Pest Control

If you are using a Pest Control Service, hopefully pests are not camping out in your home over the winter. What a pest or insect actually does over the winter varies depending on the pest. For example a squirrel might seek shelter in your attic, but some insects go in to a pupal stage over the winter.

Insects may do two things to escape the winter cold. They either migrate and go away or they become dormant. It turns out the vast majority of insects become dormant. You may notice that even in what is officially winter in the Rockwall area, we still have some warm days. On those days, especially if we have two or three in a row of warmer weather, insects might come out of being dormant and you’ll find them flying around in the middle of winter.

How an insect handles winter is different from insect to insect. Some do try and seek shelter as they go dormant. This could be your garage, attic or another part of your home. Others may produce more sugar or other chemicals in their body to help them weather the winter temperatures.

Winter Pest Control

Pest Control is important during the winter months for several reasons. Insects and rodents both tend to seek shelter during the winter months. If you stop pest control service during the winter months, you’re leaving your home open during a period when insects are seeking shelter.

Although insects become dormant they still will seek shelter in your home and therefore you should continue pest control service through the future.

For all of your pest control needs, contact us today at 972-730-7378.

Winter is nearing in the Rockwall area and pest removal becomes a much more needed service. Many homeowners in the Rockwall area have several factors that contribute to their need for pest removal or rodent removal. We offer several options for pest removal, including trapping. Once we determine the circumstances of your rodent problem, we make a recommendation to solve the issue.

Why Rodents Enter the Home

1. It is cold. As the weather becomes colder, racoon, mice, rats, squirrels and other rodents do seek a warmer place to stay. Your home, unfortunately, is a prime location for a rodent to seek shelter and warmer living conditions. Rodents can fit in very small cracks and holes in the home, making it important to check your roof lines, brick and garage door regularly.
2. Food. It is no secret that mice and racoons especially seek food in the home. This may not always be food you eat though. Dog food for example can attract rodents and we’ve even had cases of opossum entering a garage and rummaging through dog food. Many homeowners do keep their dog food in the garage, so if that is you, just make sure it is sealed and not left open.
3. Rockwall is close to the lake. Rodents enter homes, sometimes, out of convenience. With many homes in Rockwall and Heath very close to the lake, it is easy for a mouse, rat or other rodent to take a stroll up to a home. For example, it is very common for homeowners in Chandlers Landing to have mice and snakes on their property. This is partially due to the close proximity to the lake and the mature vegetation in that development. There are also a couple of ponds in that neighborhood, providing more space for rodents and snakes to live and seek food in.

While there are other reasons that pests enter the home, our pest removal services usually revolve around one of the above circumstances. Once we arrive and asses the situation there are a number of options we provide for the removal of the pests. We offer pest trapping services, which are common for racoons, squirrels, opossum, etc. Once we have a location established, we can set a trap or two and bait the rodent in to the trap. Once it has gone off, we return to remove the rodent.

For mice and rats, even if they are inside the attic or home, we often recommend a bait box. This does not involve trapping, but rather bait that will eliminate the existence of the rodents in and around your home.

Pest removal services increase this time of year, so don’t hesitate to call us if you hear some scratching in your attic, notice some chewed wire or see an animal on your property that shouldn’t be there.

Wasp nests are very common in spring and summer months. While many homeowners focus on mosquito control during the hotter summer months, wasps can be just as active.  For many homeowners a walk around the exterior of the home would produce a wasp next or two along the eaves of the house. Wasp nests are made of chewed wood that provide their paper walls. A mud dauber uses clay or mud, but wasps use wood. In the spring a queen wasp will build her nest and populate it with eggs. These wasps turn in to workers that take over the upkeep of the nest the remainder of the season.

If a nest is left alone, by mid-summer a wasp nest can reach the size of a basketball. Thankfully, we don’t see that everyday, but it is possible. If you are seeing a lot of wasps, you can watch them and locate where they return to. Chances are that will be where their nest is.

When you check for wasps around your home, the obvious places are usually very visible. The eaves of the house, overhanging parts of the roof or under a porch. These places are all very common for wasps to build nests. A place you may not think to look is under your existing bushes and landscaping. A bush that has overhanging growth, or has been trimmed to have that design can provide a nice home for a wasp nest. The picture to the left is a photo taken under a bush at a home of one of our clients. The nest is not very large, but it was hidden under a bush and could not be seen by simply looking at the landscaping. This wasp nest has a few wasps working on it, maintaining it and building on to it.

It is best to have your property treated for pest control early in the year to help prevent wasps and other insects. If you are a current customer of ours, we spray routinely throughout the year. If you are not a current client, call us today and we can come out and take care of any pest control needs you have. From wasps to raccoons and mosquitoes, we cover a full range of pests.

This article focuses on tips on how to keep pests out during the summer. Here in the Rockwall area, we’ve seen more rain than normal for a North Texas summer. This causes bugs and pests to move around and relocate. Ants for example have their colony washed out due to rain, so they move and build another one. This can cause a greater need for ant control service and pest control can become more challenging. With regular treatments, your bug population should be able to be kept in check so you can enjoy the pool, outdoor parties and other events outside your home.

To help prevent prevent pest control issues and keep pests out, apply some of the tips below.

• Keep kitchen counters clean and store food in sealed containers
• As we’ve mentioned many times before, eliminate areas of standing water
• Keep landscaping trimmed and maintained – this can be done yourself, or with a lawn service
• Divert rainwater away from the house – contact a professional about drainage solutions
• Keep basements, attics and crawl spaces well ventilated and dry
• Replace weather-stripping around windows and repair loose mortar around the
• Don’t let garbage pile up
• Do not store anything, especially firewood up against the home
• Don’t ignore cracks or holes in the exterior of the home
• Don’t give pests a free meal, clean up after outdoor parties

Following these summer pest control tips should help keep your home free from any pest activity. If you suspect you have a pest control problem, please seek the help of a pest control professional. Give us a call at 972-730-7378 or contact us.

In this article well talk about how to keep rodents out of your attic. We’ve written about rodent removal previously, and there are some helpful tips in that article.  Of course we offer rodent removal as part of our pest control services.

Just this week we experienced snow in the Rockwall area and temperatures in the teens. If it is cold outside for us, it is cold outside for rodents as well.

So how do you keep rodents out of your attic?

1. Inspect your home for small holes that mice, rats and other rodents are using to enter the attic or home. Mice especially do not need much space. Check vents, eaves, roof line and the roof itself. To seal these gaps use a copper mesh or steel mesh.

2. Trim any trees that are overhanging the home or that are touching the home. This makes it easier for the rodents to get up on the roof and find holes to enter the house.

3. If there are currently mice, rats or other rodents in the attic or home, now is a good time to set traps. Once you have the holes sealed and closed, it is time to get what is in out.

How do you know if you have mice or rodents?

Noise: One of the most common signs of mice or rodents is the noise. You may notice scratching or chewing at night. This may be noticed coming from the ceiling or walls.

Physical Evidence: You may not hear them, but sometimes you see what they’ve left behind. You could see their droppings in the attic or you may notice the mess they made. On occasion they’ll chew electrical cords or wires.

Smell: Rodents urine often has a poor smell that you will definitely notice. In some cases the urine will soak the attic insulation or wood so much that it needs to be replaced.

Footprints: Many attics have dust on the items in them or on the flooring. You might be able to see footprints of the rodents in the dust.

If you think you have rodents in you attic, contact us for an inspection.