Two different farmers in Missouri have been diagnosed with Heartland virus with symptoms that include fever, fatigue and nausea. Back in 2013 we reported on CDC reported cases and we just want people to take precautions before hiking or going off into the woods. Lyme Disease in Arizona, Yes was another article we did on protecting yourself against ticks and fleas. Take care hiking!
Just like us pests and rodents need 3 things: #1 Food #2 Water and #3 Shelter.
Whether its warm or cold. opportunity is opportunity and pests will take every chance to push the edge. This could be your home and you need to be aware of the places where pest can set up a home for themselves.
Call ProBest Pest Management for help in dealing with pests.
I love this story “Cats recruited to solve rodent problem at LAPD farm“, it really focuses on using all those tools available before we use pesticides. To refresh your memory “Whats all the fuss about pest control and IPM” – one of my favorite sites is “What is IPM”
So what is IPM?
IPM is an abbreviation for Integrated Pest Management.
Integrated Pest Management is a process involving common sense and sound solutions for treating and controlling pests. These solutions incorporate three basic steps: 1) inspection, 2) identification and 3) treatment. Treatment options vary from sealing cracks and removing food and water sources to pesticide treatments when necessary.
Customer cat by Candi
Local cat Muffin by Bonny
I try not to do this service and for good reason, it hardly ever ends well for anyone. Somebody always takes extreme exception to my performance of the issue. So here is the recommended service protocol – trap the animal, take it to a shelter have it spayed and/or neutered and then return it to the original location.This procedure cost lots of money in labor and the service for the shelter isn’t free, see the services listed below.
http://www.azhumane.org/our-services-arizona-humane-society/stray-animal-resources/
Thev reason to spay/neuter and release the animals back to the original location, prevents another cat family talking over the area. Here is an original story on feral cats by ProBest from 2009.
My hats off to PetSmart Charities for there continued work with pets and for this infographic, click the link to give them a hand in this work. The problem isn’t the cats and dogs, its us as a society – don’t abandon pets and have yours spay/neutered, or maybe even a donation to PetSmart.
Nothing is probably worse than seeing a mouse inside your house, everything goes through your mind. How do I capture it, what do I do with it, can I do it myself and its goes on and on? The best thing to do, is to never have one get into your home. So what can you do:
If they are already in the home, glue boards do work but be careful if you have pets or children. Never, never use baits inside a home. Never, never use baits inside a home, yes I said that twice.
I run across some really stinky little issues from time to time, like a rodents who died within a home. So its one of those things that isn’t easy to fix, so I often recommend the odor bags. I have used these bags many times and have never been disappointed in their use.
Easy to use to remove dead rodent odors, urine and feces odors, skunk odors, musty mildew odors, and cigarette smoke odor. Doesn’t have to come into contact with dead rodent or odor causing agent and works even if carcass is not removed. Bags are easy to use and last an average of 3-4 months in use and contain no chemicals, toxins or fragrances. Simply place the bag near the odor and in 24 hours the odor will be gone. Earth Care does not mask odors it removes them. Its contents are bio-degradable, non-flammable, non-toxic, safe around children, pets & mother earth.
A friend on mine recently had an issue with bats, so I recommended he try hanging some bags near the spot where the bats had been nesting, here’s what he said:
I did exactly what Keith said and I was pleasantly surprised as to the results, odor gone. I’m sold on these bags. W. Davis – Florida
Rodents will gnaw on anything to keep their teeth from growing to large and this could cause you some BIG problems. Rodents cause approximately 20 percent of undetermined fires in the United States each year according to fire experts. Pack rats will collect all kinds of stuff, so if you’re missing anything – check for rodents in the neighborhood.
What can you do to keep them out?
Dust-mites are leading cause of asthma in children.
House dust mites are microscope bugs that primarily live on dead skin cells regularly shed from humans and their animal pets. Dust mites, relatives of the spider, are too small to see without a microscope. Dust mites are generally harmless to most people. They don’t carry diseases, but they can cause allergic reactions in asthmatics and others who are allergic to their feces. People sometimes confuse dust-mites with bed bugs. 500 million people are affected by these little critters worldwide and may be a factor of 50 – 80% of asthmatics.
Skin cells and scales, commonly called dander, are often concentrated in lounging areas, mattresses, frequently used furniture and associated carpeted areas, often harbor large numbers of these microscopic mites. Since the average human sheds or loses about 1/3 ounce (10 grams) of dead skin a week. That gives dust mites a lot to eat. Cats and dogs create far more dander for dust mites to eat.
Beds are a prime harborage (where 1/3 of life occurs). A typical used mattress may have anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. A favorite food is dander both human and animal skin flakes. Humans shed about 1/5 ounce of dander or dead skin each week. About 80 percent of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually skin flakes. Also, bedroom carpeting and household upholstery support high mite populations.
What can you do?
ProBest Pest Management does carpet cleaning and Bed Bug work, so if you have any questions please feel free to contact us or check out our website.
National Instiute Allergy and Infectious Disease – Tickborne Diseases, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease and Plague
What’s sleeping in your bed?
The more I watch TV the more it scares me, I hate those commercials that say “How old is your bed, if your bed is over 8 years it has 10 pounds of stuff in it”, just what I don’t want to hear. It’s bad enough thinking about dust mites or worse yet Bed Bugs but you spend a great deal of time in that bed.
When the Great Bed Bug scare came I decided we needed to invest in some mattress and box spring en-casements and let me tell you I can now sleep without the thought of those critters jumping around more than counting sheep. There are a few side benefits about these en-casements, here they are:
So think about an en-casement as a way to protect and maybe extend the life of that mattress and box spring.
