Question When we were in New Mexico last summer, I bought a cellophane bag of dried hot peppers from a roadside stand to bring home. I stuck them on a top shelf in the kitchen and forgot about them. When I pulled them out this morning, there were several dead moths inside the bag. The bag is still unopened. How did the moths get in there? I hate to think that there were moth eggs in the bag when I bought it! Answer The bag probably did contain eggs, or larvae so small you couldn’t see them, ...
Blogs
Working Safely on Ladders – Advice From the Pros
By | May 23, 2013 - 4:13 pm
In the pest control business, our technicians are frequently up on ladders to seal openings around roof lines, or to trap animals out of attics. They’re well trained in the safe use of ladders. I sometimes cringe when I see homeowners up on ladders, attempting to do roof repairs, gutter cleaning, or even pest control. It seems that many people don’t even know the basics of safe ladder use, or they just forget to be careful:Choose the right ladder for the job. Stepladders are for use on ...
Who Chewed That Hole in the Soffit?
By | May 22, 2013 - 4:25 pm
Question When my husband was cleaning the roof gutters, he noticed a good-sized hole in the soffit at the corner of the house. It was pretty clear that something had chewed an opening but we don’t know what. He didn’t see anything when he went up into the attic. Any idea what made the hole? Answer The answer to your question depends largely on the size of the hole. Possibilities range from a mouse to a raccoon, but the easy answer is a squirrel. Squirrels like to nest in attics. If they ...
Bed Bug Problems Are Not Declining
By | May 21, 2013 - 2:45 pm
You may have heard on the news that bed bugs are finally declining in the U.S. Not true. Don’t know where they got their data but if you talk to anyone in the pest control business, you’ll hear otherwise.The National Pest Management Association, which is the trade association of pest control companies, recently conducted its third industry survey on bed bugs. This 2013 survey interviewed 251 pest management businesses across the nation. It wasn’t a surprise to find that nearly every ...
Why Ants Herd Aphid “Cows”
By | May 17, 2013 - 3:21 pm
In the pest control business, we know that ants sometimes prefer sweet, sugary foods and sometimes they’d rather feed on protein-based, oily foods. Ants’ food preferences are often seasonal, and often related to development of the young in the colony. We often have to switch our baits until we figure out what the ants are feeding on this week. Almost every type of ant though will feed on “honeydew.” Yummy! Aphid “Honeydew” Honeydew has nothing to do with honeydew melons. It’s the ...
What are the noises in my attic?
By | May 17, 2013 - 11:18 am
Find out what insects and or wildlife you have in your attic that is making all those noises from our expert Scott Winsper.Transcription: Interviewer: What are the noises in my attic? Scott Winsper: Well, there could be several noises in the attic you're hearing to identify what's going on. One could be a running pattern back and forth, like kids are chasing each other in the attic. That's usually common as a flying squirrel. Another slight scratch noise in your sheetrock, usually it's ...
Springtails Survive on Moldy Surfaces
By | May 16, 2013 - 2:13 pm
Question The sliding patio door in our basement level leaked badly during heavy rain about a month ago. The wall and floor around the door did get pretty wet. We dried everything out and had the door replaced. But now we have these very tiny, light-colored jumping bugs around the door. I can’t imagine that they are coming in from outside since the new door seals well. Are they coming out of the walls? Answer They could literally be coming out of the walls! I suspect that, as a result of the ...
Hoarders With Bed Bugs
By | May 15, 2013 - 2:36 pm
Question Even though she denies it, I think my sister is a hoarder. Her apartment is a disaster with piles of clothes and stuff everywhere. There’s not even any place to sit because every surface is covered. This is bad enough but she also has bed bugs. I’ve tried to tell her that the clutter makes the bed bug problem worse. That is true isn’t it? She says her life style has nothing to do with her bed bug problem. Answer While anyone can get bed bugs, people with clutter are much more ...
The Woodpecker-Carpenter Bee Connection
By | May 14, 2013 - 1:41 pm
Question For the last couple of days, we have been battling with woodpeckers that are banging on our gutters around the roofline. They’re pecking at the fascia boards and really tearing them up and also making a racket pecking on the aluminum gutters. Why are they doing this and how can we make them stop? We scare them away but they come right back. Answer Woodpeckers can be a real problem when they start this kind of behavior. They peck on buildings for various reasons--to enlarge a hole ...
How do I know if I have bed bugs?
By | May 13, 2013 - 12:15 pm
Find out if you have bed bugs in your home, and if you do find out the safe way to get rid of them from listening to our podcast.Transcription: Bed bugs are getting more and more popular these days, aren't they?You might have some bites that you wake up with. Bed bugs, you won't actually feel them biting you. What they do is, they inject a narcotic in your skin, to numb the area before they start taking a blood meal. You might wake up with welts. Might be bed bugs, might not be.What ...
