Keeping Fall Invaders Out

Keeping Fall Invaders Out

Temperatures are beginning to dip. You’ve probably noticed. You may have also noticed that a few trees have a red leaf or two. That’s right. It’s coming. It comes every year. There is no stopping it. Winter is inevitable. You know it. We know it. And bugs know it. But allowing them to get into your home is not inevitable.

When stink bugs, lady bugs, and boxelder bugs, start crawling in your curtains, piling up on your window sills, crawling on your television, and landing in your morning cereal, it is too late to apply any kind of DIY pest control measures to deal with the problem. Once these pests get in, only an educated pest professional can fix the issue. But, there are some things you can do to keep them out. Here are some ideas.

Fall Pest Protection

  • When these bugs come to crawl on your window screens, make sure they don’t find any tears, holes, or gaps. Do a close inspection and replace or repair any damaged screen you find. There are some helpful videos online to help you make simple patches.
  • It is important to check around windows, as well. These bugs are small and it is easy for them to squeeze through tiny gaps between your screen and the window frame. If you find any holes, cover them.
  • If you have sliding screen doors, it is important to check the weather stripping to make sure there are no damaged bristles that will allow these bugs to squeeze in. It is also important to keep the screen door closed, even if the interior glass door is closed. If these bugs are on the glass or frame of your sliding glass door when you open it, you could bring them right into your home.
  • All of these bugs will exploit any gap or opening you have in your exterior walls. Make sure all of your vents are covered with screening, all gaps around pipes and utilities are sealed, and use a caulking gun or wire mesh to fill in holes that have been created by other pests.
  • Keep your garage door closed when you’re not exiting or entering, and ensure that the door sweep on the door that goes from your garage to the interior of your home makes a proper seal.
  • Consider having a pest control company do an exterior treatment to keep these pests away, and to bolster vulnerable areas.

It is hard to completely exclude overwintering pests without a little help. If you need assistance keeping these and other pests out of your home, and you live in our Tennessee service area, let Russel’s Pest Control give you a hand. You can probably live with overwintering pests, but isn’t nicer to not have them crawling on your oatmeal, staining your furniture, and blocking your view of the game? Do not let them overwintering pests invade your home with helpful pest control service from Russell’s Pest Control.

Fall Has Arrived, So Will The Mice

Fall Has Arrived

Fall has arrived. The temperatures outside may be attempting to fool you, but the calendar doesn’t lie. It is fall. This means (I hate to say it) that winter is just around the corner. While our love for the warm, sunny weather may cause us to embrace the idea that it is not and those above mentioned warm temperatures are encouraging our misconception, pests like mice are not fooled for even a minute. They know full well that winter is knocking on the door, and they have rallied their troops and put forth the ‘all hands on deck’ order. Mice realize that the wind and colder weather will soon be settling in, and they do not want to be caught in it. The top worry to occupy their little minds is finding shelter for the winter – and your home is the all-inclusive resort they are seeking.

As tempting as it is for you to adopt the ‘I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it’ attitude, it is not the wisest choice for you to make. Remember that “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” It is never a good idea to wait for the diseases and destruction that mice cause and react to them. When we react, we often over react, panic, and make hasty decisions – and it often comes with a much higher price tag not only where our health is concerned, but in repair and restoration costs. It is far better to think ahead and prevent an invasion and leave the germs and damage for someone else who is not prepared.

There are things that you can tackle right now that will help you to avoid hosting mice for the winter, including:

  • Inspect your home. Look for cracks and holes the size of a dime in foundations because that is all it takes for a mouse to squeeze in. Use caulk to fill these spaces. Also, check all exterior doors to be sure the door sweeps are correctly installed and in good working order. While you are at it, be sure to inspect screens on windows and screen doors. Make sure you check utility entrances and rooflines as well.

