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Strange fruit

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Strange fruit – I’ve never seen this

This strange fruit is a grapefruit tree at a clients home, I noticed it while doing a pest treatment. I spent a lot of time in Florida and now here in Arizona and I don’t recall anything this obscure and just plain weird. I see some pretty unique things along my path daily but this one was just different.

This just struck me as odd, but little limb is doing its best to live its dream. Maybe we should all do what the little tree to doing. But you will notice there is no fallen fruit for rodents to be eating. One of the ways to discourage animals and wildlife is to keep your yard clean, no clutter and keep an eye on the property each month. No surprises!

Tubes and termites

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Tubes, tunnels, termites and damage

Tubes and tunnels – We get calls all the time on these lovely little creatures, termites can cause a lot of concern. But in Arizona they are more of a nuisance than damage causing scourge. Probably the lack of water has the greatest influence on them.

What area do we cover in Arizona – ProBest services include phoenix home pest control and commercial pest control. We are in the Phoenix and surrounding cities. Gilbert. Mesa. Chandler. Queen Creek. Apache Junction. Gold Canyon. Johnson Ranch. Buckeye. Avondale. Surprise. Sun City. Glendale. Peoria. Deer Valley. Scottsdale. Tempe. Maricopa. Casa Grande. Goodyear. El Mirage. Litchfield Park. Tolleson. Laveen. Carefree. Cave Creek. Fountain Hills. Paradise Valley. Youngtown. New River. Sun Lakes.

Rattlesnake Rattlers

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Rattlesnake Rattlers – What’s inside the box?

Rattlesnake Rattlers – I don’t advocate killing things unless you have to. Now with that being said, if you have rodents inside your home, they must die. End of story, why you ask? Because they can cause serious health risks, they urinate and cause other potential issues like asthma. I technically didn’t kill this rattlesnake, it crawled into a rodent station that had a snap trap within. I probably should have saved the skull but didn’t think that far but the rattlers were impressive. Also I somewhat relived I didn’t run into this snake when it was alive. It must have been a good size, probably a good 5 foot.

A few of my accounts just relocate the snakes, taking them for a ride to a somewhat further distance away from the house or business. I was out the National Cemetery and there was a small 1 footer which I moved to a field just down the road.

Jumping cholla cactus

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Jumping Cholla cactus

Jumping Cholla – If you live anywhere in the desert you know about these cactus. They will attack if you get close. OK they won’t attack but it seems like it. Its like they are magnetic. But a question was asked recently why don’t rodents or coyote’s ever have them attached? Or better yet why not Pack Rats? It’s called behavior modification, they learn and they learn quickly. It’s amazing cause almost every time I’m in the desert I get a few. I kneel to check a rodent station and get one in my knee or there might be bits and parts inside the bait station. Sometimes I even get them in my shoes, right through the soles and you think its a rock but surprise a needle shooting pain.

The dangers of the desert

So a word of caution, there are many things in the desert that can do you harm, rattlesnakes, Africanized Honeybees, rocks and cacti – so use extreme care. I seem to find almost all of these dangers as I’m doing my work. Stay tuned for a resent find in a rodent bait station.

I have seen Pack rat middens or dens full of this stuff, how do they do it – I have no idea. I was training a technician once and mentioned to be careful, I had no sooner turned around and he had them from toe to waist on his right leg pants. Painful and barbed, did I say ouuuuuch? But yet the animals seem to be impervious or maybe it’s just that they are smarter. You decide!

Whats eating you?

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Whose eating the fruit?

Somebody is eating the fruit. I think it’s rodents eating the grapefruit and pumpkin, when you make it easy for the animals/wildlife the next step is entry into your home. I tell everybody, it is extremely important to pick up the fruit that has fallen. No sense feeding any unwanted pest from the neighborhood. Unless of course that is your idea. I know birds will also eat the fruit but uninvited pests are sure to show up.

Oranges, lemons, limes and left over pumpkins are open season for any animal or wildlife. Rodents are prolific breeders and require a lot of food to raise their young. Essential to the control of rodents, eliminate harborage or shelter, reduce water and eliminate food sources. If you can control these factors the rodent population should be controlled.

Tubes, tubes more tubes

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Tubes, yes Termite activity.

Tubes – those amazing termites in Arizona can build some unique are artful looking down tubes. OK maybe not your cup of tea but isn’t artistic, that is without all the damage they do. I have seen them in a garage that was over 5 feet in length, been there for some time. These little gals work 24/7/365, looking for wood and ready to chomp through the house.

