I found a new video with some really nice Macro video of ladybugs and thought I would share. I have recently had a few ladybugs getting in to my home and notice them flying around especially in the evening. It is time for me to take my own treatment advice and start treating for these invaders myself.
This is insane! If you have a problem with killer bees, or even suspect that a hive may be killer bees do not try to solve this problem without the proper equipment and protective gear. You can find more information and products in our in depth article at www.bugspray.com
Here is a great closeup look by National Geographic. The videography is amazing even if the subject matter is not. An insect that was pretty much eliminated from the US for 30 plus years is making a strong comeback. If you travel, have guests that travel, or even use public transportation you are at risk of experiencing the horror of a bedbug infestation. Watch the video to see why they are so insidious.
The little brown beetle we've been getting calls about is now in the news. Apparently it's been found invading several homes and technically is known as the Globular Stink Bug so it's not really a beetle at all. Native to Asia, this pest undoubtedly found it's way to the States along all the Kudzu we brought many years ago. Also known as the bean beetle and the Kudzu Bug, globular stink bugs like to feed on Kudzu during the spring and summer. In the fall, they'll start seeking a safe place to stay for the upcoming winter. During this time they can become an invasive insect. Our recommendation is to treat the outside of the home with CYPERMETHRIN and PT CYKICK for cracks and crevices on the inside. Organic treatment options include the BUG PATROL for the home and the HOUSE PLANT INSECT KILLER for inside. More details can be found in our LITTLE BROWN BEETLE post.
You can also find some information posted on the WSBTV based in Atlanta via this link: http://www.wsbtv.com/money/21625556/detail.html
Many times we get calls from customers complaining of large flies finding their way into the home. This even happens in the middle of the winter which can be very baffling to the customer. Fortunately we have seen this happen literally thousands of times over the years. So we can usually pinpoint the cause in a few minute phone conversation. I can say without question the number one reason people find these flies in their homes can be traced back to the placement of rodent baits inside the home. Typically in an attic or basement. The rodent does not die right away and will crawl off to a place that it fills comfortable. That could be hidden in insulation, inside a wall void or under a cabinet. Initially the customer will smell an odor in many cases. This is because there is no MAGIC rodent bait that dehydrates, makes them leave the structure or any other common wives tale that may be told to encourage the use of a bait indoors. The one thing I will say about baiting is that it will be effective. The rodents will die. Unfortunately they could die anywhere.
Since we have seen the anguish that having dead rodents in a wall can cause someone, and unfortunately experienced myself twenty years ago, we try to persuade customers from baiting indoors. If they insist, we do have an excellent selection of professional baits. We also have an excellent selection of fly control products and odor control products and tools.
If your squeamish, you may want to skip the video. I will say that this is a really informative and interesting video though. Excellent close ups and slow motion shots.
Rats and mice are able to reproduce at unbelievable rates as shown in the videos below. It is important to take care of these problems as quickly as possible. Don't wait to start trapping them when the population is so large that the trapping process will take so long that they reproduce faster than you can trap them, or worse they become trap shy. In some cases rats cam even become bait shy making them very difficult to poison.
Rats and mice forage for food in garbage and will even use sewers as avenues to get from place to place. Because of this they are exposed to all kinds of bacteria and disease. Rats are carriers for over 70 diseases. Rats are often linked to the Bubonic Plague in the Middle Ages, and today they are still a threat to human health. So take rodent problems seriously.
Boston Restaurants Infested with Rats
New York KFC infested with Rats
Nova/PBS special on Rats
Guinness World Record for Mouse Plague
So how do you avoid having serious rat problems?
1. Minimize their opportunities for food. Keep pet food in sealed rat proof containers. Set out food only when they eat. Don't allow grazing. Bird feeders are big attractants. If you must use them, use rodent proof feeders. Clean up the yard of pet waste. Rats are recyclers and even dog droppings make a sufficient meal.
2. Seal up the house. Copper wool, Pur Expanding Foam are excellent for minimizing rodent access. Use the Black Foam at roof lines and be sure to get an applicator gun and Gun Cleaner.
3. Get rid of the population. There are many traps available for rats and mice. Including standard traps, live traps, T-Rex, Snap-E, Rat Zapper, and Glue Boards. For mice there are many of the same options in a smaller size including standard mouse traps, tin cat, mouse master, kwik katch and live traps.. Be sure that what you are dealing with are mice and not just young roof rats. Using undersized traps for rats may allow you to catch a few young rats, but will ensure you have an impossible time catching older more weary adults. When this happens only live traps seem to work. I see this mistake made daily by homeowners.
