To minimize the damage raccoons can cause at your home, we need to address the things they like most. This time, we’re going to talk about what every organic creature needs on the planet. Food. It’s a very good chance it’s a food source the raccoon that is setting up camp at your place is after. It might be your garbage, a compost heap,  the food you leave out for your cat (one you own or a stray, the raccoon doesn’t care!), the doggy door you leave open that lets the raccoon in to eat food in your house,  bird/squirrel feeders, or even a vegetable garden. If it provides sustenance and is left unguarded, it’s like leaving out a welcome sign for these guys.

You might be thinking about some sort of motion detector flood light placed in a strategic area to mitigate raccoon behavior. In most scenarios, this won’t work. The sensitivity would have to be turned up pretty high and would create a ton of false alarms or possible staying on all the time and failing to alert the home owner or startle the animal. That said, there are some interesting devices on the horizon coming out of IoT, also known as the internet of things. Your home’s wireless network can now use the power of cloud computing to capture photos and video of your home or business’s surroundings and through an upload of data, analyze what is being seen and create an appropriate action. Turn on a sprinkler zone? Yes! Fire an air-jet? Right on! Motion track a bright light? Absolutely! And all of this can be reported back to your smart phone. While this may sound like an escalation of the groundhog war waged in Caddyshack, it’s really about protecting your property and peace of mind. If you live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association, you might have to go into work late or be subject to fines if your garbage is strewn about your lawn, or heaven forbid, the lawns of your neighbors. One too many late days at work can cost you a raise or promotion. And to think, your CLE, or Career Limiting Event, was caused by a raccoon!

You’re probably getting mad just reading this article, wondering if it’s been a raccoon all along that has cost you in your career, forcing you to work extra years, maybe even into your retirement. Well, they’re clever, but not that clever! The truth is, we have some things we need to do to dissuade these creatures from having a house party at our expense and that takes some time and effort to put all these things into place. That said, it might just be easier to trap and relocate the nuisance raccoon and in the hands of a professional, I would agree. However, for the do-it-yourselfer, these crafty varmints can prove to be elusive and frustrating at best. While there’s no shortage of animal traps available to try and capture these bestial troublemakers, pulling it off successfully is another story entirely. Give it a go but don’t expect without a lot of trial and error, and maybe a good dose of luck, that you’ll be able to apprehend yourself a mask-faced prisoner. And that’s where we come in.

If a raccoon is still causing you trouble despite repeated attempts to secure your environment and capture and relocate them, please contact us right away. Trapping is hard work if you don’t have the experience. Let the problem be ours and you can go back to enjoying your yard, property, and maybe even the “game” on TV. We’re happy to take care of these issues for our customers in a humane way that benefits the homeowner and the animal. Contact Emergency Pest Patrol for raccoon removal service and ask us for pricing and schedule a service call ASAP. You’ll be glad you did.

The post Raccoon Prevention – How to Keep Raccoons Away appeared first on Tampa Pest Control Services.

#6 in the list is no slacker. Fire ants are a major pest in the southern U.S. and they certainly have earned their place in our top ten list. A typical fire ant colony produces large mounds of soil or sand in open areas, and they mostly feed on young plants and plant seeds. They’re known to attack small animals and can kill them given the opportunity. Unlike many other ants, which bite spray acid on the wounds they create, fire ants bite only to get a grip and then proceed to sting from their abdomens. The stinging process involves injecting a toxic alkaloid venom called Solenopsin, a compound from the class of piperidines (a little trivia: the toxic alkaloid coniine from poison hemlock, which was used to put Socrates to death, is from the same family!). For us humans, this creates a painful sting that feels like being burned by fire.  It’s no wonder how the fire ant earned its name. The sting has been known to be deadly among people with hypersensitivity to insect stings and they can cause severe duress for the elderly or infirmed when they can’t escape from the swarming insects. Not only content to harass people and animals, they are proficient at reducing the aesthetic, recreational, and physical value of your home. In addition to the unsightly mounds creating no-go zones on your own property, fire ants are known to damage transformer boxes, air conditioning housing, and other electrical devices such as relay switches which cause power outages and equipment failures. In just the state of Texas during 2001, costs associated with fire ant damage to electrical and communications equipment came to an astonishing $146.5 million per year! If there’s any good news, it’s that fire ants can be managed outside your home or business to reduce their numbers and the risk of damage their unfettered populations could cause. After ants are eliminated and their nests removed from electrical equipment, re-infestation and damage can be prevented by sealing many sensitive electrical components with insulation, often taking the form of rubber gaskets or rings. An electrical box in a plastic housing containing switches, relays, or circuit breakers are great candidates for insulation. Add to that a long-residual contact insecticide and the threat of ant infestation can be eliminated or greatly reduced. Labelling the enclosures with a date or engaging in an ongoing treatment plan can ensure that regular treatments are applied and your home or business remains adequately protected.

