Pest Control in Spring Valley
Previous posts have focused on specific pests that invade the Spring Valley area and what your Spring Valley pest control expert can do to combat them.
This post summarizes those approaches.
But first a question: What is it about Spring Valley that seems to attract more than its fair share of pests?
We are looking at
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- Bed bugs
- Ants
- Termites
- Cockroaches
- Spiders
- Fleas
- Snails and Slugs
- Mosquitoes
- Rodents.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are tough, blood-sucking parasites and are notoriously difficult to eliminate. In fact, professional Spring Valley pest control is essential to get rid of bed bugs for good.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) warned last August against DIY bed bug removal. The said "Using the wrong pesticide or using it incorrectly to treat bedbugs can make you, your family and your pets sick. It can also make your home unsafe to live in (emphasis mine) and may not solve the pest problem”.
The take-away message is If you get bedbugs, you should call a licensed pest control company.
Bed bugs are small, not much larger than an apple seed, but they are voracious and their only food source is you! Or rather, your blood.
They are very hard to kill, partly because of their biology (a tough, protective carapace that is difficult to penetrate) their eggs, which are literally unaffected by any product currently approved by the EPA for residential use) and their habit of hiding in hidden crevices.
Bed bugs typically don’t respond to home treatment. In fact, attempting to do it yourself may simply force the bugs to relocate, creating more infestations elsewhere in your home. This is because there is no chance of eliminating them unless the product comes into direct physical contact with every single live bed bug and the eggs are also removed.
Only your Spring Valley pest control bed bug removal expert has the knowledge and equipment needed to achieve this. Three professional pest control treatments spaced two weeks apart are typically required. Only by this will all of the hidden bugs and their unhatched and newly-hatched eggs be exterminated.
Hidden Bed Bugs
Bedbugs and their eggs are easily transported on clothing and belongings. This allows an infestation to quickly spread from a single origin point to an entire house, apartment building or unit block.
Part of the problem is that you are just not aware of them until they start eating you when you’re in bed at night. When not actually feeding, bedbugs hide in hidden places such as minute crevices, under floorboards, inside walls and behind baseboards. Even inside ubiquitous electronic devices!
This is why you need professional extermination by your Spring Valley licensed pest control company with expertise and experience in bed bug elimination. It’s the only totally reliable and effective option.
You Must Act Fast
Bed bugs reproduce at an alarming rate. A female lives from 6 to 12 months and can lay 500 eggs in that time. But, even more frightening, her babies are capable of reproducing within a month of being born!
Do the math. You quickly have three generations living and reproducing, all with one aim and that’s to suck your blood. How yuk is that?
Only prompt and effective treatment in the early stages of infestation can limit it and prevent it from spreading. But you must be careful of what you use and whom you employ. Effective bed bug treatment starts with a combination of environmental procedures and a variety of materials approved by the EPA for residential use only by licensed pest control specialists. Your Spring Valley pest control specialist knows that effective bed bug extermination starts with meticulous site preparation. Bed bugs must be attacked on multiple levels.
See Spring Valley Pest Control: Bed Bugs.
Ants
The Tip of the Ant Iceberg
When you have an infestation of ants in Spring Valley, the awful truth you need to understand is that you are only seeing a tiny fraction of the number of ants that have invaded your property.
What you are seeing are the worker ants that have been sent out from the nest to scout for food. When they find it, they head back to the nest with a morsel of food, leaving a trail of pheromones for other ants to follow. Pretty soon, you have a supply line of ants scurrying fast in both directions.
And they will find food, whether it's a crumb dropped from your table, some food left out (even if covered) or simply a dead insect.
The thing is that there is little point in killing the visible ants. To get rid of your Spring Valley ant infestation, you must kill the queen, along with the eggs that the workers are getting ready to hatch.
And, of course, the queens of other nests in the vicinity as well.
This is where your Spring Valley pest control expert comes in. They have the equipment, tools, techniques and safe insecticides to get rid of your ant infestation for good.
Spring Valley Ants Are Killers
When I was a kid of around 11 years of age, we had a silkworm craze, usually started by a kid with a backyard mulberry tree.
We would put a few silkworms with some mulberry leaves for them to eat in a shoe box with holes punched in the lid for oxygen and then watch the fascinating silkworm life cycle, topping up with fresh leaves every couple of days or so.
They didn't mind the odd lettuce leaf or beetroot leaf as well (though interestingly, I've never seen this documented anywhere; the diet is supposed to be pretty much just mulberry leaves).