4. Just like restaurants and warehouses use bat stations around the perimeter of the home. Especially if you insist on feeding birds. This station can be placed directly under a bird feeder, and curious rats and mice will find their way in and feed on the bait. This also protects non target animals from getting into the bait.
5. If you have had problems in the past, using repellents around the home, dog pens and garbage can be very helpful at masking old scent trails left by previous visitors. Rats travel by scents, not sight. So using the rat and mice repellent is very effective at keeping them out of an area.
Stored product pests is a category that includes beetles, weevils, moths and mites. These pests cause customers to loose thousands of dollars in damaged food every year. So it is important to not only take action when you see these pest in your home, but to have a good strategy.
Action Plan:
1. Remove infested items.
2. Inspect everything for damage...even new unopened products.
3. If you want to keep anything of value heat the material in shallow pans in the
oven at 130ºF for at least 30 minutes or place in a deepfreeze at 0ºF for four days.
4. Empty and vacuum cabinets and shelves to pick up loose infested material; then
wash them with soap and hot water.
5. Treat previously infested areas using insecticides and growth regulators labeled
for treating these areas.
6. Use Traps for monitoring progress.
7. Replace products to shelves, but compartmentalize by keeping in air tight storage
containers.
Those of you who have never experienced a serious lady bug infestation will likely be wondering why we would have a video on how to treat for lady bugs. You may even be asking why would you want to kill such a beneficial insect. The reality is, a pest is only beneficial when it is living in it's natural environment. The lady bugs this article and video are referring to are Asian Lady Bugs or Asian Lady Beetles. They are not indigenous to the United States. They have been imported with the intention of protecting many types of trees from Aphids. They were imported because they are very hearty and can survive over winter. This allows the population to thrive in even cold climates. This is also the reason they are such a problem.
Once the Lady Bug has chosen your home as an over wintering site, you can count on ever increasing populations from year to year if you do not intervene with aggressive pest management principles. This includes spraying both indoors and outdoors, but is not limited to spraying only.
It is also essential to use other pest control methods to protect your home from these invaders. One way is sealing up all potential access points with IPF Foam and using the Pur Basic Gun to apply the foam will give you great control in making very precise applications. This is something that I have never been able to do with retail foam products. When offered as a service, sealing with this foam can cost a homeowner several hundred dollars.
There is a lot more to this treatment that we cover in our complete article at www.bugspray.com. So if you are dealing with lady bugs, even a little, get ahead of the problem before the lady bug pheromones are all over your home causing ever increasing numbers that will be much more difficult to control.
On the heels of a break-in home invasion and beating that left an elderly woman in Toledo dead, police and self defense experts have a tip that might save your life.
Val Glinka teaches self-defense to students at Sylvania Southview High School . For decades, he's suggested putting a can of wasp and hornet spray near your door. (or bed) Glinka says, "This is better than anything I can teach them."
Glinka considers it inexpensive, easy to find, and more effective than mace or pepper spray. The cans typically shoot 20 to 30 feet; so if someone tries to break into your home, Glinka says, "Spray the culprit in the eyes". Maybe even save a life.
A lady who is a receptionist in a church in a high risk area was concerned about someone coming into the office on Monday to rob them while they were counting their Sunday tithes. She asked the local police department about using pepper spray and they recommended to her that she get a can of wasp spray instead. The wasp spray, they told her, can shoot up to twenty feet away and is a lot more accurate, while with the pepper spray the criminals have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until they get to the hospital for an antidote.
She keeps a can of the Wasp Spray on her desk in the office and it doesn't attract attention from people like a can of pepper spray might. She also keeps one nearby at home for home protection.
I have to say that this is one of the coolest opportunities that I have had in a long time. Customer calls and says the nest is on the window! You can see everything from the inside of the house. "I really need to use equipment around the outside of the house, and I am concerned about them attacking." So I gathered up some tools and my camera and headed out to help out.
Wow, this is crazy. In all my years in this industry I have never heard of a story like this. I have heard of a Raccoon attacking, but never a group of five. I can not stress enough how important it is to never think for a moment that a wild animal is anything but a wild animal. Especially one as strong as a raccoon and one that has such a high incidence of being rabid. You can easily trap them using Loganberry Paste and a Live Trap. Animal control in most counties will be more than happy to pick up the trapped raccoon.
