Flies in the fall and winter inside

What is with these flies that are lumbering around the office or house during the fall and winter months? Most likely they are cluster flies. These flies overwinter in the nooks and crannies of the walls of an office building or house and become a nuisance during a warm day or throughout certain times of the colder months. The best and most time consuming and expensive way to eliminate them is to build them out. Caulk and seal ever hole that can be found. This becomes a problems when you have a multi story office complex or a suite of offices with open ceiling space above the drop ceilings. Power spraying during certain times of the year outside will help knock the numbers down...on the inside you can use traps and there is a product called the cluster buster that is a window sill trap that uses a powder to act as quick sand and trap the fly. Using a vacuum with a hose attachment will suck them down. The fact is...you can try your best to knock the numbers down...but there may always be that one fly who you will be swatting at every once in a while.

Baiting a mouse snap trap.

We had an interesting turn of events in an account that was having a mouse problem. It was in an apartment setting in the kitchens and it was clear that the mice were nesting in the insulation of the small stoves that were set up in the kitchens because there were pieces of the soft insulation on the floor under the stoves. Our tech took this material and hooked it onto the trigger of the snap traps, where there was no visible insulation, he used small pieces of cotton. In two days he returned to find that there was a decent catch rate, for ever five traps he set under and behind the stove, he caught two to three mice in the heaviest of the infested units. Sometimes it is worth using what the mice are targeting for food or nesting material in your quest to catch them with snap traps.

The perfect mouse trap.

What makes a perfect mouse trap? What product would fall into this category? Snap traps, glue boards, electric mouse traps, live traps? The fact is, there is no perfect mouse trap, because if there was, a big chunk of the pest control industries business would be gone. An integrated, multi-faceted approach is your best bet when dealing with these critters. Be a detective. Are the mice darting under the sofa and suddenly disappearing? Maybe the mice are living in your furniture. Lots of warmth and nesting material there. If this is the case, throw everything you can at them. Snaps, glue traps, bait. This approach works for any area you are seeing live mice or droppings. Never put out just a few snap traps. Be generous, this is the theme through out my blog. The more mice traps the better. This has worked for me and will work for you. One thing to always consider is the safety of your family and pets. If you have a curious cat, you may want to put the snaps and glue traps in out of the way areas. Use Bait with caution or use bait that can be treated with vitamin K by your vet. The fact is mice can be controlled and eliminated, you just need to think like the mice and place out plenty of tools to do the job.

Indian Meal Moths and other Mealy Worms

Here is a question I get. How do you keep mealy worms out of my dry good? Here's the spooky part. They are already there when you buy the product. So if you start to notice moths in the kitchen or dark beetles of worms in your dry goods, you will need to throw the food away unfortunately. It would be a good idea to go through the rest of your dry gods to make sure they were infested via the original infestation, and if anything is found, toss it. If you have active moths, the best thing to do is vacuum them down if possible. Dry goods include; dry milk, baking powder, flour, cereal, oats, rice, pasta, pet foods, bird seeds, spices, and the like. Happy hunting. There are stored product pest monitors and lures, but these are used mostly in commercial establishments.

Scabies and Lice Information

Although Scabies and Lice are not really a pest control issue, alot of times a pest control person will get questions or be sought out for advice. The issue is most times resolved very easily through your family doctor who will prescribe a cream or shampoo to apply. There are, however, some things that must be done on the side of the individual to protect him or her self and their family members. The bed where the infected person sleeps should be vacuumed and all the bedding stripped and laundered. I would suggest tossing the pillow and buying new. Vacuum sofas and be sure to launder hats and clothing that the person wears regularly. There are sprays that you can get, but if you are diligent with your cleaning and using the products your doctor suggests you should be fine.

Bait for Mice

The cool weather of fall and winter will be bringing mice inside to infest homes across the country. Some tips to discuss before baiting is exclusion. Most pest control experts preach this and it is most important in keeping the mice out. Exclusion in easy, for the most part, needing only a good pair of eyes and some steel wool or copper mesh and caulk. Start at one point of your home and look from the bottom up along the outside wall perimeter. Any holes or gaps visible? Stuff and seal. Wires or pipes entering the home, caulk around them, gaps under the doors or garage doors? You may have to install a weather strip.

So we are all sealed up, but a mouse scooted by as you were bringing groceries into your house and now the infestation has begun. Using caution if there are children or pets, I would use snap traps for this segment since we are discussing bait. My philosophy is mix it up alittle. The old stand by peanut butter is great, but mice love candy, chocolate, bread, meat, bacon. Use all of the above and use them sparingly. Just a smear of peanut butter, or a smear of chocolate. This will make them work at getting that first taste which will be their last.
Another idea is to use nesting material, tie a small piece of cotton of the trigger, let them grab at it and snap! Another important thing to do is not be stingy when placing traps out. Use a bunch to increase your chances of a catch. Good luck.

Wasp alert

Late summer and early fall are times when bees and wasps seem to be more active, often times crashing picnics and outside parties. Using common sense like keeping sweets and sugars covered and keeping soda cans covered will help to keep these buggers away, but they have a keen sense and a sweet tooth. Using caution around wasps and bees during this time of year is important also as it seems they are more aggressive this time a year. If you are brave enough to try to go on the offensive I would say use a wasp spray that shoots at least up to twenty feet away, but with bees and wasps, I recommend hiring a professional.It's not worth the potential sting.