rats Archives - Page 9 of 15 - Arizona Pest Control - Pest Management Services

All posts in “rats”

Why do they allow import of old used tires?

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How often do you think a new bug makes it to our shores? Have you ever thought how did that bug make it into the USA? Sometimes we make it easy for the bug to travel, like when you move from one state on the east coast to the west and you bring boxes which were in storage. We brought Mongoose to Hawaii for the rats and that didn’t work, nobody thought about the rat being nocturnal and the Mongoose is out during the day. Asian Tiger Mosquitoes (carries viruses like Dengue & West Nile) were accidentally introduced in tires brought in from China in 1985, the Black rat probably hitched a ride on early European ships, Asian Longhorned Beetle native to Asia and the Cotton Whitefly came from India.

Photo provided by PPMA

Thanks to all our Border Agents tasked with checking and rechecking all those shipments.

Do you ever think about pests?

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You know that I do on a daily basis buts hey its my job. The Sheriff’s Office in Ocala, Florida are thinking about it now. “Rats! Rodents ate evidence from homicide cases at MCSO.”

People often consider cutting pest control in a tough economy, awhile back I read that NYC was cutting back on rodent work. I don’t always understand the thought process and usually it comes back to bite them. I guess if the money isn’t there you need to cut back unless you are the government and just create more money – wish I could that, right? Good intentions, but before you do that think about the cascade of events that it could lead to.

Its baby time, are rodents looking for ways to protect themselves?

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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.

Check your home for exterior and interior holes.
Trim trees and bushes away from home.
Pick up fruit and/or encourage your neighbors to do the same. Give the fruit to St. Mary’s Food Bank.
Remember rodents will gnaw on wires and pipes, you don’t need a headache like this.

Call ProBest Pest Management for help in dealing with pests.

House rodents in the toilet a myth?

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House Rodents – Rats and Mice?

House rodents are an issue. How are they getting in? During my my almost 25 years of servicing homes, I have only on one occasion found 1 rat in a toilet. But a guy in England has invented a flapper device to help keep them out. “MultiFlap helps special needs teacher left terrified by rat in her toilet”

To be honest I’m not exactly sure how it got there, 2nd story shared bathroom. That would have been one big climb, to get to a toilet 20 feet up but I suppose anything is possible. Here is the link to that device http://www.multiflap.com – I think this one is to fit US toilets is MultiFlap 2 (MF-2) and nobody needs to be half asleep and find something in the toilet in the dark. What a way to be jolted from asleep to fully awake in a matter of seconds.

House Rodents Rats Photo provided by Univar

The biggest issue with me is that once in and you have a issue with urine and feces being left everywhere. Rats and mice continue to urinate while running and often the first signs of rodents are their feces. It’s bad enough with flies and that whole regurgitation thing, but rodents will walk over and then walk over your stuff. So whatever they just walked over is going to pass to your food. Often times it isn’t the bug/pest that is the cause but what they do may cause the trigger to a bigger issue. Rats can carry diseases on their fur/hair and transmit that to us, so side on the side of caution. Always the safe bet, keep the pests out. They have a place and that is outside.

Door sweeps and guards.

Keep window screens in place.

Fix any holes.

If you can’t fix an issue call ProBest Pest Management and we can evaluate and come up with a plan. 602-249-7378

Truly an IPM fix to a problem.

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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

Catching rats could be easier real soon, why you ask?

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“Op-Ed: Rats bigger than cows? Could be.” Evolution may be adjusting to fill areas and some species may go the way of the dinosaurs. I don’t think this will be happening right away, but think about the ramifications if rodents did become bigger. I might have to arm the technicians with rifles, no – not going to happen. I didn’t realize that the largest rodent was the size of a bull and weighed over 2000 pounds. Can you just imagine that?

What the hell is wrong with people?

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So just the other day I wrote about frivolous lawsuits and this story is another of the absolute “what the hell is wrong with people stories” maybe with people going to hell for their acts? In my business we often have to dispatch things, the methods used are not always the nicest but I also don’t get a thrill out of just killing things. If given the chance I would rather move the critter to another location, we move snakes and critters, its not always their fault that they thought your home was a nice tree.

This FaceBook thing also has gotten out of hand, people are posting things that I really don’t want to see. My postings are relative to what I do and I don’t want to see some girl standing at a river throwing puppies in, I think God will get her back for that (Karma) sending her to Hell. “Chicago man tortured, killed rodents, posted the videos to Youtube.”

So again I ask, lets think before we post – the key word here is THINK please. I do realize that I may be somewhat hypothetical, I do kill things but I’m also not showing pictures of my work. I did an article awhile back on hunting and trapping – “Wildlife trapping” and I truly believe hunting and trapping is better for the animals then dieing a slow death from hunger or over population. But torture for torture sake of any living thing is wrong, again my opinion.

Photo by Univar

Marijuana & rodents eating evidence

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Marijuana, what a story?

This story comes to you from India, where the police had a little issue with some stealing. The rats or so they say, absconded with the seized drugs. “Rodents ’empty’ cannibis stored in Bargi Police Station“, I guess not even the Judge was amused as he let the alleged suspects go free. You go to all that trouble to track down the smugglers and the rats eat the evidence.

marijuana

The picture above is from rats bringing cactus into a bait station, I didn’t have any pictures of marijuana – sorry. Rats and mice are able to enter buildings by any hole between a dime and quarter size, they will also eat almost anything. So as I always say, home seal and prevention = IPM Integrated Pest Management. Prevent them from getting in and no worries.

What can you do to prevent rodents?

Check your yard and home monthly for bugs and rodents. Keep food out of their reach, pick up fruit that has fallen to the ground. Keep your yard clean, trim bushes from next to your home. Don’t keep stuff in your yard, rats will next in anything that might be stored. If you store firewood keep it high, dry and away from the house. Keep water from collecting in the yard or any containers, they need water just like we do. If you have a shed, keep things rat-proof stored and on shelves and of course check things often.

If you see rat bait stations in your neighborhood, check things out. If there is one rat there are probably more. If your going to clean sheds wear a mask and follow the recommendations from the CDC. Don’t just sweep up dust without checking for droppings. If you notice something strange, investigate it or call in a Pest Management Professional such as ProBest Pest Management 602-249-7378.

America’s Rodent Problem

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Infographic by PPMA

The Puzzle of Pest Management.

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I love those shows on TV about crime, I always try to solve it before the end. Probably why I enjoy Pest Management – “the attention is in the detail”, right?

How did those termites gain access into the ceiling?

There is a mouse in the house and how did it get in?

There are moths flying in the pantry, did we bring them home?

Did we pick up our fruit or did we encourage rodents into our yard?

So become a detective and stop those pests from getting into your home, home-sealing is a must plus it will help save money on heating/cooling. Put the puzzle together and solve the buggy issues.

Photo by PPMA