How To Identify Pest Entry Points In Your Home

How To Identify Pest Entry Points In Your Home

Knock, knock, knock. Family, friends, the mailman, or a salesperson—these are all reasonable options for who could be knocking on your front door. You know who won’t knock on your door and ask politely if they can come in? Pests. Nuisance pests, destructive pests, rodents, you name it. You can be sure that they probably aren’t using the front door to get into your home, and they won’t be asking your permission either. Pests are very sneaky about how they get into homes. The most common ways that they get in are through the small spaces or damaged areas that you didn’t even realize you had. Homeowners will want to look out for cracks and crevices in the foundation and structure of the home, holes smaller than a dime, gaps or spaces under entry points, vents and chimneys, unscreened windows, and loose shingles or other damage on the roof of the home. These are all easy ways for pests to sneak their way in without you noticing.

As mentioned before, pests aren’t going to knock politely and ask to come in. This leaves homeowners with no choice but to take charge and prevent pests from doing so. The best way to do this is to first identify where potential pests could be entering by inspecting your home. Keep an eye out for any of the common ways of entering that are mentioned above. If you notice any cracks or crevices you can fill them with sealant, and you will want to repair any loose or missing shingles. It also helps to trim back bushes and tree branches away from the home, as they can act as a bridge for pests to climb onto the roof and enter attics. Along this same line, you may want to move firewood away from the home and properly dispose of garbage. If you haven’t yet invested in mesh covers for vents or chimney screens, you will want to do so to avoid pests crawling in through those open holes. Lastly, you will want to make sure that all windows and entry points have proper rubber sealing around the frames, and repair any torn or loose screens. These tips may come in handy, but your best bet to avoid unwanted pests is to set up a year-round pest control plan with Russell’s Pest Control.

Here at Russell’s, we realize that pests just happen—they have their tricks of finding a way inside homes all throughout Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee. Luckily for you, our technicians do their best at preventing any intrusions as well as eliminating any pest that does sneak its way in. They do this using only the safest technology to solve pest problems. All of our services include quarterly visits where we monitor your home’s defenses. You can decide what works best for your home and family. If our initial treatments don’t work, we provide our Russell’s Pest Free Guarantee and will return to retreat at no extra cost. Russell’s has been protecting homes and properties since 1971, and we’d like to continue to do so with you. So if pests won’t bother knocking on your door, don’t bother waiting any longer to invest in a pest control plan that will surely keep them out!

Make 2018 A Pest-Free Year

Make 2018 A Pest-Free Year

With 2018 quickly approaching, you may be starting to think about making some New Year’s resolutions. If making your home more healthy and comfortable for your family is how you want to make a fresh start in 2018, then you may want to look into some year-round pest control programs. There are many benefits to year-round pest control. One of those benefits is making your home pest-free* all year long, and not having to worry or lose sleep over what pests are lurking in the dark corners of your home. As you know, pest’s aren’t just a nuisance; some can be very dangerous. Cockroaches and rodents inside your home can be extremely detrimental to your family’s health through bacteria, viruses, and parasites that they may introduce to your home and food. In addition to the many health concerns those pests can cause, pests like termites can cause serious structural damage to your home before you even know that you have an infestation. These and other damaging pests can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in damages, not to mention the stress and sleepless nights they can cause you and your family.

Year-round pest control means you don’t have to worry about pests all year long, and that saves you money in the long run. You won’t have to call an exterminator after an infestation of any of these pests creeps up on you. That will just cause you to scramble to get them exterminated when you could have avoided the inconvenience altogether. Once these pests have been evicted, the only sure fire way to make sure they won’t come back is with year-round protection. Take a look at these year-round pest control programs from Russell’s Pest Control in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee. We are a trusted home pest control company that understands just how important your family and your home are to you. That is why we have been fighting pests for over 45 years, and we want to offer homeowners in Tennessee the safest, most effective and efficient pest control available.

Our Power Program gives you year-round protection from over 30 common household pests, like ants, spiders, roaches, mice, silverfish, fleas, beetles, stinging insects and other common bugs. We start with a thorough inspection of your home for pests and follow through with four service treatments per year that are guaranteed. If pests return, so do we!

The Power Gold Program gives you the same great protection as our Power Program with the addition of termite control by the use of the Sentricon® System with Always Active™. This system is useful not just for effectively eliminating termites, but monitoring for their presence in the first place!

With the Power Plus Program you also have the Power Program benefits, but with the addition of control for seasonal pests like mosquitoes, fire ants, fleas, and ticks. In addition to the four regular visits per year, our experienced technicians will use outdoor treatments that target those seasonal pests monthly while they are active.