#7 is the all too familiar German cockroach. Beyond the “ew” factor and their repugnant appearance, German cockroaches in your home or business are just plain unhealthy. Research has demonstrated that children growing up in environments with German cockroaches present are far more likely to suffer from allergies and asthma. This is due to their feces and dried skins that become aerialized which are allergenic and can carry pathogens as they float through the air. German cockroaches are hardy and require a stout cleanup effort to eliminate their food sources and the proper placement of bait to get them under control. Done right, aerosol sprays need not be employed to control the German cockroach.

#8 on our list of pesky pests are rats and mice. One need only harken back to the black plague, carried by rodents that enjoyed a population boom when superstitious beliefs railed against cats, the predator keeping the mice and rats in check. They can be the most unhealthy and damaging pests encountered due to the rodent’s need to keep chewing in order to maintain their teeth at a proper healthy length. On top of the chewing damage, a single house mouse leaves behind 3,000 micro-droplets of urine a day. Multiply that times a fair number of mice and you’ve got huge potential for property damage and allergen creation. Rodent urine contains numerour bacteria and viruses, and these sneaky beasts have no qualms about dusting your kitchen counters, floors, and silverware with their unhealthy footprint. Rats are known to carry salmonella, murine typhus and other diseases. Snap traps are normally the best method for getting rid of limited infestations of rats and mice so they can be removed without the danger of a rodent dying in the wall and creating a stench that lasts for weeks.

#9 is the bed bug which seems to garner so much press. They reduce the attractiveness and livability of any room they’re found in by leaving fecal smears on mattresses and furnishings. Bed bug bites can leave itchy welts on the skin and can cause allergic reactions. Some people suffer severe itching while others fail to react to the bite at all. Having existed since ancient times, bed bugs are found throughout the world and menace the whole of the human race.

#10 on our list is the squirrel. While cute up in a tree, they can be astute destroyers within your home left unchecked. They start families in your attic, attack birds and their feeders, destroy fruit on trees, and sometimes make a nuisance of themselves “screaming” at people coming and going from their homes and businesses. Elimination of easy attic access and the installation of one-way doors are excellent ways of diminishing the threat of squirrel infestation inside your home or business.

Contact Emergency Pest Patrol for mosquito control service and ask us for pricing and service call scheduling.

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#1 on our list is the ultra-destructive termite. Each year termites cause over $5 billion of damage to homes and property, according to the National Pest Management Association. Termite control is not something easily performed by laymen. In fact, just the process of identifying the termite can be difficult for the non-professional as they are often misidentified as ants or flying ants. A professional exterminator will help homeowners identify the particular variety you have encountered and will use a targeted method of control to eliminate the threat. The tools, technology, and methods for termite control have continued to improve over the years, especially in the hands of a seasoned professional improving your chances of mitigating any potential damage these awful insects can inflict upon you and your wallet. Subterranean termites eat 24/7, making them enormously and insatiably destructive. Furthermore, damage by termites is typically not covered by a regular homeowner’s insurance policy so contact a termite expert if you suspect that the damage or bugs you see might be this terrible pest.