Anyway, the little guys would feed voraciously and constantly for about 3 weeks and then build themselves a silk cocoon. The silk was normally yellow but had a greenish sheen if the diet included lettuce leaves or a pinkish sheen if it included beetroot leaves.
It was fascinating to watch the silkworm swing its head back and forth as it excretes the silk and builds the cocoon. The cocoon is made from one continuous strand of silk that can be a kilometer long!
The worm would then undergo metamorphosis as it changed from a worm to a pupa to a silk moth. As a result of thousands of years of domestication, silk moths can't fly, so there were no issues in keeping them in the shoe box. They only live for about a week, during which time the males and females will mate and the female will lay between 300 and 500 eggs, ready to begin the cycle all over again.
In the normal course of events, the moth will eat its way out of the cocoon, rendering the silk useless.
With a great deal of patience, it was possible to find the end of the silk and unwind it onto an empty cotton reel. The pupa thus revealed could be buried just below the surface of a container of flour, where it would continue to develop into a silk moth.
The other option of killing the moth by dropping the cocoon into boiling water wasn't something we 11 year olds were prepared to do.
Unfortunately, ants found my silk moths a couple of days after they emerged from their cocoons.
I opened the shoe box to see all my precious moths covered with ants, half-eaten and fluttering about in distress.
I killed them all immediately of course and haven't been too fond of ants ever since.
Ants can spread dangerous bacteria and, while not in the same class as termites can still cause structural damage to your home.
Spring Valley Professional Pest Control or DIY
And while your best bet for getting rid of an ant problem quickly and permanently is to call in your Spring Valley pest control expert, there are some things you can do yourself.
To solve an ant problem, you need to first eliminate the ones you don’t see to get rid of the ones you do see. It sounds strange, but it's true. This is because the queen (who lays all the eggs and is the mother of all the ants) never leaves her nest. She just stays there, being fed by the workers (the ones you see) and continues to reproduce more ants. So you can spray and spray the workers, while the queen will keep producing more to take their place. Your Spring Valley pest control ant specialist understands how all this works and takes advantage of it to get rid of all the ants permanently.
You See the Worker Ants
The ants that you see are worker ants. Their job is to find food and take it back to feed the queen and her young, who are being groomed as the next generation of worker ants. Because of this, these worker ants are your ticket into the colony. If you spray and kill these ants, the colony will simply send out more workers, and you'll never reach the queen. The only way to eliminate an ant colony is to kill the queen. And even then, it's possible that the workers have a queen-in-waiting and you'll only get a temporary respite.
You Must Kill the Queen
Instead of eliminating the worker ants, use them! Following all label directions, place ant bait stations along the trail you identified. The workers will find the bait, carry it back to the nest, and feed the queen, eventually killing her and eliminating future populations. At least from that particular queen!
While general cleanliness is an important part of managing an ant problem, you don't want to mop away the ant's odor trail until you've eliminated the colony. Take advantage of the trail to lead the ants to your bait. When the ants are gone, you can clean the trail area thoroughly.
The ants will carry the insecticide bait back to the nest, but it can take several days to eliminate the colony, or even a few weeks if the colony is very large or it has several queens, as some ant species do.
Replace the bait station if the ants empty it.
Hopefully, you'll never have an ant swarm like they have in some parts of the world regularly.
But if you do have a Spring Valley ant infestation, don't try to tackle it yourself. Call your Spring Valley pest control ant expert immediately.
See Overrun with Ants? Call the Spring Valley Pest Control Expert.
Termites
Termites Are Dangerous
Only termites can single-handedly destroy a house and ruin its very foundation and character in just a few short years. The first destructive handiwork of termites may not even be noticeable for the first five years after their infestation. It is necessary to take the proper steps to protect your home from termites, and to rid your house of them immediately if they have already invaded your property.
You may not see direct evidence of termite infestation, but that doesn't mean you should remain ignorant of it. Sagging floors, holes in woodwork and hollow parts of your foundation are all serious warning signs of termites.
Termites mostly feed on dead plant material and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf animal, litter, or soil dung. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions, and their recycling of wood and plant matter is of considerable ecological importance. Unfortunately, this is of little comfort if it's your house that they are eating!
Termites Are Cockroaches!
Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from close ancestors of cockroaches during the Triassic or Jurassic periods. It is possible, however, that the first termites emerged during the Permian or even the Carboniferous eras.
Termites mostly feed on dead plant material and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf animal, litter, or soil dung. Termites are major detritivores, particularly in the tropical and subtropical regions, and their recycling of wood and plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.