  • Clean, clean, clean. Do not give mice the food sources they are looking for. It doesn’t take much to sustain a mouse. Be sure to periodically clean under stoves and refrigerators. Also, check between these large appliances and the counters next to them and vacuum the crumbs that accumulate there. Carpeted areas need to be frequently vacuumed and so do couches and chairs. When you spill or drop food items, be sure that you clean them up right away, and do not allow dirty dishes to sit on counters, especially overnight. If you must put off this dreaded chore, leave those items soaking in soapy water in your sink.

  • Tidy the exterior. A mouse issue always begins with your yard. When you allow areas that will attract mice to your yard, you are also inviting them to search for a way into your home. Make sure garden areas are free from falling and decaying vegetables and fruit, keep mulch piles away from your home, and be sure to keep trash in canisters with locking lids. Also, be sure that all wood, leaves, and other debris are picked up on a regular basis. If mice find hiding spots, they will take full advantage of them.

  • Set up professional pest control services. Year-round pest control protection is the best and surest way to keep mice from using your home for theirs. When you partner with the trusted professionals here at Russell’s Pest Control, you can know that any existing mice will be removed, their nesting areas will be cleaned, and their access points will be addressed.

  • Don’t let time run out on you and neglect the important task of preventing pests like mice this fall. Let the team that has been fighting pest battles here in Tennessee since 1971 take care of that for you. Russell’s Pest Control, we are only a call or a click away!

How To Solve The Problem Of Stink Bugs

How To Solve The Problem Of Stink Bugs

Whether you have a small garden or a massive farm, brown marmorated stink bugs can become a problem. These bugs, that were originally soybean and fruit crop pests in Japan, deface fruit here in the United States when they pierce the skin with their mouthparts. This damage also allows other bugs to infest the fruit, making it unsellable and unfit for human consumption.

The brown marmorated stink bug attacks a wide variety of crops. They will eat most fruits, but prefer pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, blueberries, and grapes. They can also be found eating snap peas, lima beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, field corn, soybeans, cucumbers, bush beans, and peppers. But their diet isn’t limited to these.

Stink bugs are also known to eat seeds and seed pods of ornamental trees and shrubs. This can make them a major pest to residential landscapes. And, when they feed, they can affect plant health because they spread plant disease from one plant to the next.

The primary way stinks bugs make themselves a pest to residential homes is in the way that they congregate on the warm, sunny side of homes and eventually find their way inside when temperatures drop. While stink bugs don’t reproduce inside homes, preferring to wait until spring to lay eggs on outside plants, they can be a serious pain for homeowners when they crawl around in curtains and congregate on light fixtures.

The effective solution for stink bugs is an application of EPA-approved insecticides to targeted areas. Insecticides are used by farms and orchards to protect crops and control these bugs. And, home and business owners have insecticides applied to exterior walls to keep these pests from overwintering. All insecticides should be applied by a licensed professional. Inappropriate use of insecticides can be a danger to humans and pets.

If you are concerned about getting stink bugs in your home, here are a few things to remember:

  • Your door and window screens are the first line of defense against overwintering pests.

  • Make sure all of your door sweeps and weather strippings are in good working order.

  • When stink bugs find an entry point, they release a pheromone scent. It is important to vacuum up any stink bugs you see crawling around on your exterior walls, balcony, deck, or patio.

  • These bugs can get in through vents. Make sure you have screens covering them.

  • They can get in through chimneys, so consider covering your chimney with a cap.

  • Do a close examination of your exterior walls and use a caulking gun to fill in any gaps or holes.

  • Sealing up exterior walls from the invasion of stink bugs is very difficult. Sometimes it is only possible to exclude these bugs with the added protection of an insecticide application.

If you live in our Tennessee service area, let Russell’s Pest Control protect your home from the invasion of stink bugs. We offer safe and effective management for these and other invasive pests.

Why Do I Have Camel Crickets In My Basement?

Why Do I Have Camel Crickets In My Basement?