#2 on our list is the carpenter ant. They build nests inside wood consisting of galleries chewed out with their strong muscled mandibles, preferably in dead, damp wood. Unlike termites, they do not consume the wood. Sometimes, carpenter ants hollow out sections of dead, weakened, or diseased trees, but they’re happy to work their way into a live healthy tree if the habitat suits them. Beyond trees, they commonly infest wooden buildings becoming a major cause of structural damage. They are content to live in hollowed out areas inside doors, behind insulation and even in soft styrofoam insulation. Even so, carpenter ants are only one colony expansion away from destroying your property and are known to show up on real estate transaction paperwork as a potential liability. In the United States, the black carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus) is quite common out of a genus that includes over 1,000 species so consumers are bound to cross paths with them at some point.

#3 on our list is the formidable powderpost beetle. Belonging to the subfamily Lyctinae, they are part of a group of seventy species of woodboring beetles. While most woodborers have a large prothorax, the powderpost beetle does not, making its head more pronounced with antennae that appear as two-jointed clubs. These pests attack deciduous trees where, over time, they reduce the wood to a powdery dust. You might discover their larvae, which are white and C-shaped. A headache for homeowners, the powderpost beetle only attacks hardwood. This means that they will not destroy a home but will infest certain areas usually consisting of molding, flooring, cabinets, doors, hardwood furniture, and other hardwood items. An infestation can be found by the presence of very fine sawdust or by discovering small, 1/32 to 1/16 in diameter round, holes in hardwood items with sawdust leaking out. Sadly, most lyctid beetle infestations occur in newly built homes (1-5 y/o) that were assembled with already infested wood. Often, removing infested wood is the most economical solution to remedying this problem.

#4 is the wild honey bee, our next pest on the list. They are great for making honey but when they find their way onto your property, look out! They have no problem setting up shop within the confines of your home’s walls, becoming an expensive nuisance that is best handled by experienced professionals. A typical colony can consist of tens of thousands of bees and their hive may weigh up to several pounds within a few days of construction. If killed by insecticide without a proper extraction plan, the mass of wax, honey, and propolis from the hive will leak fermenting honey, melting wax (the bees work to keep wax from melting when they’re alive), and dead bees, all oozing out into your home or property in the form of a huge mess. Now you have a new problem along with the gooey remains: insect scavengers, moths, and rodents that feed off the dead hive. In some instances, it’s possible to extract the bees alive at a higher cost, but this isn’t always practical depending on the number of affected people nearby and the location of the nest. And to be clear, we’re referring to wild honey bees, not their domesticated cousins who have been endangered.

#5 is reserved for indoor ants. Finding them crawling through your food stores, up the walls, and across counters is unsettling at best. When they find their way into a drain pipe or electrical panel causing backups and burnouts, their true destructive potential becomes acute. Knowing what kind of ant you have is essential to controlling them through treatment. Some ants are only visitors, living mostly outside but stopping to forage, while others are very choosy when it comes to the bait they’re attracted to. Don’t waste your money or spray excessively with over the counter bug spray; not only can they smell bad and make some surfaces in your home unsafe to touch, they’re not nearly as effective as what an experienced professional from Emergency Pest Patrol can bring to bear. We can identify your ants and start the best treatment that will work for you in the most effective manner.

Contact Emergency Pest Patrol for mosquito control service and ask us for pricing and service call scheduling.

The post Pesky Pests That Can Damage Your Home, part #1 appeared first on Tampa Pest Control Services.

At the time of this writing, the Centers for Disease Control reports more than 900 cases of the Zika virus in Florida with new cases of the virus virtually every day. Though largely centered in and around Miami, Tampa Bay is far too close for comfort to the disease epicenter. Florida Governor Scott announced he plans to use emergency powers to fund an extra $25 million dollars to help speed up the development of a Zika vaccine and fast, reliable, and inexpensive methods to test for Zika. What can be done right now? Fortunately there are some common sense steps you can perform to help you from becoming one of those 900 and growing cases. Following sage advice and protecting yourself from this menace really is worth its weight in gold.