How to Protect Your Home
Since termites are a constant threat to your home, here are some things you can do during the year to help maintain the effectiveness of the professional treatment. Small steps make a big difference in termite prevention and sustaining an effective termite treatment plan.
- Repair leaking faucets, water pipes, and A/C units
- Divert water from foundation
- Keep downspouts and gutters clean
- Remove excessive plant cover and wood mulch
- Get rid of standing water on roof
The Silent Destroyer
Termites are often called the "silent destroyer" because they may be secretly thriving and hiding in your home or yard without any immediate signs of damage. All termites consume cellulose-based plant materials. All homes, regardless of their construction type, can provide cellulose food for termite infestation.
A termite's mouth is capable of tearing pieces of woody material. House foundations, furniture, shelves and even books are all possible feeding sites for termites.
See Watch Out for Termites.
Cockroaches
Cockroaches prefer to live and feed in the dark, so a cockroach seen during the day is a possible sign of infestation.
They are nocturnal insects and prefer dark, moist places to hide and breed.
They can be found behind refrigerators, sinks and stoves, as well as under floor drains and inside motors and major appliances. Because they can flatten their bodies to fit into narrow areas, cockroaches may also be found hiding beneath rubber mats, behind wallpaper and within wall cracks.
Cockroach Poo
Cockroach feces will be visible during an infestation. Small roaches produce feces that resemble coffee grounds or black pepper, while larger roaches expel cylindrical droppings. The quantity of visible feces is often a good indicator of the level or duration of infestation.
Although the vast majority of cockroach species live in the wild and aren’t pests to human settlements, those that do enter our homes bring with them a range of unwelcome stuff.
They are vectors for disease, they trigger allergies, they poop and, frankly, they stink.
Since they’re nocturnal, it's often the smell of roaches that first alerts a home or business owner that they’ve got a roach problem. Some species emit unpleasant smells.
Cockroaches Smell!
In the event of serious infestation, a strong oily or musty odor may be present. The bodies of dead cockroaches can also be found throughout the house and will contribute to the stink.
in sufficient numbers the faint, oily musk of each roach combines to create a distinctive and sometimes overpowering odor. When roaches swarm, they each give off a pheromone in order to let other roaches know they’ve found a good place to nest. When concentrated, this pheromone is easily detectable to the human nose.
Do Cockroaches Bite?
Do Cockroaches Bite? The short answer is yes, but it's not that common.
Cockroaches are omnivores that eat plants and meat. They have been recorded to eat human flesh of both the living and the dead, although they are more likely to take a bite of fingernails, eyelashes, feet and hands. The bites may cause irritation, lesions and swelling. Some have suffered from minor wound infections.
Cockroaches are not likely to bite living humans, except perhaps in cases of extreme infestations where cockroach population are large, especially when food becomes limited. In most situations, cockroaches would not bite humans if there are other food sources such as in garbage cans or exposed food.
When cockroach numbers are left unchecked, the population may outgrow the normal food sources. Once the food becomes limited, the cockroaches will be forced to forage more and on things they would not normally consume. Ordinarily, pest control would be contacted before the populations reach these levels.
The most serious cases of cockroaches biting humans have been on ships. It has been documented that some cockroaches on seafaring vessels have become so numerous that they gnawed the skin and nails of those on board. Some sailors even reported wearing gloves so that the cockroaches would not be able to bite their fingers.
Among the many cockroach species, it is the American cockroach Periplaneta americana and the Periplaneta australasiae which are the most likely to bite humans on ships. German cockroaches have also been known to bite humans.
Cockroach feces are easy to identify. Droppings from small cockroaches resemble ground coffee or black pepper. Larger roaches leave behind dark, cylindrical droppings with blunt ends and ridges down the side.
With a closer look, homeowners can tell the difference between rodent and cockroach feces. Mouse and rat droppings have pointed ends, while cockroach poop does not.
Cockroaches are omnivores, and the pests are not fussy about where they get their meals. Garbage, sewage, carrion, and crumbs are all fair game. As a result, their digestive systems retain disease pathogens from anything they’ve eaten. These microbes then leave the pests’ bodies within cockroach poop.
Like most insects, cockroaches don’t concern themselves with bathroom hygiene. The pests defecate in or near whatever they eat. When cockroach droppings pollute pantries, kitchen surfaces, or poorly sealed food containers, all the bacteria the insect has consumed may be spread to people.
In addition to cockroach feces, the pests’ body parts, saliva, and cast off skins can trigger allergies as well as asthma attacks. Symptoms often worsen when fans or HVAC ducts cause this debris to become airborne.