Look for these telltale clues, tunnels on the foundation slab, marks that look like dirt tubes on the wall and those that hang down from the ceiling. Don’t Panic and yes it is time to call a Pest Management Professional. Most houses will eventually get them and if you see drill mark or previous treatment signs it usually doesn’t means that it’s a bad thing. I personally think it’s a good thing, the issue was found and handled. I would worry more about the house that was never treated and continued to be eaten away by termites.

By the way, in my opinion not a DIY (Do It Yourself) job. You need a true Professional, remember it’s not always about the equipment it’s about the KNOWLEDGE. You need an expert who has the knowledge, equipment and expertise to do a Professional job.

I suggest a monthly check of your home especially if you live in the southern U.S. Never hurts to check for termites, honeybees or anything that might later cause problems or issues.

Danger – rat bait

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Danger – rat bait off site

Danger – rat bait off site – to any child, and/or pet, off site transfer of rodent bait. I’m not sure if this is a consumer or what is going on, as most bait must now be contained and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen soft bait in those containers. But what happens when a child or pet gets into this bait? I was never a big fan of those throw packets, because people would throw them almost anywhere. I’ve seen packets being moved by rodents to an outside vent, dropping into yards where anyone could get at it. Also we need to be aware of what pests it is, is it a Pocket Gopher, Pack Rat or ????

I see tin cats used to capture mice – not rats because they are not big enough, I also see mice stations used for rats. So the first step must be identification and then what works the best to eradicate or better yet prevention. The IPM plan of attack – where are the rodents coming from and why are they in your yard. As always consider SAFETY first, this is a dangerous step to take to get rid of mice.

Always Read and Follow all label and Use Directions – This is the Law. Failure could put people and pet lives in jeopardy. As always we are concerned about the possible movement of bait from a container, this could pose extreme concerns for wildlife, communities etc.

Search Results

Poop – What is it?

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Poop?????

Is it Poop? Not the best and most visible pictures, I need a new camera. Any ideas? I have been called a few times by people believing this to be from termites, not. I find this at the bottom of stucco and pretty readily found in Arizona.

Ok so we know its not termites, well here it is drum roll please – cricket poo. Somehow the crickets get into the wall and their feces falls down the wall voids. This is also a big sign that you need pest control because the next problem will be scorpions. I’m only guessing here but I’ll bet that scorpions love to eat crickets.

PANIC

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Panic and bugs

Panic may be involved with bugs. There are a lot of bugs out there folks and we as humans have aversions to many of them. I met a lady awhile back that absolutely was terrified of crickets, mine is spiders. They just look creepy and with all those eyes staring right back at you, you see my point. The one we really should be scared to death is the mosquito, this little bug has killed more more humans than anything else.

What is your phobia?

Is it snakes, spiders or cockroaches? There can be other forms which may include the mere thought of the bug or animals. I’m sure I mentioned this before but just in case I haven’t – this guy had roaches in the toilet and I couldn’t spray so I just reached in and grabbed them – he went running. He was just freaked out but for me I was fine with that, but if that had been spiders – hell no! So don’t underestimate the fear, that is why Dr. Bug is here.

Mice in Phoenix, AZ

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Mice in Phoenix, AZ?

Mice in general do their best to make it into our homes and businesses in Phoenix. What can be done to keep them out? I often read stories from the news sources on what people do to get pests out of their home. From the guy who torches his mattress, to the person using 25 aerosol bombs for bed bugs. And yet some people think having them in the house is cute. Remember these critters carry diseases and pathogens on their bodies. ProBest Pest Management often gets the call after the person has pretty much in their opinion done it all and can’t catch that one single mouse.

They know more than you think?

The bad problem is that that mouse already is wiser to our tricks and since they are now smarter it often takes more time. Mice will generally range for about 30 feet while rats may travel over 100 feet and remember they urinate and spread feces as they run. Often times people don’t put out enough traps, or they think it’s only one and it turns out there are more. If you see one estimate a few and take charge or better yet call a Professional. So don’t think that we can get them out in 24 hours, we will bring our A game but we will get it done. Mice are curious and that is in our favor, we might need traps, glue boards or mechanical traps but we will succeed. So my advice, don’t wait call a Professional right away – we have the tools. 602-249-7378

A few facts:

Mice rely on whiskers to touch and their noses to smell.
Their eyesight is weak.
They prefer to stay near the wall using their whiskers to feel there way.
They are curious while rats are shy.
Mice may visit multiple sites feeding on many food areas nightly.