Rodent Control Methods

FRIENDSWOOD, Texas (KTRK) -- Friendswood police are alerting residents in the area after several incidents where a man posed as home service workers, only to steal from homeowners. The video above is ABC13's 24/7 Livestream Channel. The incident happened on Sept. 23, the suspect targeted senior citizens. In the incidents, a Hispanic man wearing a black baseball hat, approached the victims at their home and explained he was there to provide home services. In one of the cases, the man identified himself as a pest control company worker and claimed he was there to provide pest services. In another incident, he identified himself as a city of Friendswood employee. The suspect allegedly stole personal belongings from the homeowners in both incidents. The Friendswood Police Department is urging others to remain vigilant. Police also provided the following tips to protect others from this scam: Always ask to see credentials. For example, city employees will be in a marked city vehicle and...

Puyallup, WA – With the fall season around the corner, Puyallup residents are notified that this can be the start of a home infestation as pests start to look for shelter from the cold weather, shorter days, and changing leaves. Independent Pest Solutions is here to help secure homes or businesses as their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques minimize pesticide use, are effective against unwanted pests, and maximize safety for the family, pets, and businesses. Independent Pest Solutions has been providing residential and commercial pest control services in the Puyallup area and is known for its local and personalized approach to delivering top-of-the-line Ant extermination and removal services. As a premier local pest professional, Independent Pest Solutions will find the best possible solutions to clear all the pests from a home or business property quickly and efficiently. The company also proudly serves other cities, such as Tacoma, WA, and Auburn, WA, among others, with o...

Lifestyles Jeff Floyd Sep. 4, 2022 Jeff Floyd MC Controlling weeds while they are small is easier and less expensive than trying to get rid of them after they have matured. One of the best ways to control them involves fertilizing and watering the yard properly to give lawn grass a competitive advantage. In flowerbeds, maintaining a 3- or 4-inch layer of wood chip mulch is an attractive way to suppress weeds. However, in both flowerbeds and lawns, pre-emergent herbicides should be your No. 1 choice to prevent weeds. Fall and spring temperatures are ideal for weed seed development. Therefore, the months of February and September are excellent times to apply these preventative herbicides in anticipation of weed development. The active ingredients in pre-emergents disrupt the growth of very young cells but has little effect on cells that are le...

When Adam Bump was growing up in rural Shiawassee County, coyote sightings were rare. "We didn't have coyotes in the 1980s," he said. "Very, very rarely, only in pockets, at very low densities. People would talk with some skepticism about people having seen them." Four decades later, coyotes and coyote sightings have become commonplace. The wild canines are "everywhere in Michigan," said Bump, a furbearer and upland game bird specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. They live in urban areas, including Lansing, Battle Creek and Detroit, in suburban areas like East Lansing and Brighton, and in rural communities across the state. Coyotes are smart, perceptive, highly adaptive to their surroundings and, more than likely, living closer than you might think, said experts and others who have rescued or trapped them. People regularly report seeing live coyotes statewide as well as the animals dead along roadsides. These days, if you see on...

By Mary V. Clark, Master Gardener  |  Beaver County Times In nature, rhododendrons and azaleas grow in filtered shade beneath taller trees in mountainous areas with rich organic soil and ideal moisture. When planted in home landscapes lacking these conditions they can become stressed and susceptible to insect attack. A common pest that attacks rhododendrons and azaleas are lace bugs. These insects are true bugs and feed exclusively on plants, but only a few are important pests on broad-leaf shrubs. The rhododendron lace bug (Stephantis pyriodes) is a native species and closely related to the azalea lace bug (S. pyrioides), an accidental import from Japan. These insects feed on specific host plants and are found on the undersides of leaves. Lace bugs are easy to overlook until the damage is done. The first indication of an infestation is a light-colored speckling (stippling) on the top surface of the leaves. When examining the underside of the leaves, adult or immatu...

Millions of people across the world have had to deal with rodents, both rats and mice alike. They're especially common in urban or suburban areas, meaning that the already common issue is continuing to grow alongside most populations. Where there are large numbers of rodents, there are also large numbers of infestations and invasions, those which can cost in the thousands for high-quality control and removal. These rat control services take care of your rodent issues and usually include prevention for the future. Even still, it's still much more expensive than the alternative: rodent-proofing your home. Quality rat or mouse removal services cost around $339, while the full cleanup, removal, and prevention of re-entry can cost upwards of $2,000. Compare that to the roughly $200 average in rodent-proofing, and you can likely already see the benefits. Over 21 million US households report a rodent infestation every winter. For reference, that's one-sixth of the entire country...

Dear Littler :  Now that our employees have returned to the office, we have discovered that something else has also unfortunately returned – bedbugs!   Word is getting around, and people are freaking out. Based on where we found them, we believe we can identify the employee who introduced them to the workplace. What do we do now? This is almost making me miss Zoom meetings. — Disgusted in Denver Dear Disgusted in Denver , First and foremost: try not to panic. Bedbugs may be an unnerving nuisance, but they are quite common and generally harmless to humans. In fact, I have been getting this question frequently now that in-person work is resuming across the country, so I can assure you that you are not alone in facing this unpleasant predicament. The best approach is to learn a bit more about bedbugs and then formulate your response based on the circumstances. As discussed below, employers have a lot of discretion in handling a bedbug outbreak. Know Your Enemy! ...

