If you’re looking for a warm place to spend the winter, you’re not alone! So are pests! This time of the year, we get calls about all kinds of pests trying to take up residence in homes and businesses in preparation for winter. Pests like rodents (mice & rats), flies, crickets, stink bugs, spiders and others are being reported throughout the valley this fall. If you observe any of these or other pests, be sure to give us a call! In the meantime, there are measures you can take to prevent … [Read more...]
Rats: Prevent Roof Rats from Getting On Your Property
Almost anywhere in a backyard can be a home for roof rats. Home owners just need to maintain their landscaping and keep a clean patio and they should be roof rat worry-free. Here are some tools to use to help keep these rodents away. A popular spot is resting water; in the summer’s monsoon or storm season a lot of water is left on carports or on back porches. It is best to sweep the water into the gutter or into your grass, that way there are no puddles for rats to come drink from. Don’t … [Read more...]
Thinking “Weed Control”
Pre-Emergent Weed control is like insurance for your yard! You know the weeds will come, it is just a question of when and how bad will they be this season? The cities of the valley are known to be hit with winter weed annuals after the winter rains and summer weed annuals during Monsoon season. The goal is to prevent the seeds and spores of weeds that travel by wind and other animals from taking root in your yard. Treating the rocks and crevices where weeds pop up while leaving no damage to … [Read more...]
Ant Activity
If you haven’t already seen them, now is the time when pesky little ants make their appearance in many homes. As the weather gets warmer ant colonies become more active. Not only are ants a major nuisance for many homeowners but it is very hard to get rid of ants due to their very large colonies which house thousands of ants. There are several species of ants that can be found in Arizona and while most are considered just nuisance pests, others like carpenter ants can actually cause extensive … [Read more...]
Mosquito Preventive Measures
The mosquito is a disease carrier and an irritant, but the mosquito is not impossible to control. Understanding mosquito’s biology and the mosquito breeding cycle can result in effective pest control for mosquito infestation. This pesky mosquito is found worldwide. The mosquito affects humans only in their adult stage, all other mosquitoes stages occur in water. There are about three thousand species of mosquitoes worldwide, approximately 170 species in North America. Breeding sites, biting … [Read more...]
Termite Activity: What To Look For
Homes all over the country can be infested by the dreaded termite. This insect will work quietly and devastatingly inside the structure of your house and can do serious damage if not removed. Here are some pointers on how to look for signs of termites. Watch out for mud tubes. Unlike ants, termites do not roam around exposed. They either burrow through wood or travel inside pencil-sized (or larger) mud tubes that they build from wood particles, soil and other materials. Look around the … [Read more...]
BEE, WASP AND HORNET CONTROL
While bees are crucial for plant pollination and wasps are predators that help control the insects they feed on, they can quickly become a hazard when they take residence around your property. Bees can become aggressive and will sting in order to defend themselves, their queen, colony, and nest. Wasps can even become aggressive around human food. The most important rule of bee control is to eliminate the nest, where the queen bee is living and reproducing while her worker bees build comb and … [Read more...]
Are Roaches coming from my neighbor’s house?
Are the roaches I am seeing possibly coming from my neighbor's house? This is a question you hear often, and the answer is yes, it is possible. Roach problems like this between neighbors often happen more in row home or apartment and condo situations. With the close proximity of a row home and sometimes with the common joist set up, or in the case of apartments where pipes and wires are all common, it is the perfect highway set up for roaches to travel back and forth. If you are faced with this … [Read more...]
Devil Scorpions
Hoffmannius spinigerus, commonly known as the Devil scorpion, are very common and widely distributed in Phoenix Arizona. Phoenix residents often mistake Devil Scorpions for their Arizona cousins the Bark scorpion. Devil Scorpions are a medium-sized scorpion with large adult females reaching nearly 70 mm. It can be differentiated from our Arizona Bark Scorpion (Centruroides sculpturatus) by the brownish-tan stripes on the back of its tail along the keels or ridges; the tail is typically thicker … [Read more...]
Control Pest Problems This Fall
As the chilly fall and winter weather arrives, families are getting cozy in their warm houses and homes. Not surprisingly, common pests as small as ants or spiders and as big as rats, have the exact same notion. A homeowner’s only hope against the relentless invasion of these pests, is to seal-off any structural, window and door cracks or holes, that could possibly allow pest invaders; to enter to the dwelling or structure. The most likely points of entry for pests, are a building’s windows and … [Read more...]