A great place to start with controlling Zika and your exposure to mosquitoes is with a repellent. There are a variety on the market with varying effectiveness and even a great selection of all natural, DEET-free, kid-friendly products. The Centers for Disease Control has published a list of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellents they recommend which include ingredients such as DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, and the chemicals IR3535 and 2-undecanone. To verify that a mosquito repellent is registered with the EPA, look for a registration number in the form of “EPA Reg.” on the back of the product label.

Preventing mosquitoes is most effective when applied as an integrated effort and attacking the problem from multiple fronts. Emergency Pest Patrol can at your direction perform a site survey as part of an overall mosquito treatment plan and point out areas that may be sources for mosquito reproduction and recommend changes or strategies using our services to control their eggs and larva. Reduction of the insects may involve physical changes to the environment to disrupt their ideal methods of reproducing (think, turning over unused flowerpots, buckets, etc) or the use of chemical control products where applicable, along with other recommendations depending on what is found. There might even be tears in your window and porch screens or old holes in your walls from a prior cable/phone installation that insects can find their way inside your home.

Chemical control product methods to control Zika and the mosquitoes that carry it may include:

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Just about now, most people have been reading and hearing about the dreaded mosquito borne virus, Zika. This virus can cause detrimental health problems of an extreme nature and there is no vaccine nor cure. Considering it’s fast spread, now is the best time for implementing sound and secure mosquito control.

Zika is a virus that originated in Africa. It’s now been let loose and is showing up in the Caribbean, South America, The United States and parts of Asia. This virus has no defense against it save for the application of mosquito control on a vast scale.

Scientists are moving as fast as they can to contain the spread of the disease using mosquito control and that ranges from chemicals to releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes that combat the spread of the virus. The average homeowner doesn’t have the high tech means to battle the disease and can only count on using known methods to minimize the risk.

One thing to do is make sure no standing pools of water are near the home that would allow for the spawning of mosquitoes That can be next to impossible for water rich areas like the Southeast. There are pools of standing water all over the place.

The only way to do any damage is to get professional mosquito control specialists to come along and evaluate your situation and use their tools and expertise to put down some layer of protection. This may all seem futile, but in this case, anything would be helpful.

There are many other techniques you can do to minimize risks and that includes common sense things like wearing repellent, keeping doors and windows closed, sealing up cracks to the roof and home that might allow mosquitoes to gain access.

With the outbreak of Zika, the government may have to present materials and services to the public to help. Keep a watchful eye on the news in your local area just to make sure you’re aware of any and if so, be the first in line to get whatever is offered.

Mosquitoes are resourceful creatures, having survived 100s of millions of years. In areas where bats are prolific, the Zika threat might be all but negligible thanks to these leather winged predators. Other natural predators like amphibians, spiders and the like might help fight the threat but Mother Nature hasn’t wiped out the mosquito yet, but mankind might.

So the battle lines are clear. Learn about mosquito control on your own. Do what you can around your home and even ask neighbors to chip in. Hire a professional mosquito control expert to come in and do their job. It may be the difference between menace and security.

Emergency Pest Patrol offers mosquito control service. Please contact us for pricing and scheduling a service call.

Image credit: angellodeco

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Many pests like mice or even termites can cause utter destruction of your home, and cost you tens of thousands of dollars if not more in structural damage and other inconveniences. While there are many effective measures to prepare, prevent, and treat home pest invasions sometimes it’s necessary to hire a professional, licensed, pest control expert. Not only can misuse of pesticides cause damage and harm to you and your home but can even be ineffective and a waste of money.

Don’t be Swayed by Gimmicks
If you believe or know that you have a pest problem it’s best that you do your research online or through local, approved, and licensed pest professional shops or businesses. Utilize resources like the BBB (Better Business Bureau), and ask for references from the pest control experts or business you’re interested in. If in doubt, contact the State Attorney General’s Office or look into the States Departments of Agriculture to verify both that they licensed, and have not had any complaints lodged again them.