If you find cockroach droppings in your house, vacuuming and cleaning affected areas with soap and warm water helps prevent disease and may reduce allergic reactions. However, cleanup without proper protective gear can also lead to infection.
Contact local Spring Valley pest control professionals to deal with cockroach infestations in a safe, effective manner.
If you have a Spring Valley infestation of cockroaches or even a severe cockroach problem, it's of little use to spray (or stomp) the one or two roaches that you happen to see in the daytime.
There will be dozens, scores, hundreds or more that you don't see when they come out at night.
And even more significant, there are multiple generations just waiting to hatch.
There's really only one solution. You need to engage a Spring Valley pest control expert to get rid of your cockroach infestation and make sure it doesn't return.
See Spring Valley Pest Control: Cockroach Infestation.
Spiders
One of the most commonly found spiders in Spring Valley is the frightening looking wolf spider. It's related to the tarantula, shown above.
The wolf spider has a venomous bite. The bite is not fatal but can be very painful. The wolf spider is identified by its hairy body. and resembles a smaller version of the tarantula. It can grow up to about five inches in length! They are a brown camouflage color that blends into desert and garden environments. Wolf spiders tend to be nocturnal but can be active in both the day and night time.
They will attack if they feel threatened and if you see a large number of them, it's time to call in a professional Spring Valley pest control expert.
Spring Valley Spider Infestation
Signs of a spider infestation are pretty straightforward, if you know where to look.
One unmistakable sign is spider webs.
If you notice a large number of webs scattered about an area, there’s a good chance there are spiders occupying those webs, even if they aren’t immediately visible. Some spiders will hide inside a dead, rolled up leaf located somewhere on the web.
Most non web-weaving spiders like to hide in dark places, so if you have a cellar or garage, those are the most likely locations where you will find them in the home,
Spiders will also hide in gardens because of their shady environment and the wealth of insect prey. Egg sacs, which are spider-sized, circular, structures built to carry hundreds of tiny spider eggs, are another sign that a swarm of spiders has decided that your space is a good place to breed.
Spiders look for one key thing when choosing a home, and that's food. If spiders have taken up residence in your home or business, there’s a good chance that you also have a problem with a different pest that spiders eat,
That could be mosquitoes, flies, or some other insect. They’ve decided on your space for a reason. Some spiders also are attracted to moisture (as are many other insects), which is why they are often found in parts of the house where moisture buildup is common, such as attics, basements, and gardens.
Spiders will enter the house through cracks and crevasses, so if you have unsealed entry points and a food source, your home or business is susceptible to an arachnid invasion.
Call a Professional Pest Control Expert
Your Spring Valley pest control expert has a wealth of experience in eliminating pest infestations of all kinds, and spiders are no exception. Don't forget that a spider infestation also indicates infestations of their food sources.
With a year-round residential pest control plan, your Spring Valley pest control expert can get rid of spiders and the pests that attract them, and make sure that they don’t come back. You can rest easy knowing once the spider and spider-related infestations are gone, they’ll stay gone.
See Spring Valley Pest Control: Spider Infestation.
Fleas
Anyone Can Get Fleas
Here’s an old joke: A young boy and his dog are sitting opposite a lady in a train carriage.
The lady says “Keep that dog away from me, young man. I distinctly felt a flea on me.”
The boy replies by talking to his dog. “Stay away from that lady, Rover, she has fleas.”
The point being that anyone can have fleas, human or animal.
They don’t care whom they bite.
If the Queen of England or the First Lady of the United States has a flea in her knickers, it will as happily bite her on the ass as it will you or me, and that’s just a fact.
Maybe for that reason, most people have more of a horror of fleas than of any other insect.
Spiders don’t count. They’re arachnids, not insects at all. I’ll deal with arachnophobia in another article. Personally, I quite like spiders. Except for the Sydney funnel web. He’s (and yes, unusually for spiders, it’s the male that’s aggressive and dangerous) one serious dude.
But I digress. Fleas. And engaging your Spring Valley pest control expert to get rid of them when you have an infestation.
Spring Valley Pests: Fleas vs Cockroaches
Not quite as exciting as Batman v Superman, but we do seem to have too many of both fleas and cockroaches in Spring Valley.
And they really seem to be the two insects that cause an immediate “I’m revolted” reaction in most people.
And that’s bit strange, because cockroaches were once regarded as medical benefactors. Back in the days when the captain of a ship ordered sailors flogged for minor (often religious) infractions, cockroaches were often used to nibble away the infected skin and encourage healing.