If your basement is dark and moist, that is all the incentive camel crickets need. They may have come into your home last fall when the temperatures outside dropped. Not wanting to die is a pretty big incentive for camel crickets. If you’ve come here looking for more of a, “how did camel crickets get into my basement?” sort of question, or a, “how do I get camel crickets out of my basement?” question, this article is for you.

If your “why” is more of a “how” the answer is simple. You have camel crickets in your basement because camel crickets have no real body structure underneath their hard exoskeleton. That means they can squeeze through some pretty tight gaps or cracks. If you want to keep these silent, spider-looking critters from leaping off your basement wall at you while you’re doing laundry, the first thing you need to do is seal up any cracks you have in your basement. Be sure to look closely around pipes, electrical conduits, and other objects that pass through your exterior walls.

You also want to make sure that all your windows have proper screens and a good seal around their frame. This is a good idea for keeping all sorts of bugs out, and also preventing moisture damage to your home.

It is extremely difficult to find and seal all the holes these creatures can squeeze in through, so another measure that is good to take is to reduce the conditions that bring camel crickets in close to your home. Don’t let any grass grow up next to your foundation wall and keep your lawn mowed. Keep your garbage cans sealed or put them somewhere away from your exterior walls. Do a routine cleaning of your gutter system to prevent clogs. Crickets are drawn to wet leaves and twigs.

You can also decrease how comfortable your basement is to camel crickets by installing a dehumidifier. Since these insects require moisture to live, removing the humidity from your basement and fixing weeping pipes can go a long way to telling those crickets that they are unwelcome.

None of these things will get rid of the crickets that are currently infesting your basement or wall voids. The reason we didn’t mention do-it-yourself cricket control measures is that they usually only lead to frustration and a prolonged infestation. If you’re feeling adventurous, you’re welcome to try sticky traps, soapy water, and all of the other strange ideas available on the web, but the effective exclusion of camel crickets requires an understanding of entomology and advanced pest control protocols. At Russell’s Pest Control, you’ll get both. When you’re ready to know that ALL the crickets in your home are gone–and gone for good–give us a call. We’d be happy to help.

Cicada Killer Wasps Sound Scary… Are They?

Cicada Killer Wasps Sound Scary... Are They?

It can be disturbing to find a 2-inch wasp in your backyard. It is even more disturbing to find out that wasp has a scary name like cicada killer wasp; but these wasps aren’t nearly as dangerous as you might be led to believe–well, unless you happen to be a cicada. Then, they are dangerous. Very dangerous!

Cicada killer wasps get their name from the fact that they kill cicada bugs. Not only do they kill them, but they also go through great effort to drag the dead cicada bugs back to their homes to feed their young. The entire process is quite fascinating. Female cicada killer wasps dig long tunnels with multiple chambers for holding cicada bugs. When cicadas are brought back to the tunnels they are deposited into the chambers and embedded with the eggs. This is to give the baby wasps something to feed on after they hatch.

Sandboxes, sand traps on golf courses, and other sandy areas are prime nesting places for these insects. They can also be found in gardens, flower beds, lawns, and large grassy areas. When they invade residential yards, they become pests by creating unsightly mounds everywhere and scaring families with their startling size; but, as stinging insects go, the cicada killer wasp isn’t so bad.

Like carpenter bees, the males of this wasp species do not have the ability to sting. They can be quite aggressive if you get near their nesting area, but it is all posturing. They have no way to back up their threats.

The female can sting, but its sting is no worse than that of a paper wasp. These insects are usually considered nuisance pests because of the ability to cause fear, or lawn pests because of their ability to damage the root system of a lawn.

Cicada killer wasps don’t generally pay much attention to humans. The food source for adults is tree sap and the nectar of flowers. Their focus is only on collecting cicada to feed their young; there isn’t much time left in their day to sting you. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you want to have them around.