Our Power Platinum Program offers the best protection overall that covers all of the 30+ most common pests included in the other programs, plus Sentricon® with Always Active ™, as well as treating for mosquitoes, ticks, carpenter bees, and fire ants seasonally.

As you can see, Russell’s Pest Control has something for every need and budget. If you are a homeowner in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee, give us a call with your pest control New Year’s resolutions. All of us at Russell’s Pest Control would like to wish you a very Happy New Year, and we look forward to making your home pest free throughout 2018!

Spring Cleaning Tips To Avoid Spring Pests

Spring Cleaning Tips To Avoid Spring Pests

Now that spring has sprung, if you’re like most folks, you’ll be turning your attention to doing a little spring cleaning. Raking up the yard, cleaning out the garage, and getting rid of the piles of accumulated stuff that has gathered in every corner of your home will give you a fresh start to the warm weather season ahead. So take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then, take a peek at the following list of to-do’s that will not only help you get your home spic and span, but help you keep all those household pests at bay as well.

Tips for the KITCHEN

One pest that loves to invade kitchens in spring is ants. They do this because kitchens are the most likely place they will find food. While you may think your kitchen is already clean, take note that there may be hidden sources of food for ants and other pests that are out of sight, out of mind.

  • Remove all items from your pantry and cabinets, and discard out-of-date or stale items. Things like spices and flours tend to attract pantry pests such as beetles, moths and ants.

  • Wipe down the inside of all of your cabinets and consider installing fresh shelf paper.

  • Pull out all appliances and vacuum behind them.

  • Scrub down your kitchen counters and the floor with a pail full of dish liquid and warm water.

Tips for the BATHROOM

Pests that love to invade bathrooms include silverfish and cockroaches. These insects love moisture, so eliminating sources of moisture in your bathroom will go a long way to making it a less inviting environment for these and other moisture-loving pests.

  • These pests can’t survive longer than a week without water. So make sure there are no wet areas around your bathroom fixtures. Fix any leaks you find, and use fans or dehumidifiers to dry out the air.

  • Thoroughly clean your shower curtain (or install a new one).

  • Take all items out of your medicine cabinet and wipe the shelves down.

Tips for the BASEMENT

Rodents and spiders are the pests that love to encroach upon basement spaces. The main reason for this is that basements tend to have dark corners and lots of clutter to hide behind or inside.

  • Sort through your belongings and discard, sell or donate unwanted items.

  • Replace paper or cardboard storage containers with hard plastic a tight fitting lids.

  • Seal up any gaps or cracks you find in your basement walls.

Tips for OUTSIDE

There are many steps you can take to make the outside of your home less inviting to spring pests.

  • Remove all lawn clutter and weeds.

  • Trim bushes and trees back away from your home.

  • Clear out gutters and downspouts.

  • Repair any damaged areas to the outside of your home.

While these steps will help you keep pests at bay, if you are finding that pests have already made their way inside, consider reaching out to a professional pest control company. Here at Russell’s Pest Control, we can take care of pest elimination and prevention for you, so you can sit back and enjoy your spring.

Little Pests, Big Problems

Little Pests

Who knew that a tiny little pest that grows to be only 1/16th of an inch in length could cause such a stir? The panic over these pests is not related to size, but rather it is related to their sheer numbers. What is this tiny little pest that can draw such concern? It is the springtail. Although small, it is estimated that springtails become so numerous once they invade an area that they can reach as many as 100,000 individual pests per square meter.

It can be quite disconcerting to see hundreds of thousands of tiny purple/grey bugs moving and jumping around. At first glance, a colony of springtails seems to move as a unit appearing as if it were a long purple stream of water as they move across the ground. On closer inspection, you can clearly see that this purple stream is thousands of tiny little bugs moving and jumping like fleas.

Your first thought is concern about thousands of little flea-like bites, but do not worry, springtails do not bite, and they do not transmit diseases. In fact, they are actually quite beneficial out in nature where they help to break down decaying matter. But they are not harmless as they can damage house plants and crops.

The real problems with springtails begin when they decide to invade your home as they move in search of food. Not only is it unacceptable for you to have to live with hundreds of thousands of bugs inside your home, but an invasion of springtails can actually indicate a much larger issue. These tiny pests are drawn to moisture. Their appearance in your home can signal a moisture issue inside your walls or under your floors which is a strong indication that springtails are not the only pest you are hosting.