“Pest control experts” that go door-to-door should likewise be avoided. While marketing and advertising this way is not illegal, it often can be a bad sign. Though a free estimate and quote for work are desirable, be mindful of who you trust to come into your home. If a “pest control expert” approaches you with “evidence” of pests without your permission, or indicates that your home is sure to be destroyed in the near future without their services it’s best to steer clear. Also, if your pest control professional or agency offers a “package” deal such as lawn mowing, painting, or any other unrelated service this is a bad sign, so avoid any “jack of all trades”.

Trusted Products and Businesses
Understand that not only a trusted and licensed pest control professional is most practical, but also that the professional you trust is using trusted, EPA chemicals and that they’re being applied correctly. Don’t be afraid to ask for the ingredients label, as this can help you to monitor and ensure they’re being used correctly.

A reputable, trustworthy business will also offer some level of guarantee with the services it renders. This is why it’s so important to create, review, and fully understand a contract before taking on a licensed, pest control expert. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for credentials, and contact your local respective government agency for licensing details to verify. Typically, a pest control agency or contractor will offer a 1 to 5-year guarantee.

It’s important that you understand the requirements, what’s involved, and how to properly prepare your home, any necessary follow-up treatment, and how to identify once chemicals have dried to safely return to your home.

Lastly, don’t forget, pesticides are extremely potent, and any valuables and living animals should be removed from the house before treatment begins – this includes fish tanks and air pumps. If you’re still unsure if you’ve found the right pest control professional share the quote and contract offer with a trusted friend, or, seek reviews online through a popular site like Yelp to protect your home, health, and money.

Image credit: www.emergencypestpatrol.com

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Termites can destroy houses, wreak havoc on your home, and easily cost thousands of dollars or more if left untreated. Termites can be found all across the country, and there are over 40 types of species of termites, complicating the matter further.

Take into consideration these steps and measures to prevent and apply termite control as necessary:
1) Moisture filled environments are some of the most appealing to termites, in particular, subterranean termites, and there doesn’t have to necessarily be wood involved to attract them. In fact, termites often build their colonies and tunnels away from their main source or food, or in this case moisture, dirt, crumbs, or wood. Many people don’t know this but termites actually feed on the cellulose found inside most wood. So whether it’s your bathroom, living room, or attic take steps to keep environments dry to maximize termite control.

2) Wood comes in all shapes and sizes, from natural wood used to build houses to the nearby tree located outside of your home. It’s critical that you monitor the wood in or around your home, including if your home is built on a wooden foundation. Not only keeping these places clean, but also keeping them away from other (natural) wood sources like trees can also help to keep termites at bay. Always make efforts to trim back your trees and not leave wood piles stacked up too close to your home. They should be at least a good 10-15 feet away from any connecting part of your home – which termites would use as a “bridge” to invade your house.

3) Openings, holes, and wear of wood throughout a person’s home are one of the leading causes of termite infestation. It can be as easy as caulking or filling these holes or having repairs made to and around your home in keeping termites at bay. Doing so will deter the termites and make it more likely that they will search elsewhere to build their colonies and tunnels. Not only wood but any breaches, holes, and cracks throughout your home could easily serve as an entrance for termites, so keep up with your housework and also keep an eye on the condition of and keep clean your shingles.

4) Be aware of the geographic of your home, and if in doubt research and get your hands on the United States Forest Service’s map of Termite Infestation Probability (TIP) zones to maximize your understanding of the likelihood of a termite infestation. Homes in the United States that frequently suffer the most from termite infestations are those which live in rainy, moist, and wet climates such as Florida and other nearby states.

Without increased awareness, necessary home maintenance, and preventative measures termites can take over your home, and your life. In may escalate to the point in which you need a professional to apply termite control methods such as pesticides, but home repairs are often necessary too. Termite control and prevention is serious, so take care of your home, and seek professional services if in doubt.

Image credit: Mr.Smith Chetanachan

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Why do I have mice or rats in my Home?

Both mice and rats come from a long history of nearly 100 types of families and sub-categories. Often, immigrating, traveling, or migrating throughout various locations across the United States. While typically these migrations take years and years to develop, this does not take away from the very real threat and reproductive habits of current mice and rats local to you and your home.

