Pests

Although termites are an important part of the ecosystem they pose a big threat to your home and business. Termites cause a massive amount of structural damage every year.  Termites are always hungry and can keep eating constantly. Termites do require high moisture environments in order to survive. This means they love to travel in damp soil, and drainage pipes, and if they need to travel above the surface they create mud tunnels. Many ways termites enter your home or business are through cracks and openings in the foundation, pipes, and utilities, through untreated wood and firewood, and through any wood in direct contact with soil. Some ways to prevent termite infestation are: Seal and repair any cracks and openings within the foundation, utility, or pipes, repair any poor drainage and ventilation that may create a moist environment for termites, inspect firewood and untreated wood for signs of termite infestation, and remove contact between any of the building's wood and soil.  

An unpleasant and unwanted pest to have around. Bed bugs, while difficult to control, can have preventive measures to keep these pests out. Although many other pests invade your home or business by themselves, bed bugs are not the same. Instead, bed bugs are introduced to our space by us unintentionally. Bed bugs are transferred from place to place through our clothes, any bags or purses, and inside any luggage. Nocturnal pests, these bugs hide in dark and tight spaces within your furniture. These bugs feed off of the blood of warm-blooded mammals. One way to prevent these bugs from entering your homes is: to inspect any clothing and items before bringing them into your business or home, wash any new clothes and dry them in high heat, and keep your clothes and belongings a safe distance away from other peoples belongings to prevent bed bugs from crawling on your belongings, clean and vacuum your floors and furniture to remove any unwanted bed bugs and remove any unnecessary clutter as this will just create more hiding spots for these pests. 

One of the most common pest problems everyone encounters are ant infestation. Although ants are very common and are found almost everywhere outside, they do however carry around outside disease and bacteria. An ant problem can start off small and get bigger over time as ants usually live in large groups. Some ants, like Carpenter Ants, are able to cause structural damage to your home or building by creating tunnels within wet decomposing wood. The main reason ants invade a building is in search of food or water. A big way to prevent ants from entering your building or home is to try and remove their access to food and water. This might require: Getting rid of leftovers, closing any open trash cans, fixing any leaking water pipes and spigots, sealing any openings from windows, doors, and/or foundation, and removing any rotten and wet wood. 

Spiders are common in many houses and man-made structures and are usually harmless but will still creep and crawl around your home or business uninvited. Having a large spider population usually means there is another large pest problem. A majority of the reason why spiders invade a place is in search or pursuit of their prey for food. This means the main reason spiders are living in your home or business is because they followed another pest in while on their hunt for food. Some ways to reduce and prevent a spider infestation are: to Make sure all windows and doors have intact screens and mesh covers, seal and repair any cracks and openings in the foundation, exterior walls, and the roof, dust and vacuum your home regularly to remove and get rid of any unwanted spiders and their webs, and finally prevent/remove other pests in order to remove the spider's food supply.

An Unwanted, dirty, and unpleasant pest. These pests can become a big problem as a small pest problem can turn into a huge pest problem if left untreated. These little pests breed fast, damage property, contaminate food and surfaces with viruses, parasites, and bacteria, and release odors that are unpleasant, and allergens that can cause asthma attacks and allergies for many people. These pests enter your home or business in search of food, shelter, and water for survival. A few ways to prevent cockroaches are: to check for any stowaway cockroaches on boxes, deliveries, and appliances, repair any leaky pipes, keep kitchen and eating areas clean, keep food in the fridge or airtight containers, reduce moisture levels in home or business, and keep lids on trash cans to prevent the cockroaches from having access to food. 

These sneaky and unwanted pests are shy but very dangerous and destructive. These rodents try to get indoors in search of food and shelter. While rodents try to remain unnoticed as much as they can, they can become aggressive if they are found and cornered. These pests are dangerous from bites that may cause rat-bite fever to make you severely ill by being near their urine and feces. These pests can carry disease, bacteria, and the bubonic plague that can be very dangerous to your health, not including the hitchhikers (ticks and fleas) they can be carrying. They can also become destructive in order to get food by gnawing and chewing through anything in their way. Although these pests are difficult to deal with there are a few ways to try and keep them out of your home or business. Some ways to prevent these pests are: to inspect the exterior of the building for any openings big enough for these pests to get in, set up outdoor traps to keep these pests away from the building, and if they do get into your building it is always best to deal with this pest problem while they are small. These pests breed fast if left untreated they can turn into a big pest problem. 

Flies are a common pest problem we are all familiar with as they are almost everywhere. Everyone dealt with these pests and knows how annoying they can be, but they can also be dangerous. These pests carry up to millions of bacteria and diseases with them, causing illness once transmitted. These flies contaminate food and surfaces by just being around them. Flies contaminate food when they eat due to regurgitating stomach fluids in order for them to be able to eat their food. While flying around and landing on services these pests leave fecal spots which leave behind millions of bacteria. These pests invade our homes or businesses in seek of food. They often fly in through an open window, door, or cracks in the building. These pests are attracted to the smell of leftover food, wet drains/standing water, trash, feces, and overripened fruit and vegetables. The best ways to prevent these pests are to keep your home clean. Some ways you can do this are by throwing away any trash lying around, storing any leftover food in containers or in a fridge, cleaning any eating areas, throwing away any overripened fruit and vegetables, removing any standing water, and cleaning any utensils and plates used.

This pest can be very dangerous and should be handled with extreme care. A wasp is a stinging insect and can cause damage to anyone around them that they feel are a threat to its hive. These pests love their space and will attack anything and anyone if they feel threatened. Their stings can be painful and can be serious health problems for some people by triggering allergic reactions and sometimes anaphylactic shock. The main reason these pests live nearby is that they smell food and strong fragrances or other potential food. Some of these wasps also seek shelter and warmth during the cold weather. One thing anyone can do to keep these pests out is to make sure there are no cracks or openings around windows and doors and to make sure all windows and doors have mesh screens.