes. Although you may plan on just ignoring these pests, the frequency of mosquito bites may become irritating, and the potential for serious health concerns should keep you cautious. It may be wise this summer to be proactive about the mosquito problem.

Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Mosquitoes are carriers of an array of viruses. Although not every mosquito is a threat, there is no way to know before a mosquito bites you. The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) has a thorough list of mosquito-borne diseases. Still, the four diseases most likely to affect any family in the United States are the West Nile virus, malaria, dengue fever, and canine heartworm.

West Nile virus is a potentially fatal disease that causes brain inflammation and flu-like symptoms. Malaria involves a parasite attacking your red blood cells, causing a persistent fever. Dengue is a type of fever … Read Full Post »

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Insects: Up Close and Personal!

. Posted by in • Orlando
why do bees swarm

Dealing with insects in and around your home can be frustrating, but they can be pretty fascinating when they’re not invading your home. Check out these interesting facts about some common insects we encounter daily In Orlando pest control exterminators.

The Honeybee

Honeybees prefer to live in colonies; some of them live in colonies with up to 80,000 bees. Unfortunately, these bees can build a hive right next to your home. The success of the hive largely depends on the queen bee’s health. A queen bee eats honey for strength and can lay nearly 2,000 eggs daily. Throughout her lifetime, the queen bee can lay one million eggs. The rest of the bees in the hive are worker bees. Most of them gather nectar, pollen, and water for the hive and protect the queen.

House Flies

Believe it or not, some house flies reach nearly a quarter of an inch in length. They have … Read Full Post »

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The Bee Control Controversy

. Posted by in , , • Orlando
why do bees swarm

You may have heard that honeybee populations in the United States are on the decline, resulting in a considerable increase in the price of local honey. Unless you consume a lot of love, you may wonder why you should care about bees. Aren’t they just annoying pests that build nests around your home and threaten to sting your children?

The truth is that honeybees aren’t even native to North America, but they, along with around 4,000 native species, are responsible for pollinating flowers and plants. Without these pollinators doing their job, humans and other animals would be robbed of about half of their plant food sources. As a result, bees are essential to all life on Earth.

Native Versus Nonnative Bees

Native bees, such as bumblebees and orchard mason bees, have evolved to work in harmony with native plants and move pollen among them, helping grow flowers, vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Many people … Read Full Post »

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