It’s probably their “flat to the floor” shape and their scurrying habits that have given them such a bad rep. Hmm… that and along with the fact that they can carry infectious diseases. Actually, if you do have a cockroach infestation, don’t hesitate. Contact your Spring Valley pest control expert and get rid of them now.
Back to the Spring Valley Pest Control Fleas
Irrespective of how they feel about cockroaches, no one likes fleas.
Because they are parasites.
They transfer from dogs and cats to humans.
Fleas itch.
They are difficult to get rid of because, unlike other parasitic insects, their eggs don’t stick to the host. Instead, they fall out to distribute themselves in carpets, rugs and flooring cracks.
Your Spring Valley pest control contractor can advise on the optimum flea pest control.
See Spring Valley Pest Control and Fleas
and Spring Valley Pest Control: The Flea Life Cycle.
Snails and Slugs
DIY Snails and Slugs: Some Effective Alternatives
When Spring arrives, you need to be ready to protect your precious plants and seedlings from the ravages of spring garden pests.
Your garden will attract a lot of spring pests. Snails and slugs will be your most frequent visitors, especially after rain. They will emerge to feed on your greens, plant seeds, seedlings, underground tubers, leaves and fruit. Damage to seedlings often results in the death of the plant.
The natural way to get rid of Spring Valley snails and slugs is to encourage predators such as toads, frogs, birds, ground-beetles and hedgehogs in a controlled manner, as they eat these pests.
Here are some other ways to get rid of snails.
Chickens and Ducks Love Snails and Slugs
Here is a 100% win-win situation. First of all, make sure your local laws and ordinances allow you to keep a chicken in your back yard.
Then buy a chick, so that it knows and trusts you as it grows up and becomes like a pet.
Make sure that you get a pullet. This is a young female that will grow up to be a hen. There are two reasons for this. One, if you get a rooster, you will soon have neighbors complaining about its early morning crowing. And second, your hen will supply you with 4 or 5 beautiful fresh eggs a week.
You'll almost forget that the reason you got her was to keep the snail population in check!
Chickens enjoy munching on snails, so allowing one to roam around your yard or garden is a great natural solution for snail control.
You don't even have to find the snails yourself. The chicken will do that for you. You don't have to do any of the snail removal yourself.
Note that ducks will also eat snails, but they generally prefer slugs.
It's best to release your chicken or chickens into the snail and slug filled garden early in the morning before the slugs and snails go into hiding and preferably before planting.
Let the birds enjoy their feast and get rid of the snails and slugs permanently. Then plant and keep your birds away from the young seedlings.
Use Beer for Spring Valley Pest Control
An interesting fact about snails is that they like beer! You can use this fact to create a beer trap.
Pour beer into a small container, such as an old can, a plastic cup, yogurt container, bowl, or pie dish.. Bury the container in your garden near the place where you saw snails, but leave about 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the soil. The smell of the beer will attract the snails, which will drown in the container. Tip: Use Spring Valley beer to control a Spring Valley snail problem 🙂
Adding yeast will make the traps more enticing to the snails.
As only the snails close to the beer trap will find it easily, you should put out multiple traps, to entice as many as possible.
Don’t bury your beer trap at soil level, as other beneficial bugs might accidentally die in it.
Using Snail Bait in Spring Valley
There are many snail baits available, but one of the best to use is iron phosphate, as it is non-toxic to humans and pets, whereas many of the pellets available in your supermarket are deadly poisonous to pets and children.
Iron phosphate is a molluscicide, which means it kills snails and slugs. Simply place the trap in your garden or near the location where you’ve noticed snails, and they’ll be attracted to the bait on it. After they come into contact with the iron phosphate, the snails will die.
You an find iron phosphate snail and slug bait at your local gardening store or from an online supplier.
This bait will make the snails stop eating, but they may take as long as a week to die.
Snails and Slugs Hate Coffee
A high concentration of caffeine spayed onto slugs and snails will kill them.
Low concentrations of caffeine will make the slugs and snails leave your garden and stop feeding on your plants.
Spraying plant leaves with caffeine will also prevent slugs and snails from eating them.
One of the best ways of getting the caffeine into your garden is used coffee grounds. If you have your own espresso coffee machine you will have plenty of those that you normally throw out or compost. Otherwise, you can get them from your local coffee shop. Pour the used coffee grounds onto the soil and spread them. The caffeine is also beneficial to the garden soil. It is organic matter and will enrich the soil.
You may also buy caffeine based commercial sprays. These have high concentrations of caffeine and will kill the snails and slugs instantly.