Often, seeing as little as one rat or mouse in your home can mean there is either a likely infestation taking place, or that it already has and you are only seeing the few that have made themselves available or come out when the others are elsewhere.

What are the most effective measures of rodent control?

While different people experience pest infestations for different reasons, there are several common patterns that are associated with a rodent infestation. Some of these might include:

* Trash, garbage, and other rotten food or crumbs being left on the floor, sink area, and other easy to access locations – including trashcans that are not changed on a regular basis.
* Your home has many holes or vulnerable, potential entrances for rodents and in turn is experiencing a rush of these creatures during the cold-winters or other periods throughout the year.
* Leaving your doors and windows open frequently, without keeping an eye on them or leaving accessible holes, nooks, and “cranny’s” for outside rodents to exit and enter as they please.
* Structural defects or failure of household foundation such as wood and other soft-materials that are easy to chew through for mice or rats.
* Treating a pest control problem in your home can be approached several ways:
* Purchase professional caulking and fill any and all unnecessary or unnatural holes located throughout your house, specifically lower to the ground but not limited to ceilings, corners, and other hard-to-reach places.
* Requesting the service of a professional exterminator to evaluate your rodent infestation, and determine the necessary steps or measures to remove and exterminate any colonies or rodents in your home.
* Removing and throwing away any unnecessary cardboard boxes and other foam materials, they rodents thrive on these to build-nests and cause further destruction to your home.
* Setting traps throughout your house such as glue-traps, snap-traps, and poisoned-food traps or dangerous poisons that will kill rodents and their colonies when brought back to their hiding place or nest.

Threats and Development of Rodent Infestation

Both mice and rats commonly have up to 8 or more litters per year, often including at least 8-10 “pups” per litter. This can be extremely frustrating in applying efforts of pest control. Without traps, caulking up structural vulnerabilities in your home, a cat, or a rodent control expert, the situation can get out of hand very quickly. Rats and mice are notorious for destroying homes, polluting foods, and other household items by leaving harmful and toxic waste, feces, and saliva in places you may not know about or be expecting.

If you believe you have a serious rodent infestation, consider your options, and avoid using poisons and other potentially dangerous traps if you have children or pets at home, as they can be extremely toxic. Take steps to secure your food items in glass or plastic tupperware to deter rodents, and consult with a professional rodent control professional (exterminator) as quickly as possible to nip your pest control troubles in the bud’ before it’s too late.

Image credit: Michael Lane

The post Pest Control: Getting Rid of Those Pesky Rodents appeared first on Tampa Pest Control Services.

Understanding termite infestations, behavior, and the developmental aging process that incorporates both the evolution of these pesky critters, and their wreaking havoc on your home can be limited – especially if you do not have prior knowledge or experience. A pest control strategy can only be effectively measured and applied once it’s been verified that termites are active, what type, the locations, and to what capacity.

Some of the most common trends and behaviors of Subterranean termite infestations are the building of tunnels – or “tubes” – three to be exact, identified as working, exploratory, and “drop-tubes”. Each of these tunnels are typically developed through the combination of fecal matter, saliva, and mud collected and applied by the termites throughout the interior and or exterior infrastructures of your home. The purpose of these tubes is to transport the food (wood from your home) to their nests (the caves or tunnels in the ground) through an efficient channel or super ant-like “highway”. Understanding this concept and dynamic of termite building is essential to termite control initiatives.

A strong indicator that there is current subterranean termite activity within or on the outside of your home can be demonstrated in the obviously operational existence, and current visual activities of termites such as digging, tunnels, and other common wood destruction throughout or around your home.

With the simple scrape of a box-cutter or icepick one can expose these seemingly “hollow” work-tubes and determine both whether or not termites are currently active in these locations, as well as to what capacity. In some instances however, it can be difficult, as termites rely on the food accessibility and desirability of wood throughout various locations of your home, including hard to reach crawl places or others unknown to you and only accessible by a seasoned pest control professional.

