Take The Sting Out Of Spring

Take The Sting Out Of Spring

Ouch! You don’t want to get stung this spring – or any other time this year! Avoiding yellow jackets and their sting can be a chore, as they are worthy opponents if you come across them in your yard. They are not usually aggressive; but if they feel threatened or think their nest is at risk, they will become defensive.

Some people can be allergic to the venom that they inject with their stinger. Each yellow jacket can sting multiple times because they do not leave their stinger behind after a sting. These multiple stings can be extremely dangerous for people that are allergic and can make some people very ill – sometimes even to the point of death – although that is very rare.

Yellow jackets nest underground and in trees or bushes. Sometimes they nest inside walls or attics. If they feel any type of threatening vibration like a mower close by, that will alert them to danger, causing the colony to become aggressive as they want to protect their homes.

If a nest is spotted in a populated area around your home, it is a threat to your family and visitors, and you should contact a professional pest control technician to safely remove the nest. It is not advised that you attempt to remove the nest on your own.

Watch for signs of yellow jackets and try to eliminate anything that is attractive to them that is located too close to your home. Fruit from trees should be picked as soon as they are ripe, any overly ripe fruit will be enticing to yellow jackets. Garbage should be tightly closed and bins should be emptied and cleaned out to remove any sugary residue that is left behind. When eating a meal outdoors, be sure to clean up any food or drink spills right away. Open drink cups, cans, and bottles should not be left unattended since the yellow jackets will buzz right inside for a drink. If someone should bring that to their lips, they will get stung for sure.

Once a few yellow jackets have found your secret stash of sweets, they will bring others with them and continuously come back for more. That is why it is important to avoid having yellow jacket nests close to your home. In order for you to protect your family and visitors on your property, it is best to contact a professional.

When you choose your year-round pest control services from Russell Pest Control, you get a community focused company with effective solutions and quality service at a fair price. What could be better than that? Give Russell Pest Control a call today with your pest control and yellow jacket problems. We have the right solutions!

Learn How To Identify Swarming Termites

Learn How To Identify Swarming Termites

Have you ever come home, stepped out of your car, and noticed a mass of crawling, winged insects on your windowsills or foundation walls? Would you be able to tell if that mass of insects was a swarm of flying ants or termite swarmers? In case you don’t know the difference, this article will explain how to identify termite swarmers, the damages termites cause, and what you can do if you discover your structure has been infested by termites.

A termite colony, when it matures, will send out what are called alates, or termite swarmers, to start new colonies. These swarmers only appear briefly, for around a half an hour, a couple of times a year, so they are easily missed. If you see termite swarmers, be aware that there is certainly a mature colony somewhere nearby. And, if that place happens to be your home, you need to take action before damages go beyond repair.

Visually identifying termite swarmers is very important, since termites cost United States property owners billions of dollars each year. First, when looking at a swarmer, look at the four wings. If they stack evenly on top of one another, you are looking at a termite. Termite wings are white, whereas the wings on a carpenter ant swarmer are tan. Also, notice if the wings go beyond the abdomen. If they are only slightly longer, you are looking at an ant. If the wings go far beyond the abdomen, this is a termite.  And termite swarmers are much smaller than ants, measuring around 3/8 of an inch long while ant swarmers can be 5/8 of an inch. Two other ways to tell termite swarmers are that they have antennae that are mostly straight, and they have a distinct pinch between their thorax and abdomen.

Damages Done By Termites

Termites can do damage to a structure for years without being detected, damage that looks like long grooves stacked on top of each other inside wood. This causes the wood to have a tattered look, almost like stacked cardboard edges. When termites feed on wood, it becomes brittle and hollow. But you are unlikely to see this unless you are doing renovations. If you break off a piece of wood and it feels light, it could have been eaten by termites. Similarly, if you tap on a support beam and it sounds hollow, this is another good indication.

Secondary damages of termites include peeling wallpaper, bulging walls, sagging floors and ceilings and windows and doors that don’t open or close properly.

If you see termite swarmers, or are noticing the signs termites leave behind, Russel’s Pest Control is here to help. For more information, or to schedule termite service, reach out to us today.

Tips To Keep Ants Out Of Your Knoxville Home This Spring

Tips To Keep Ants Out Of Your Knoxville Home This Spring

Springtime in Tennessee is a beautiful time of year. Everyone is able to get out and about, and everyone is ready for a new season of fun in the sun. Your yard has been cleaned up, and all your spring cleaning is done for another year. Now it is time to play, right? Unfortunately, no! Homeowners across Knoxville are noticing a common occurrence in their kitchens this spring – the ants have come out of hiding, and they may be headed straight for your pantry.