Just wanted to add this video on Mold Blocker which is an excellent compliment to the Mold Blaster. It is a great way to not only prevent the regrowth of mold but also delay the frequency of actually having to remove that regrowth which can be time consuming. This can be used on the interior and exterior of a home.
Mold and Mildew can be very dangerous. There are many people that are allergic to these mold spores including myself. Having to deal with the symptoms that mold and mildew trigger is something that nobody wants to live with. Health problems associated with high levels of airborne mold spores include allergic reactions, asthma episodes, irritations of the eye, nose and throat, infections, sinus congestion, and other respiratory problems. When inhaled by an immunocompromised individual, some mold spores may begin to grow on living tissue, attaching to cells along the respiratory tract and causing further problems in those with weak immune systems.
Correcting the conditions that create this mold is extremely important. It is also important to kill the living mold and mildew. Molds can excrete a substance referred to as mycotoxins. In large amounts these are very dangerous to humans. Some believe their is a direct impact other believe that the continued triggering of the immune response is the culprit in causing people to be extremely ill after long term exposure to high amounts of mold. Either way, I am certain it isn't good to be around long term. Best to take care of it, and by using the Mold Blaster to kill the mold, and Mold Block to prevent regrowth you are well on your way to a much healthier indoor environment.
Mold Blaster and Mold Blocker also work great outdoors for mold that may continually grow on the sides of your home, decks, sidewalks, driveways and other areas you want free from mold and mildew.
Over the years I have heard quite a few myths and misconceptions concerning rats and rodent control. Today I was reminded by a customer of an old one. "Rats do not have a back bone that's why they can fit through such small holes." I have heard comments similar to this for over 20 years. I can see why people might find this easy to believe. Rats can fit through some of the smallest places, that it seems like they must have bodies without any bones structure. The reality is, that rats have bones and cartilidge just like us. They just have very long and typically slender bodies. A healthy rat can usually fit through any hole their heads can fit through.
I have seen younger rats fit through holes as small as a quarter. That is less than an inch in diameter. It is not uncommon for Roof Rats especially to squeeze through holes this size to make it into an attic space. They also have an incredible ability to climb. With nails that resemble needles they can move up the side of a structure with the same speed and agility they run across flat ground. This allows them easy access into attics which generally have openings almost the entire length of the fascia where the gutters are attached. Watch the video below to get some ideas on how to seal up all of the areas where rats can find their way in. The combination of the copper wool(which will not degrade) and the pur foam to lock it in place has been very successful at eliminating the access points that rats use to enter a home or business.
Wow, I can not even begin to tell you how many calls we have heard on stink bugs. The states of PA, DE, MD, NJ and WV are experiencing unbelievable levels of Stink Bug infestations. Go to our expansive article to get all the info you can on these invasive little pests. Not only are they coming in large numbers...they STINK! http://www.bugspray.com/article/stinkbug.html
So you have an animal you want to trap. You have a good trap, but what do you put into the trap to attract the target animal? Well all animals have a variety of foods that they like. So you can always try a variety of foods that you have readily available to draw them in. This can be hit or miss, and you may use something that will attract a non-target animal into the trap. Sometimes this is a good thing, other times it can prevent you from catching the problem animal. Animal attractants is an art and a complex science that can take a lifetime to perfect. So if you have time, trail and error may be the method you choose.
When time is of the essence, trial and error is probably not the best route. Professionals depend on the experience of the professionals that came before them. Trapping pastes and oils have been designed over 30-40 years to create the best combination of attractants to catch your target animal. Depending on what animal you are trying to trap, asking one of the U-Spray Team for a recommendation is a good idea. A common situation that can happen when trying to trap a raccoon is you catch a cat or opossum instead. Raccoons will often become a problem when a homeowner is feeding cats in their yard. So the very food that is attractive to a raccoon is also attractive to a cat. Knowing what foods drive a raccoon crazy and are completely offensive to a cat is essential in this situation. This is easily resolved with our Loganberry Surprise trapping paste. Cats turn their noses up at the smell of this delectable raccoon attractant. The Loganberry Surprise is a proprietary(Top Secret) mixture of oils including loganberry oil. This paste combined with a common household ingredient sold at every grocery store will help you catch a raccoon overnight with no risk of trapping a cat that may frequent the same areas. If another attractant is used, you very well may catch the cat, and never be able to catch the raccoon as a result. You don't need 30-40 years experience personally to trap an animal, but it sure is easier when you have access to the people who do. If you have any questions you can call us at 800-877-7290. Don't forget the invaluable information at our website http://bugspray.com/
Seriously, there is no reason why you should have to live in a house covered in spider webs. Using the tools in the video above and following up with good residuals listed in the article at http://www.brownrecluse.com/ and you are on your way to a web free home.