If you find that springtails have chosen your home, do not panic. Give the pest experts here at Russell’s Pest Control a call. We offer safe, affordable options to eliminate springtails from your home. You may choose a one-time service that safely deals with springtails, or you may choose the peace of mind that comes with year-round protection from more than 30 common pests, including springtails, when you implement one of our comprehensive Power residential pest protection plans.

Not only are our Power protection plans affordable and safe, but they are also effective at protecting your home from the year-round threat of pests. Plus our Power, Power Gold, and Power Platinum residential pest protection plans are backed by the Russell’s Pest Free Guarantee. To learn more about these industry-leading pest prevention plans or to discover the benefit of a one-time treatment for springtails, simply contact us today.

Why Do I Have A Boxelder Bug Problem?

Why Do I Have A Boxelder Bug Problem?

Boxelder bugs love trees! They feed, live, and breed on all trees that bear seeds like the boxelder, maple, ash, and fruit trees like apple and plum. In fall, they infest homes in large numbers to seek a warm environment for shelter to overwinter. They flock to sunny sides of homes, storage sheds, or garages and enter through cracks and crevices on exterior walls, gaps around window and door frames, or through vents. While enjoying the warmth of your home or storage areas, they will leave marks and stains with their feces that may be noticeable. In the spring, homeowners will experience a flurry of boxelder bug activity as they start trying to move back outdoors.

Before you chop down all of the seed bearing trees that are in your yard, you should know that this may not solve all of your boxelder bug problems because they will just move to another area or to your neighbor’s yard, and they still may flock to your home in the fall. Not to mention cutting all of those good trees would be a terrible shame.

Boxelder bugs are black with a red outlined thorax, sides, and wings. Their wings lay flat and allow them to fly and relocate if necessary. Their mouth has sucking-piercing parts that they can use for feeding on trees. An adult boxelder bug can be as long as 1 inch, but they are not dangerous, and they do not transmit illnesses. They can infest a home in large numbers creating a nuisance to homeowners, thus making it necessary to eradicate them. Your best bet is to contact your local pest control service so that they can identify your infestation and correctly target these pests.

In order to help prevent an infestation, you will need to seal up all cracks, holes, and gaps coming into your home or storage areas. You need to replace damaged screens, window frames, and door frames. Also, install door sweeps under all exterior doors. If boxelder bugs are present, you can sweep or vacuum them away to help reduce their numbers, but for total eradication, you will need a professional to take control of all aspects of the infestation.

In order to control a boxelder infestation, you can rely on Russell’s Pest Control in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area. Give us a call, and ask about our ongoing year-round home pest control programs. Our courteous, professional staff will help you with all of your pest control needs.

Carpenter Bees Will Be Active Soon

Carpenter Bees Will Be Active Soon

When spring temperatures warm up, all the creatures in Tennessee will become active again. Some of them will just crawl around in your backyard, dig tiny tunnels under your lawn, and hide under your rocks (and only be a nuisance every once in awhile when heavy rains make the ground saturated, or extended days of drought make the ground too dry.) Some will build nests on eaves and overhangs and leave painful welts on the skin when we accidentally come in contact with them. Some are wood-destroying pests that will damage our homes. There are many ways bugs can become pests. Of the three we’ve mentioned, what kind of pest do you think carpenter bees are?

If you said that these insects leave painful welts on the skin, you would be half right, because only female carpenter bees are able to sting. Male carpenter bees, though sometimes aggressive, are not able to sting. All of the dive bombing and excessive buzzing is just posturing, they can’t actually hurt you. Females, on the other hand, can give you a painful welt, or worse if you have an allergy to her venom. But a female carpenter bee doesn’t want to sting you. Her focus is on building a nest and making babies. That is how she has earned her pest status.

Female carpenter bees chew tunnels in wood to make their nests. While these tunnels aren’t all that extensive at first, they can grow quite a bit over the course of several years. These bees are prone to using and extending existing tunnels. When they do, these tunnels can cause quite a bit of damage.

Tunnels made by carpenter bees can be frustrating to repair because it is hard to know how much tunneling is present just beyond the tiny circular hole they leave in the wood they are attacking. If these tunnels are being created in a sensitive area, like a stair leading up to a balcony, a railing, or a support beam, serious injury could result if the damage isn’t properly addressed.

If you have carpenter bees appearing on your property this year, it is important to have a professional pest control technician take a look at your issue and give you some actionable input on how to protect your home. Identification of carpenter bees is quite easy. They look like a big bumblebee with an entirely black abdomen.

Don’t let carpenter bees damage your property and cause the potential for injury. This is an issue you should address when it first appears.