Plant to Discourage Spring Valley Snails and Slugs
Slugs and snails love plants with tender and succulent leaves. and no scent. Inter-cropping with woody and aromatic plants will get rid of your unwelcome slimy guests.
You can plant
- Peruvian Lily
- Carnations
- Foxglove
- Coneflower
- Cushion Spurge
- Bananas
- All Ferns
- Daylily
Most of these slug and snail resistant plants are grasses and ferns. They are easy to grow, don't compete with other garden plants and dissuade your Spring Valley snails and slugs.
See Spring Brings Slugs and Snails to Spring Valley Gardens.
Mosquitoes
As they say "an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure".
This is especially true if you live in Spring Valley and have a mosquito problem.
Eliminate Mosquito Breeding Sites
Your first step to avoid a mosquito infestation is to eradicate their breeding sites.
Start with a tour around your home and yard. If you eradicate their breeding sites, you can prevent a Spring Valley mosquito infestation.
Standing water is prime mosquito breeding habitat, so look for places where water collects and can’t evaporate. Improperly installed or clogged gutters and downspouts are ideal situations for female mosquitoes to lay eggs. So are birdbaths, outdoor plant pot saucers, pet dishes and wading pools. If you have a non-aerated pond or ornamental water feature in your garden, you need to be especially alert.
Keep swimming pools and hot tubs clean and chlorinated. Remove leaf piles and lawn debris from your yard as the ground underneath can remain damp for long enough for mosquito eggs to hatch.
Rubbish bins, recycling bins and garbage dumpsters are common breeding sites after rain, so always inspect them following a downpour or even just a light shower.
Kill Mosquito Larvae Quickly
Mosquito larvae only need about 48 hours to hatch, so you need to be quick. As you are unlikely to have fish or frogs to consume the mosquito larvae, you may need a larvicide. These can be used in ponds to prevent mosquito larvae from hatching but you should always seek advice from your Spring Valley pest control expert, Using a pump to aerate your pond will help but always get professional advice before applying chemicals in or around water.
It's essential to be able to repel mosquitoes if you want to avoid being bitten while you enjoy your outdoor activities.
You need to be able to repel uninvited guests such as mosquitoes. You can light citronella candles to keep the pests at bay and you probably apply insect repellent to avoid getting bitten. Of course, methods such as bug zappers and other mosquito traps might lure and kill large quantities of the pests and can be effective,
But as outlined above prevention is the best strategy to prevent a Spring Valley mosquito problem in the first place. If you find that you experience more than your fair share of these pesky insects, perhaps it is time to identify and eradicate their breeding sites around your home.
When they’re not actively searching for their next evening meal, mosquitoes can rest during daylight hours on tall grass and leaves, waiting for a convenient blood meal to pass by. So If you live near the woods or a lake, river or stream, you will not be able to entirely eliminate the mosquito breeding habitat. To ensure that your home is pest-free, check door and window screens to see that they fit tightly and are in good repair. Keep your lawn clipped short to create a barrier zone between your house and the woods and limit proximity of vegetation next to your home’s foundation to ensure good air circulation.
The Female Mosquito is the Blood-Sucker
Male mosquitoes feed on plant nectar and other sugars. Only the female mosquito feeds on blood, as an aid to egg production. Her proboscis, unlike the male's, is designed to penetrate skin and suck blood.
Unfortunately, mosquitoes are not just a nuisance. With just one bite, they can transmit a serious and severely debilitating disease to an animal or human. Spring Valley unfortunately sees increasing incidences of mosquito-borne diseases each year, such as West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. In other parts of the world, mosquito problems manifest themselves in the transmission of potentially deadly diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and other forms of encephalitis. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over one million deaths.
Mosquito pest control is essential to avoid exposure for your family, pets and livestock. Globally, there are approximately 2,500 mosquito species. Spring Valley is home to several species which are most active in the hours between dusk and dawn.
Spring Valley Pest Control for Mosquitoes
Does your mosquito problem call for a professional solution? Mosquitoes detect body heat, exhaled carbon dioxide as well as the smell of sweat, perfume and products such as shampoos and fabric softeners. If you must be outdoors after dark when mosquitoes are about, wear long sleeves and long pants and apply a good insect repellent which contains DEET, (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide), a chemical known to repel mosquitoes, biting flies and ticks.
Some people are sensitive to DEET, so test yourself and your family before applying a generous dose directly on the skin. If you’re sensitive to DEET, try one of the plant based, natural repellents on the market. The whole idea behind insect repellent is to mask your scent so they can’t identify you as a meal in the first place, along with the addition of substances known to repel mosquitoes.