Tired of having your yard filled with weeds? Killing the weeds as they appear can be costly, time consuming and if not done correctly can injure your lawn. Now is the time to get down a pre-emergent herbicide. Taking this simple preventative action can make a world of difference this spring. Seeds are germinating as we speak, and will start to rear their ugly heads in a couple of months when it starts warming up. Pre-emergents are designed for use on established lawns. This is not the product to use if you are about to reseed. The great thing about Surflan is it will continue to prevent the germination of new seeds for 90 days. This application should also be done in the late fall as well. Keep in mind that these are the "best" times to apply a pre-emergent. If you don't treat your yard during these times it doesn't mean that it is worthless to apply later. Anytime you apply a pre-emergent it will have an impact. So instead of 500 weeds thriving in your yard, you may keep it down to 10% of that level. Then you can use a post-emergent herbicide to get the remaining weeds. If you are looking for a golf course quality lawn, use the best products available to treat your lawn. Use the products that the golf courses rely on to beautify their landscape. Check out our weed control products at http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page1991.html or call us at 800-877-7290 to order the best lawn products on the market.
During the winter a variety of animals can move into your attic for protection from the elements. Just like you protection from the elements is a must for their survival. The most common visitors this time of year are squirrels, roof rats, flying squirrels, opposums and raccoons. Any of these visitors can cause expensive damage to your home. Types of damage include wiring, pipes, HVAC systems, roofing, vents, and facia boards. If you are hearing noises in the attic do a visual inspection looking for the animal or any evidence that may help you identify the unwelcome guest. Live traps are a great way to remove the animals from living in your attic. Lower risk of harm to the animal, trap shyness is less of an issue and no risk of the animal climbing into an inaccesable area of the home and dying. If you are dealing with any of these issues please go to our list of articles at www.bugspray.com If the articles do not answer all of your questions, please give us a call at 1-800-877-7290
We are continually adding new videos to show exactly how to do pest control yourself. This video took some time to get, not because it's hard to to trap, but catching it at the right time is a challenge. This is just one of the hundreds of videos that we have showing you how to use our products. New videos are added weekly, so if you have a question about one of our products and think a video would help let us know. We will be more than happy to oblige. It is likely that you are not the only one that would benefit from the information being presented in a video format.
This is an example of a good quality live trap. The front door is spring loaded with an additional mechanism for holding the door shut no matter what position the live trap is in. The trip pan is 3/4 of the way back. This insures the animal is far enough inside the trap prior to "tripping" the door that they will not be able to back out of the trap. The bait should be trailed into the trap from a point just in front of the trap and trail into the trap. The reward can be placed behind the trip pan. My preference is to use a small disposible plastic cup cut down to about 2 inches and zip tied to the bottom fo the trap. This will prevent the animal from being able to steal food from the outside edges of the trap. In order to get the reward the animal will have to figure out how to get in the trap. When this is not done, no matter what style trap, the animal can trip the door and steal the food without ever entering the trap. When this happens some people will credit the animal with extraordinary intelligence the animal just doesn't have. The opposite is actually true. The animal reached in from the side because they have not yet figured out how to enter the trap and instead reach through the mesh to get what they can. Please read more about live trapping at www.bugspray.com or call us at 800-877-7290 to order your proffesional live trap.
Last weekend a customer brought in a snake for ID. Technically two snakes. The larger is a juvenile Copperhead. One of the only venomous snakes in the Metro Atlanta area. The only venomous snake that has been officially seen in the Atlanta Area in years. I often hear of sightings of others, especially the Water Moccasin(aka...Cotton Mouth) but have yet to see one trapped, brought in, photographed or identified by an actual expert in the field.
So back to the photo. What you are looking at is a Copperhead that had recently eaten a smaller brown snake. I am always amazed at what a snake can eat relative to their size. Apparently the Copperhead chased down this Brown Snake(actual name not just a description) and swallowed it from tail to head. When the customer smacked it with a shovel about midway down the body, the brown snake started falling out. Kind of gross, but interesting at the same time.
Well after a long break from the blogosphere, we are back. We have been putting a lot of time into revamping some of our websites and adding videos to add to the level of instruction that we are already well known for.