Springtime for ants, as with many other pests, is the time when they emerge from their nests after a long winter. Food to feed the thousands of their nest mates waiting for them is their first order of business, and second is to find a new nesting spot for their overcrowded kin to move into. Ant colonies can number in the thousands! When the number grows to an unmanageable level, the queen will produce swarmers, which are winged ants, who then go out to establish a brand new colony. After they find their new home, the swarmers lose the wings and will breed to populate their new home.

It is not unusual for swarming ants to be attracted to homes that may be nearby. The average human habitat can provide a large colony of ants with everything that they need to help their new family grow. Food is always readily accessible, whether it is sugar from the bowl on the table or that loaf of bread left on the counter; and shelter is not a problem either with plenty of room in the walls of your home to fit even the largest colony.

Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to help keep ants out. While you are out working on projects around your house, pay close attention to the foundation, doorways, and window areas. Are there cracks in the foundation? Screens or weather stripping around doors and windows ripped? Those are all key entry points for ants. Make sure that you take the time to seal the cracks in your foundation all the way around your home, repair screens, and add weather stripping where it is needed. Also, make it a habit to keep the grass and shrubbery trimmed away from your home to discourage ants from wandering too close. Inside, it is essential that anything that can attract ants, namely staples in the pantry, fruits, and bread that is stored in bags and boxes, be sealed tightly in plastic containers. Make sure that any spills are immediately cleaned up. Keep dishes done every day and make sure that crumbs and grease on floors, the refrigerator, counters, and stove are all cleaned regularly.

It is still possible that ants might find their way in. If that is the case, it isn’t likely that relying on over-the-counter traps and sprays will have any effect on an ant colony that has moved in. Because of the sheer size of the nest and its inaccessible location, DIY products probably will not completely eradicate the entire colony. You might get rid of some, but there can be thousands more deep within the colony to replace those ones each and every day. Working with a professional pest control company can not only help get rid of any infestation that might already be present, but it will also ensure that your home is protected throughout each season. Give Russell’s Pest Control a call today and find out why we should be your partner in keeping ants and other pests out all year long.

How To Avoid Ticks

How To Avoid Ticks

Do you hear it? The tick, tick, tick of a ticking bomb, set to go off this summer? Or, more specifically, a “tick” bomb. Experts are saying there is a good chance we’re going to see a lot more ticks this year. And, when tick populations explode, so do the number of cases of tick-borne diseases. The recent death of a toddler in Indianapolis from a case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (a pathogen spread by ticks) is just one of many tragedies that have come as a result of a disturbing rise in tick-borne diseases in the United States. That is why this summer, it is even more important to take precautions.

Choose Locations Wisely

If you plan to go hiking, camping, fishing, or to engage in some other outdoor recreation, try to avoid bushes and grassy areas unless you have proper protection. Ticks wait on grass and leaves to cling onto you as you go by.

Personal Protection

Ticks don’t fall from the branches of trees to get into your hair. They climb up your body. When you go out into nature, here are a few things you can do to reduce risk:

  • Wearing bright colors will help you see ticks as they crawl up.

  • Tucking your pant legs into your socks or a pair of tall boots, will make it harder for ticks to get to your skin.

  • Many insect repellents work to make ticks fall off, if they get on. Spray repellent on your legs and feet to ward off tick bites on the rest of your body.

  • Always check for ticks when you come back from being in nature.

  • If you have a pet, make sure you consult your veterinarian about tick-control products. Pet owners, especially dog owners, have a higher risk for tick-borne illness.

Pest Control

If you live in a bubble, you don’t have to worry about ticks. But, since most of us don’t live in a bubble, we have to make choices that reduce our risk of contact with ticks. And, simply staying inside the house isn’t enough. Ticks can come into a home on unwanted furry animals. If you have seen mouse dropping in the backs of your drawers or cabinets, you could get a secondary infestation of ticks. A single mouse can have several dozen ticks which they will spread around your home as they search for food. When you have ongoing pest control that works to seal rodents out of your home, you increase your protection against tick-borne diseases.

If you need assistance with pest information or pest services and you live in our Tennessee service area, let the pest control specialists here at Russell’s Pest Control reduce ticks in your yard, and keep ticks out of your home. Together we can protect ourselves from tick-related illness.