Be wary of products you see in the pesticide aisle of your supermarket or garden center that promise to instantly rid your yard of insects.
If you do choose to apply one of the many pesticides available for your lawn and shrubs, be absolutely certain to follow directions meticulously so you don’t inadvertently cause yourself, your family‚ or the environment‚ a worse problem. Don’t make the trade off of a mosquito-free environment for one that you have poisoned with pesticides and other chemicals.
Your outdoor time can be kept pleasant and hazard-free with an effective mosquito control plan. If, after your best efforts, you still experience swarms of mosquitoes, get professional advice from a Spring Valley pest control expert. They will have had experience with identifying breeding habitat and will offer an individualized solution to your mosquito problem.
Does your mosquito problem call for a professional solution? Professional mosquito control is safe and effective. Call a pest control expert to fix your Spring Valley mosquito problem for good.
See Spring Valley Mosquito Problem.
Rodents
Rodents and Hantavirus
Hantavirus is a life-threatening viral infection spread to humans by rodents. It has symptoms similar to influenza.
Hantavirus Causes
Hantavirus is carried by rodents, especially deer mice. The virus is found in their urine and feces, but it does not make the animal sick.
Rats and mice carry disease
One rat can produce 25,000 disease carrying droppings a year!
Humans can get sick with this virus if they breathe in contaminated dust from mice nests or droppings. You may come in contact with such dust when cleaning homes, sheds, or other enclosed areas that have been empty for a long time.
Hantavirus does not seem to spread between humans.
Symptoms
The early symptoms of hantavirus disease are similar to the flu and include:
- Chills
- Fever
- Aching muscles
People with hantavirus may begin to feel better for a very short time. But within 1 to 2 days, it becomes hard to breathe. The disease gets worse quickly. Symptoms include:
- Dry cough
- Nausea including vomiting
- Being short of breath
- Severe headache
It is vital that you seek medical treatment at this stage.
Treatment
People with hantavirus are admitted to hospital, often to the intensive care unit (ICU).
Treatments may include:
- Oxygen
- In severe cases, the use of a breathing tube or ventilator
- Special machines to add oxygen to the blood outside the body
- Other supportive care for symptomatic treatment
Outlook
Hantavirus is a serious infection that gets worse quickly. Lung failure can occur and may lead to death. Even with aggressive treatment, more than half the people who have this disease in their lungs die as a result.
Possible Complications
Complications of hantavirus can include heart, lung and kidney failure.
These complications can lead to death.
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Call your health care provider if you develop flu-like symptoms after you come in contact with rodent droppings or rodent urine, or dust that is contaminated with these substances.
Prevention
Avoid exposure to rodent urine and droppings.
Drink disinfected water
When camping, sleep on a ground cover and pad
Keep your home clean. Clear out potential nesting sites and clean your kitchen
If you must work in an area where contact with rodent urine or feces is possible, follow these recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
- When opening an unused cabin, shed, or other building, open all the doors and windows, leave the building, and allow the space to air out for 30 minutes.
- Return to the building and spray the surfaces, carpet, and other areas with a disinfectant. Leave the building for another 30 minutes
- Spray rat and mouse nests and droppings with a 10% solution of chlorine bleach or similar disinfectant. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. Using rubber gloves, place the materials in plastic bags. Seal the bags and throw them in the trash or an incinerator. Dispose of gloves and cleaning materials in the same way
- Wash all potentially contaminated hard surfaces with a bleach or disinfectant solution. Avoid vacuuming until the area has been thoroughly decontaminated. Then, vacuum the first few times with enough ventilation. Surgical masks may provide some protection
Don't take the risk. If you suspect an infestation of rats or mice, your Spring Valley pest control expert can eradicate them safely.
See Spring Valley Pest Control: Hantavirus.
Rodents and LCM
Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) is a viral infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord and of the cerebrospinal fluid. It is an infectious disease carried by rodents, including common house mice and rats.
The virus has also been known to transmit via pets such as hamsters and chinchillas but this is far less common.
What Are the Causes of LCM?
LCM is caused by an arenavirus, which is an RNA virus and is a mild cousin in the family containing the much more threatening arenaviruses that cause hemorrhagic fever. Humans acquire the LCM virus (LCMV) from infected rodents by coming in contact with the animals or their excretions. Most cases of LCM occur in fall and winter, when mice seek warmth inside dwellings. Food and dust can become contaminated by the excretions of rodents infected with LCM virus. Pest control experts in Spring Valley are experienced in the safe removal of the infected rodents and their droppings.