If lawn damage and giant wasps buzzing around your home making cicadas sheik in agony as they die is something you can live without, we’d be happy to help you with that. At Russell’s Pest Control we know how to take care of cicada killer wasps and a whole host of other unwelcome pests.

Pests will invade, but you don’t have to live with them. Get protected and stay protect with Russell’s Pest Control.

Is Dropping The Ball A Good Thing?

Is Dropping The Ball A Good Thing?

We think it is safe to say that most Americans (and probably most people in the English-speaking world) have all seen the ball drop at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps only on television, but they’ve seen it. But do you know how this time-honored tradition came to be? Well, it turns out that the actual notion of a ball dropping to signal the passage of time dates back long before New Year’s Eve in Times Square. The first “time-ball” was actually installed on top of England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833. This ball would drop at 1:00 p.m. every day, allowing the captains of nearby ships to set their chronometers precisely. After this, around 150 public time-balls are believed to have been installed around the world.

In the case of New Year’s Eve in Times Square, it can be said that dropping the ball is a good thing. However, there are a lot of other times and places where dropping the ball is definitely not a good thing. Take controlling pests for example. If a homeowner does not keep up with pest management and their home becomes infested with pests, this “dropping the ball” is definitely bad.

There are many things that can be done in order to deter pests from coming into your home. The following is a do-it-yourself list of tips:

  • Keep your yard free of clutter. Bugs and rodents love clutter to hide in.

  • Trim trees and bushes back away from your home. Pests can use leaves and branches as bridges to climb onto your home.

  • Make sure all screens and door sweeps are in good working order.

  • Seal up any gaps or cracks in your foundation, walls or roof area using a caulking gun.

  • Remove any standing water from your yard.

  • Thoroughly clean your home, paying close attention to areas where food is prepared and served. Don’t forget hard-to-reach areas, such as under the refrigerator and between the stove and counter.

  • Store all food in the refrigerator, or in tightly sealed plastic containers.

  • Only put pet food down at meal times, and make sure pet food is also stored in sealed containers.

  • Don’t leave dirty dishes stacked by the sink. Either wash them right away or put them in a sink full of soapy water.

  • Make sure your drawers and cabinets are free of crumbs and other food particles.

If you are serious about keeping household pests out, or if you need to get rid of pests, you might want to consider contacting the professionals. In business since 1971, the folks here at Russell’s Pest Control have learned a few things. With pest packages starting at just $29/month, our locally owned and family operated pest control company is fully geared to help you get rid of household pests, and keep them out. If you don’t want to drop the ball regarding pest control, give Russell’s a call. We’ll make sure you have a pest-free* new year!

Happy New Year, from your friends here at Russell’s Pest Control!

Yearly Pest Service Vs. One Time Service

Yearly Pest Service Vs. One Time Service

Everything breaks down and, at some point, everything needs to be fixed or maintained. But there are some things in life you can do one time, and you’re good for a while; like weatherproofing your back deck or getting your driveway repaved. For most of us, getting a health check-up is not something that has to happen on more than an annual basis, and, if you’ve replaced old, leaky windows with new windows, you probably don’t have to revisit that issue for several years. These are problems that can be solved with a one-time fix–or at the very least–a once in a while fix. So, what is pest control? Is it a once in a while fix sort of issue? Or, is it something that has to be done yearly? The truth is, it is worse than you think.

Fully excluding bugs and wildlife from a home isn’t even a yearly issue. It requires year-round effort. These creatures never stop reproducing and they never stop encroaching. Your home is just another tree to build a nest in. The area under your deck is just another cave to make a den in. Your walls are food for termites and the soil around your home is no different than the dirt in the forest. Those critters don’t know that it belongs to you.

In fall, yellow jackets often come to overwinter in your eaves, and dozens of other bugs will slip through holes in your exterior walls–holes you don’t even know you have. In winter, rodents and cockroaches hide from the cold and forage in your pantry. In spring, a whole host of bugs seemingly come back to life in and around your home. Then, of course, there is summer, the time of year when every living creature is most active, searching for food and reproducing. Pests don’t take a season off.