Make Year-Round Pest Control Your 2017 Resolution

Make Year-Round Pest Control Your 2017 Resolution

Pest control is like the doctor’s office: you go only when something is wrong. What many forget is that annual checkups and proactive care can prevent bigger problems later. Think of pest control the same way. Proactive care and year-round pest control can save you money, protect your health, and prevent large headaches. This year, make year-round pest control your resolution. Check out the many benefits why.

Benefits of Year-Round Pest Control

When we talk about the benefits of year-round pest control, we want to address it from many different angles: health, money, and prevention. Russell’s pest control thinks you will appreciate a few of our favorite pest control benefits.
 
Affordability

Easy-to-manage payment schedules and control options. A small monthly or quarterly fee now can save you hundreds or thousands in the future. When you pay a small amount to control pests regularly, you won’t be left with a large bill to eliminate insects later.
 
Avoid Large Infestations

Year-round pest control keeps large infestations at bay. When you get year-round treatments, your home will not be targeted by insects who want to live and reproduce in your home. Doesn’t avoiding thousands on bugs in your home sound like a good idea?

Prevents Illness And Disease

Most pests carry bacteria and other pathogens that can be transmitted to people and animals in your home. Year-round control keep insects from biting, stinging, and transmitting disease in your home. Additionally, if anyone in your home suffers from allergies or respiratory concerns such as asthma, year-round pest control helps avoid symptoms and attacks. Many insects shed their shells, emit odors, lay eggs, and leave droppings. All of them are irritants that can cause breathing troubles.
 
Your Home Won’t Smell

Infestations cause your home to smell. If roaches get in, they emit a pheromone that attracts other roaches and keeps the family unit together. The more roaches in your home, the worse your house smells. Once you get rid of the roaches, your home has to be cleaned professionally. Year-round pest control prevents roaches from invading in the first place.
 
Protect Your Belongings And Furnishings

When insects invade, they leave their stains and nest with your linens. Curtains, sheets, bedding, clothing, and rugs can become stained with feces and other fluids when insects make themselves at home. Year-round pest control allows you to protect your belongings and favorite furnishings.
 
Better Sleep at Night

When you have year-round pest control, you can sleep better at night. You won’t have to worry about the pests that are nesting in your walls, digging into the food in your pantry, crawling in your bed at night, or lurking in your basement. You can rest easy knowing that you have the bugs and rodents under control.
 
Russell’s Pest Control wants you to have the peace of mind and quality of life we know you deserve in 2017. Call us now to see how we can help you with your New Year’s resolution. Have a Happy New Year. We look forward to serving you in the brand new year.

Holiday Cooking And Cockroaches

Holiday Cooking And Cockroaches

We realize this is an unsavory topic. The last thing you want to think about while getting ready for some holiday cooking is cockroaches. That is unless you’re already dealing with cockroaches. If you’re already seeing a cockroach here and there, cockroaches may be “all” you’re thinking about right now. Here are a few tips to protect your holiday foods from contamination.

Cockroach Protection

  • If you’ve seen a cockroach running across your kitchen floor or zipping up your wall, there is a good chance there are many more living inside your walls, and crawling around in places you can’t see, like your silverware drawer. The last thing you want to do is use a piece of silverware that has had a cockroach crawling on it. Keep these items safe by putting silverware in plastic containers or hard plastic bags. It may be inconvenient to retrieve these items when you need them, but it could prevent harmful bacteria from getting onto foods.

  • Cockroaches love pantries. It is important to make sure your pantry is protected. If you have cockroaches digging in your trash, nibbling on rotting organic matter under your fridge or on the side of your stove, and crawling on your toilets, they will spread harmful bacteria to your pantry items when they chew through paper or cardboard protected items. Protect these items by storing them in sealed plastic containers.

  • Since cockroaches love trash, and your trash can is one of the places they will pick up bacteria, it is a good idea to buy a trash can with a lid that seals. This will keep those cockroaches from coming and going as they please.

  • When you’re sleeping, cockroaches will be walking around on everything. Be sure to clean all food prep surfaces before you start your holiday cooking. Make sure to also clean cutting boards and dishes that will be used in the preparation of foods.

These tips can help to protect your family from the diseases and harmful bacteria that can be spread by cockroaches, but it is much better to live without cockroaches. If you live in our Tennessee service area, and you would like to get those roaches out of your home before you start your holiday cooking, we’d be happy to assist you. You can probably live with cockroaches, but you and your family will be a whole lot healthier if you don’t. Reach out to Russell’s Pest Control for complete cockroach exclusion. Our team of educated pest specialists know what is necessary to exterminate these dirty bugs and seal them out of your home.