House Mice in Spring Valley Carry LCM
The primary host of LCMV in Spring Valley is the common house mouse. Infection in house mice populations may vary by geographic location, though it is estimated that 5% of house mice throughout the United States carry LCMV and are able to transmit virus for the duration of their lives without showing any sign of illness. Other types of rodents, such as hamsters, are not the natural reservoirs but can become infected with LCMV from wild mice at the breeder, in the pet store, or home environment. Humans are more likely to contract LCMV from house mice, but infections from pet rodents have also been reported.
You will get good advice regarding potential sources of infestation from your pest control expert in Spring Valley.
LCMV infections have been reported in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Japan, and may occur wherever infected rodent hosts of the virus are found. The disease has historically been underreported, often making it difficult to determine incidence rates or estimates of prevalence by geographic region.
LCM Causes Neurological Disease
LCMV Can Cause Neurological Disease. Spring Valley pest control experts will eliminate the carriers of this neurological disease.
LCMV is most commonly recognized as causing neurological disease, though infection without symptoms or mild febrile illnesses are more common clinical manifestations.
Additionally, pregnancy-related infection has been associated with congenital hydrocephalus, chorioretinitis, and mental retardation.
For infected persons who do become ill, onset of symptoms usually occurs 8-13 days after exposure to the virus as part of a biphasic febrile illness. This initial phase, which may last as long as a week, typically begins with fever, a general feeling of being unwell, lack of appetite, muscle aches, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Other symptoms appearing less frequently include sore throat, cough, joint pain, chest pain, testicular pain, and salivary gland pain.
The Prognosis for LCM
Following a few days of recovery, a second phase of illness may occur. Symptoms may consist of meningitis (fever, headache, stiff neck, etc.), encephalitis (drowsiness, confusion, sensory disturbances, and/or motor abnormalities, such as paralysis), or meningoencephalitis (inflammation of both the brain and meninges). LCMV has also been known to cause acute hydrocephalus (increased fluid on the brain), which often requires surgical shunting to relieve increased intracranial pressure. In rare instances, infection results in myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord) and presents with symptoms such as muscle weakness, paralysis, or changes in body sensation. An association between LCMV infection and myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscles) has been suggested.
Previous observations show that most patients who develop aseptic meningitis or encephalitis due to LCMV survive. No chronic infection has been described in humans, and after the acute phase of illness, the virus is cleared from the body. However, as in all infections of the central nervous system, particularly encephalitis, temporary or permanent neurological damage is possible. Nerve deafness and arthritis have been reported.
LCM and Pregnancy
Women who become infected with LCMV during pregnancy may pass the infection on to the fetus. Infections occurring during the first trimester may result in fetal death and pregnancy termination, while in the second and third trimesters, birth defects can develop. Infants infected In utero can have many serious and permanent birth defects, including vision problems, mental retardation, and hydrocephaly (water on the brain). Pregnant women may recall a flu-like illness during pregnancy, or may not recall any illness.
The danger of infection during pregnancy are such that if you suspect that you have a rodent infestation, you should consider engaging a Spring Valley pest control expert immediately.
Many cases are probably not reported or even identified because the symptoms range from extremely mild to those resembling severe flu. A few patients develop symptoms of meningitis. In some rare cases, the LCM viral infection can spread throughout the central nervous system, and may even be fatal, although this is rarely the case.
The symptoms of LCM occur in two phases. The first stage can produce fever, chills, muscle aches, cough and vomiting. In the second phase, characteristic meningitis symptoms of headache, stiff neck, listlessness, nausea and vomiting may occur. In adults, complications are rare and recovery may even occur before the second phase.
The virus is not spread from person to person, except through pregnancy. LCMV is one of the few viruses that can cross the placenta from mother to child during pregnancy and may be an under recognized cause of congenital infection in newborns. In cases that have been recognized among infants, LCM viral infection has a high mortality rate (about one-third of the babies studied died).
No antiviral agents exist for LCM virus. Treatment consists of supporting the patient and treating the symptoms until the infection subsides, generally within a few weeks.
As always, prevention trumps cure every time. Your Spring Valley pest control contractor can tell you if you are at risk and eliminate it for you.
See Spring Valley Pest Control: LCM.
Call a Pest Control Company
If you have a heavy infestation of rodents or any of the other pests covered in this article, your best action is to call your Spring Valley pest control professionals. They have special cleanup equipment and methods.
See Health Hazards Posed by Rodents