Can’t I just seal my walls? If only it were that simple. Wouldn’t it be nice to just take care of all those holes once and for all? The problem is, holes that are letting pests into your home this winter might not have been there last winter. Homes decay and pests nibble. Worse than this, bugs don’t need much of a hole to get in. Sealing exterior walls may be an essential part of keeping pests out, but it is far from effective in and of itself.

If you want to fully exclude pests from your home, you need specialized knowledge, experience with the creatures that you are trying to keep out, and access to products that will protect vulnerable areas. You need a knowledge of pest habits and habitats, and you need to continually monitor pest pressures. That is why most folks turn to a professional pest control company.

Keeping pests out is not a one-time fix. It requires year-round service from someone who is educated in the field of pest control. If having a pest-free* home is your goal, we can help. The expert team here at Russell’s Pest Control is trained and certified to get pests out and keep them out. When you’re ready to see how great life is without bugs and wildlife in your home, give us a call. We’d love to help you with that.

 

Pest Control Risks In Christmas Decorations

Pest Control Risks In Christmas Decorations

It is that time of year again. Time to dig out the boxes of Christmas decorations from the back of the closet, attic, or basement. After being out of sight and out mind for an entire year there are often a lot of surprises- ornaments, decorations, and memories that you forgotten about. But, if you are not careful there could be other surprises in those boxes as well- insects, rodent nests and other creepy critters that have made your holiday decorations their home over the last year. Yikes!

Here at Russell’s Pest Control we don’t want you to have any unpleasant surprises. Here is some information and tips to help make sure that when you bring out your holiday decoration this year, you are only introducing glitter, shine and holiday joy into your home, and not pest and their debris and diseases.

Tips for the pest-free* unpacking of your Christmas decorations:

  • After digging out the decorations and ornaments, if the weather permits, place the boxes outside to unpack. This way if any pests have made their way into those boxes over the winter, they will hopefully scurry away outside, instead of under your couch.
  • Before digging into these boxes, inspect them. If you notice chew marks, feces, or other signs of pest activity, it is a very good indicator that you have a pest problem somewhere in your home and that action needs to be taken. Getting help will not only take care of your current infestation but will allow the steps to be taken to prevent future issues with pests.
  • Inspect ornaments and decorations for signs of being chewed on, breakage, and other damages. Any ornaments, lights, or decorations that have been damaged by pests, age, or accidents should be thrown away because they can be a safety risk.
  • After you unpacked your Christmas decorations from cardboard boxes, throw those boxes out! Go to the store and purchase plastic containers with tight fitting lids to store your decorations and ornaments back into. This small step will help a lot to prevent pests from getting into and ruining your decorations in the future.
  • If you will be purchasing and placing real wreaths or Christmas trees into your home you should first inspect them for pest activity. Check trees or wreaths for insect activity and shake them out before bringing them into your home. Don’t give insects and pests an open door and ride into your home.

After unpacking your decorations this Christmas season, hanging your wreaths and trimming your tree, if you notice any possible signs of pest activity the pros here at Russell’s Pest Control are eagerly awaiting your call. Our experts can inspect your home, eliminate any infestation through our safe and effective treatments, and provide follow-up services through our home pest control services. We want to work with you to make sure that your home is pest free, your family is healthy and that your holidays are merry and bright!

Is That A Cricket In My Basement?

Is That A Cricket In My Basement?

In the dark corners of a basement it is sometimes hard to figure out exactly what you’re looking at, and camel crickets don’t make it easy. Their long, thin legs make them look like a spider which is not all that big of a deal, until they come flying out of the darkness at you. If you’re wondering if you have camel crickets in your basement, and would rather not be scared half to death when they leap out at you from the darkness, we can help you with that. But before we tell you how to fix the problem, here are a few more ways those lovable little crickets can drive you crazy.