Centipede Or Millipede: Is It Really All In The Legs?

Centipede Or Millipede: Is It Really All In The Legs?

Perhaps two of the most misunderstood and misidentified pests in homes across America are the centipede and the millipede. While these two do have similarities including a long, exoskeletal, segmented body; the ability to grow new segments during molting; the ability to live several years; and their habit of laying eggs underground, they really are quite different and very easy to distinguish once you know the facts.

The centipede, for instance, has only one pair of legs per segment; each pair of legs is relatively long allowing them to move quickly from place to place. Their bodies appear flattened, and they have two long, segmented antenna used for feeling and smelling. The centipede is equipped with a pair of venomous legs on the first segment directly behind the head that they use for protection and for paralyzing prey. They are capable of biting humans with these appendages, and although the bite is painful, it rarely causes an issue. Centipedes also have a modified pair of legs on their last segment that they use for defending themselves and for mating. Centipedes can be yellow to dark brown and some have darker stripes or markings. They live in stony crevices, leaf piles, and rotting logs when outside, and will inhabit moist nooks and crannies of your home such as basements, bathrooms, and crawl spaces. They will feed on insects, spiders, reptiles, and birds.

The millipede, on the other hand, has two pair of legs per segment; each pair of legs is short allowing them to more rather slowly. Their bodies are rounded, similar to that of a worm; and they have two short, segmented antenna that they use as sensory devices. The millipede does not have venomous legs anywhere on their bodies, but they are equipped with glands along their trunk that produces and squirts noxious chemicals that can irritate skin and cause a repulsive odor. They do not bite or sting. Millipedes can be red, orange, brown, or black; or they can be mottled. They typically live in decaying vegetation and move inside when conditions become too warm or too dry, and will inhabit moist areas such as basements, bathrooms, and crawl spaces. Millipedes feed on decaying plant matter and seedlings.

It really doesn’t matter which insect you have invading your home, neither is one that you would want to live with. Fact is, if these pests have found a way past your defenses into your living areas, there is a pretty good chance that other, more harmful, pests have also.

The best way to prevent centipedes and millipedes from rooming in your home and to keep other more harmful insects away as well is with year-round pest control from Russell’s Pest Control. Our year-round pest control plans are some of the most comprehensive in the industry and work to protect your home from over 30 common pests including centipedes and millipedes.

Don’t share your home with unwanted pests; partner with the trusted professionals here at Russell’s Pest Control instead.

5 Things Every Homeowner Should Know About Stink Bugs

5 Things Every Homeowner Should Know About Stink Bugs

Do you know what a stink bug is? If you live in our Tennessee service area, we’re sure you do. When temperatures drop, these crop pests start to become household pests. Here are the 5 things you need to know about stink bugs if you own a home.

  1. Stink bugs stink. This is not a pest you want to crush. Ever. They emit a foul odor when squashed. The better course of action is to suck them up with a vacuum and dispose of the bag. This is a great solution for inside your home and a reasonably helpful solution if you only have a few stink bugs come to crawl on your exterior walls, window sills, and screens.

  2. It is better to keep stink bugs out. If you have more than a dozen stink bugs visit your home this fall, it will be easier on your wallet to keep them out, rather than have them treated once they get in. Stink bugs get into wall voids and other hard-to-reach places. This makes them a difficult pest to treat inside.

  3. Screens. Screens. Screens. We can’t say this enough times. As a homeowner, your first line of defense against stink bugs is working screens. Stink bugs are notorious for exploiting entry points in–and around–window and door screens.

  4. It is important to seal gaps. When stink bugs crawl on the sun-warmed side of your home, it is only natural for them to look for a way to get under the “bark” of your home–after all, your house is nothing more than a tree or a log to those stink bugs. It is vital to do a detailed inspection of your exterior walls and look for any gaps, holes, cracks, or openings these bugs can use to gain entry. Cover vents with window-grade screening. Use mortar to seal foundation walls. Use a caulking gun to seal up gaps and holes you don’t have the time or money to fix right now. Exclusion is key in the fight against stink bugs.

  5. There are some things only a pest control company can do. Every home has its vulnerabilities. And sometimes it takes a trained professional to find them. A professional can also apply EPA approved products to make sure your defensive wall is impenetrable.

If you need help keeping stink bugs and other overwintering pests from getting into your home this fall, and you live in our service area, the pest specialists here at Russell’s Pest Control have the experience and the education to get the job done right.

The best defense against stink bugs is a good offense. Let Russell’s Pest Control help you pick out the best pest control options for your home.