The small little bugs love to live in moist places or where there is dust and debris. Experts at Rentokil explained: "Silverfish are serpentine insects that require damp and humid conditions and thrive in kitchens, laundry rooms, bathrooms and other dark, isolated areas. Fixing leaks in pipework, improving ventilation and using dehumidifiers can help discourage silverfish." Indeed, the first thing people should do is check there are no leaks in the house. In a Mrs Hinch fan group, a cleaning enthusiast explained: "Have you had leaks anywhere? The previous owners of our house had a continual leak from the bath that had seeped through to the floorboards. "We've fixed the leak aired it all out and recarpeted upstairs - only seen one since so hoping it has done the trick." Others recommended pest control sprays such as Dethlac to kill silverfish. However, there are other ways to get rid of the creepy insects using natural ingredients and, although there are a f...

IMAGE: NATIVE PEST MANAGEMENT West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Native Pest Management has been named the winner of Nextdoor's sixth annual Neighborhood Favorites. The awards program that recognized local businesses committed to helping their neighborhoods thrive. The 2022 Neighborhood Favorites were determined based on the number of neighbor recommendations a local business receives on Nextdoor across various categories. With more than 55 million business recommendations from neighbors, Nextdoor connects neighbors with each other and everything nearby, according to the news release. "Local communities are incredibly important to us," Luke Lewis, President of Native Pest Management, said in the news release. "As a fairly new company–started in 2015–it's an honor for an established city like Margate to consider us a Neighborhood Favorite. We care about our customers and we want them to know it." In July, Native Pest Management was also named a Platinum wi...

A day-care center for the children of congressional leaders and staffers on Capitol Hill experienced "rodent sightings" over the summer, and officials who oversee the site said they've taken steps to resolve the issue. Trouble with rats at the U.S. House of Representatives Child Care Center in Southwest Washington was reported earlier by ABC7 television and an Instagram account called Dear White Staffers, which is known for detailing concerns of staffers on Capitol Hill. The U.S. House's Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, which manages the day care, said in a statement to ABC7 that "there have been no reports, sightings, or evidence of rodents since mid-August." But even one rat was too much for some staffers there. They said they had concerns about management's response and alleged unwillingness to remove teachers and children from areas where rats had been spotted. Gabrielle Reid, a former administrative specialist and assistant teacher at the...

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) will conduct aquatic plant management on Lake Okeechobee throughout the week beginning Monday, Sept. 26. Management areas include dense cattail marsh in Moonshine Bay at the western end of the lake with smaller treatment areas in the northwest marsh between Buckhead Ridge and the Indian Prairie Canal. A total of 1,000 acres of aquatic plants will be managed with a selective herbicide that does not negatively affect beneficial native species, such as bulrush, spatterdock, spikerush, duck-potato, Kissimmee grass and maidencane. This treatment will allow these native plants to expand and quickly colonize the areas. In addition, 0.52 acres of Carolina willow will be controlled in Fisheating Creek to allow watercraft navigation within that part of the channel. Management will be conducted using helicopters. There are no restrictions related to fishing, swimming or drinking related to this management effort. Lake Okeechobee provid...

Like many human inventions, pesticides come with numerous benefits but at a high cost. Just like plastics are simultaneously useful and toxic, the chemicals we spray to kill bugs, weeds and fungi can protect our farms but wreak havoc on the planet and our bodies. But it's not like we can simply allow our fields to be overrun by pests. The resulting decline in crop production would likely trigger mass starvation. "Without the use of pesticides, there would be a 78% loss of fruit production, a 54% loss of vegetable production, and a 32% loss of cereal production," a study published last year in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reported. That's why finding effective alternatives to the most toxic pesticides are crucial. Not only would it slow the devastating rate of insect decline, which could destabilize the planet's entire ecosystem if not addressed; but also, more environmentally friendly pest control would im...

The wildlife division at Breda Pest Management was born out of frustration. "We got tired of calls coming in where the client was saying, 'I've got rats getting in,' and the only thing we had to offer was either traps or bait boxes," recalled Matt Breda, president of the Loganville, Ga.-based company. Squirrels and bats presented similar challenges. Breda Pest Management wasn't equipped to provide exclusion services, so it couldn't solve client problems. "Unless you're physically stopping those entry points by sealing them, you are kind of just kicking the can down the road," he said. Breda flipped this script in 2009 by launching a wildlife division, which also breaks some tried-and-true industry norms. The result has been stellar. Today, the wildlife division generates one-third of the company's revenue; equal to the amounts brought in by general pest (including mosquito) service and termite work, which "runs king around here,...

Flowers and ornamentals grow better in a weed-free environment. Find out which weed killers work best, and learn how to choose the right one for your garden. BobVila.com and its partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links. Photo: acehardware.com Pulling weeds is a lot of fun, said no one, ever. But if neglected, weeds can spread rapidly, choking out desirable plants, sucking vital nutrients from the soil, and blocking the sun and air flowers need to develop beautiful blooms. While many types of herbicides line garden center shelves, finding the right weed killer for flower beds needn't be confusing. Rather than buying a product at random and hoping it wallops weeds—without destroying desirable plants in the process—take a few minutes to check out this weed-killer guide. Learn what to consider when shopping for the best weed killer for flower beds, and find out why the following products are among the top options for keeping flower beds weed-f...