The average subterranean termite is ¼” long, while its superiors the reproductive King and Queens are typically half an inch in diameter. Worker termites are usually of a white color, and do not have wings. The King and Queen termites on the other hand are usually black or brown in color.

Observing “swarmer’s” or (flying) worker termites and even reproductive king or queens around the wooded infrastructure of your home outside does not necessarily indicate that termite control is necessary – they could just be ‘prospecting’ the area. Since the actual development of tubes, breeding, and effectively feeding on wood by termites can be so slow and take years to have an obvious impact, detecting them earlier on will undoubtedly lead to the most effective pest control measures.

Not all subterranean termites are created equally, so a handful of considerations should be in place before making any final judgement calls, or determining whether or not to call for a pest control professional.

Finding tunnels and rows of mud, feces, and other signs of tube-building such as tunnels or weak wooden infrastructure with holes in them throughout your home, as well as fecal matter inside likely indicates the need for termite control. If the tunnels or “tubes” crumble easily, and no termites are to be actively observed inside, it is possible that they have moved on, died off, or are perhaps located in other places throughout or outside of your home.

Image credit: Michael Pettigrew

The post Identifying and Treating a Subterranean Termite Infestation appeared first on Tampa Pest Control Services.

Removing wood damaged by termite infestation in house

Termites are a menace to the development of civilization of mankind.  They used to be a food source but as men used wood to build their homes and other structures, they attracted termites to dine on them thus causing severe and dangerous damage.  This is where termite pest control comes in.

People have been seeking for and using whatever hey could get their hands on to get rid of termites. Some of these substances are harmless to humans and their pets and some not so. Today’s modern approach to pest control regarding termites involves more safe and effective means, thus the need for a professional.

Termites are no joke. Once established in your home, it’s a slow degrade to destruction that could leaf a family in constant peril. A compromised structure could injure or kill.

Finding out that termites are infesting your home may be too late. The variety of the types of termites means they attack differently and need to be handled in such a manner. Without foreknowledge of their assaults, the homeowner will find themselves at odds at which they may become overwhelmed. When this occurs, all is not lost, but it is definitely the need for a termite control specialist.

What the termite control specialist does is analyze the situation and prepare a battle plan. If your home is moderately infested, the specialist will use a variety of techniques to not only contain the present danger but also point out the the preventative measures that should be taken to keep the buggers from trying it again. Should your home be of more intense invasion, then it’s time for some heavy duty termite control and could end up with floors opened up, walls, ceilings, likewise. The specialist has to figure out how deep the infestation is. Now it’s time to not only rid the property of the termites, but also repair the damage done. If it turns out that some moderate to heavy structural damage has occurred, you’ll be glad to know your professional and certified termite control specialist will know how deep the damage goes. This information will help greatly in insurance coverage because insurance companies know that termites can do far more damage than meets the eye. Getting both the termite control specialist’s evaluation, an insurance company assessment, will give a better precise assessment as to how much reconstruction the structure needs.

You do not want things to get this bad, but it’s tough to know. That’s why the moment you see just one termite, you need to go into action. You cannot afford to wait one second longer as these creatures will embed themselves in great numbers and get inside a structure in just a matter of hours. Once inside, they’ll engineer a colony where the queen termite can settle in safely and lay eggs. Using the sugars in the wood for food, they’ll first establish a stronghold, then venture out to get as much space as they can. You won’t normally be able to see this but by the time you do, you can bet they’re dug in pretty good.

Mind you, damage to your home is damage to the equity you’ve invested and more importantly a danger to one and all in the domicile. Floors and walls can give way, ceilings collapse, from the ravenous hunger of termites. This is not a joke and buildings that normally looked sound have been known to collapse right before people’s eyes only to find out later that the supporting structure had been compromised by termites.

You can’t always see them, you can’t always hear them, you can’t always smell them, but they can infest and grow to dangerous proportions in a relatively short time.

Termites, a major pest problem throughout time, don’t fall victim to them.

Image credit: Barbara Reddoch

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