  • Camel crickets are sort of the “goat” of the insect kingdom. They will eat pretty much anything. They will leave holes in plants and curtains alike. If you have camel crickets in your home, you can be assured that, to them, nothing is sacred.

  • Camel crickets can damage stored items, like clothing, blankets, sheets, and other fabrics that are packed in the garage, attic spaces, or closets. Packed items are at most risk if they are in a place that is humid.

  • If you have a lot of camel crickets, you’re going to get the feces that come with any insect pest. These droppings will be left in hard-to-reach places inside wall voids and insulation.

  • Camel crickets chirp. This may sound nice, but it gets old fast at 3 a.m. when you have to get up for work in the morning.

  • Camel crickets are icky. There is really no other way to put it. If you are watching television and a camel cricket leaps into your hair or crawls up under your shirt, it is never pleasant. These creatures aren’t dangerous, but their alien appearance and hard exoskeleton can be really unsettling.

  • There is a side threat to having crickets in your home: Crickets are food for a lot of other creatures, especially rodents. If you have these tasty morsels crawling around in your wall voids, attic spaces, and basement areas mice and rats will love you for it.

At Russell’s Pest Control we protect homes from camel crickets, and a whole host of other invasive pests that like to get in through the cracks. Our power plans start at just $29 per month, and provide year-round protection from over 30 common household pests, including crickets. Camel crickets are a pest you can live without. Get your walls sealed and keep these and other pests out with professional, year-round pest control–and you may just keep pests that are even scarier out.

3 Ways Stink Bugs Get In

3 Ways Stink Bugs Get In

This is the time of year when you’re going to start seeing these shield-shaped bugs crawling all over your exterior walls and clinging to your door screens. It happens every year when temperatures drop. Stink bugs, which normally live in crop fields, start looking for a warmer place to be. They begin by congregating on the sun-warmed sides of residential homes, but as temperatures drop further, they start looking for ways to get in. And, boy aren’t they good at finding them! Next thing you know they’re climbing on your television, crawling through your curtains, and buzzing around all your lights. If you’ve spent any time at all fixing screens or caulking holes in your exterior walls, you may be wondering: How are these stink bugs getting in? Here are three ways stink bugs will get into your home, even after you’ve sealed everything up.

Doors: Sadly, you may be letting stink bugs in through your doors. After you put all that time into sealing your exterior walls, you might be accidentally letting them in when you enter or exit your home. This is especially true if you have a sliding door that opens out into the back yard or onto a balcony. These doors get a lot of use and have the potential to give a stink bug entry every time they are used. If you have children, you’re in even more trouble.

What is the solution? If you don’t have kids, simply pay more attention when you enter or exit. If you have no control over who comes in or goes out, the only way to protect against this is to make sure you don’t have any stink bugs out there waiting to come in. A treatment from a pest control company will do the trick.

Any holes: You may have used a caulking gun to fill all those rotted areas, but homes can have a ton of entry points. These bugs can get in through vents, exhausts, gaps around air conditioning units, gaps around fixtures and pipes, rotted holes under siding, and hard-to-see holes under decks.

What is the solution? Do a more thorough inspection of your exterior walls, install screening over any openings that could give bugs an entrance into your home, and use that caulking gun to seal around anything that has a gap.

Chimney: This is an entry point that many homeowners miss. Stink bugs don’t generally go higher than the first story of a home, but they can. If they get in your chimney, they can fly down and wait on the damper till you open it up.

What is the solution? Some homeowners invest in a damper that sits on the top of their chimney, so that bugs can’t climb down and wait to come in.

If you’re fighting stink bugs in Tennessee, give us a call. At Russell’s Pest Control, we have the most advanced pest solutions available, and our team is recognized by the national authority on pest management as a QualityPro pest control company. We have the solutions that will keep stink bugs out of your home.