All posts in “trash”

Trash

Trash

 

Trash isn’t always an issue, but it can create some favorite problems and headaches in the way of pests. Its not just rodents, but critters, birds and insect pests as well. This alleyway situation might not be concern, but it will add up influence the neighborhood. If I was an owner of a home, I would try to rally the neighborhood troop to a clean-up day monthly. This benefits the entire community, oh and it might make you the hero.

What do you look for as you clean?

  1. Obviously, the trash, is it being eaten by an animal?
  2. Do the lids close properly?
  3. Are they relatively clean, inside and out?
  4. Do the can have holes?
  5. Do transients make their home in alley?
  6. Take care on needles and other hazards, report issues to Police.

What do you do if you spot activity of the rodent kind?

 

Alleyways

Alleyways

Alleyways

Alleyways, side streets all pose a risk of trash buildup, which allows all kinds of scavengers a chance to feed. Birds, opossums, raccoons, rodents and feral animals will somehow always find a way to get the food. Pests including cockroaches, flies, earwigs and ants will find the food and carry it away. All in all its better to keep the areas clean, but we know our neighbors, right? We also know that all of these pest pose a significant threat to the Public Health, they carry disease and other pathogens. These  pathogens can cause stomach issues and affect us in many ways. Don’t get me started on flies, yuuuuuck. One minute in the garbage the next on your steak – throwing up and licking it up. Did I mention yuuuuuuuck. Even in the winter here, those bins can be nasty.

So what can we do?

  • Keep those areas clean, clean them frequently. Even if your not in an alleyway, keep it clean.
  • Keep the garbage lids down.
  • Recycle what you can, food can go into earth type recyclable bins and later into gardens.
  • I suggest bagging it, they have recyclable bags as well.
  • There are products like fly bags (they smell but if in alleyway its better) there are baits and things you can use near the trash sites.
  • Remember that fly can be in your house super fast, while it might take a few hours for the roach to make it there.
IPM less pesticides

IPM less pesticides

IPM less pesticides

 

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC),  (IPM) integrated pest management is best defined as “a long-term, effective, and holistic approach to managing pests of all kinds by carefully combining various interventions (e.g., education, code enforcement, rodent proofing, poisoning) in ways that minimize environmental hazards and deficiencies that affect people’s health.”

IPM less pesticides = the new way to manage pests, all the tools to get rid and prevent pests. If you do a home seal, this reduces the risks of pest and reduces pesticide usage. So lets say you have scorpions and you’re thinking what can I do as the homeowner?

1. Home seal.

2. Consistent pest control, not random whenever you think about it.

3. Caulking holes and ????

4. Clean up back yard, no fruit and trash.

5. Black lighting for scorpions.

All these things mitigate the use of pesticide, therefore this = less pesticide usage.

Clutter

Clutter in and around your home

Clutter in and around your home is an open ended invitation to come hang out if your a pests. Don’t allow cluttered areas because they are ideal in hiding pests including, scorpions, rodents and cockroaches. The ideal yard is free from trash, trees and bushes are away from structure and block walls and water is only on plants and not excessive. Wood is OK as long as it is on some type of raised platform and I would prefer it to not be against a block wall. The wood needs to breath and not hold moisture.

If your not using the wood its better to throw it out. Throw away trash, my theory is if you haven’t touched it in a year throw is out. Watch for cockroaches under garbage cans and don’t allow water to accumulate in containers which might promote mosquitoes. Mow the grass and keep the weeds down – We do weed treatments. 480-831-9328.

Clutter

Hoarding, garbage, stuff & junk with pest control

Are you hoarding?

As we live in our homes we tend to collect stuff.  Hoarding this stuff often winds up taking up way more space then it should. I recently tried getting rid of office stuff and that was hard because you never now when you might need something. So I went through and said if I didn’t touch it for a year, I was throwing it out. Guess what, that’s what I did. Never easy but its got to be done – business or home, take a chance and clean the clutter. It is well worth the time and your home will be safer for all.

Just a reminder the more clutter and hoarding the more chance for pests including roaches and rodents making their home inside your home. I don’t care what anyone says just one mouse is a an issue for your safety and that of your family. So please give us a call if you see a mouse 480-831-9328 or cockroaches.

hoarding

hoarding

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What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

DrBugKVBdidyouknow1

Basic House fly facts:

  • Houseflies lived over 65 million years ago!
  • The easiest and simplest  way to keep flies out of your home is to keep things clean. Don’t leave food lying around, make sure you take out the trash every day and wipe up spilled messes right away.
  • They prefer corners and edges or thin objects to rest on. Indoors, they rest on floors, walls and ceilings during the day.
  • House flies are the most common of all flies and always found in the company of humans and are inactive at night.
  • Houseflies have no mouth but it has an eating tube through which it vomits a drop of fluid from its stomach and deposits it on its intended meal – GROSS. This fluid is then sucked up along with the nutrients it has dissolved, leaving behind untold numbers of germs.
  • Female houseflies can lay 2,500 eggs in just a month.
  • Adult houseflies can live 30 – 60 days.
  • Houseflies are a perfect host for all types of bacteria… proven carriers of such germs as gangrene, Typhoid, leprosy, tuberculosis, amoebic dysentery, bubonic plague, and listeria, just to name a few.

What is under your concrete?

probestpestmanagement20140319_075338

One of the problems with doing termite work is what is under the concrete. The picture above isn’t under concrete but in a block wall holding up a RV gate. The problem that I have run into is cups and trash that were just thrown in before the concrete was poured. Cups are a real problem because they are coated with that waxy material and takes a zillion years to decompose.

A number of years ago I had an issue with a set of steps and finally after taking it apart we noticed trash, wood and cups which prevented the termiticide from reaching the dirt in a uniform way. Love to be Superman, but I can’t see through concrete.

probestpestmanagement20140319_075342

How important is a clean house or restauarant to keeping out the pests?

 

After much research here it is – it appears this quote may have come from Rabbi Ben Yair (Hebrew Proverb) (2nd Century) and appears this way in text  –

The doctrines of religion are resolved into carefulness; carefulness into vigorousness; vigorousness  into absemiousness into cleaniness ; cleaniness into godliness. (spellcheck went crazy over these words….)

So not from the Bible or your Mother, but I’m going to say it should be right up as if it came from either. I’m not saying that if your home is perfectly clean you will never seen bugs. Ants can trail in looking for food and move right on along unless they encounter something.  Moisture is probably another much bigger factor, cockroaches can go months without food but seldom a week without water. A speck of food could be a whole meal for a roach. I think the bigger issue – harborage areas for them to hide in. The more cracks and crevices = more availability to hide and stay hidden.

The BIG picture the cleaner the home or restaurant the less chances of hidden pests.

24_German Cockroach on Sink

Photo by PPMA

 

“The doctrines of religion are resolved into carefulness; carefulness into vigorousness; vigorousness into abstemiousness into cleanliness; cleanliness into godliness.” As you can see, in the quote, ‘cleanliness’ is literally next to ‘godliness.‘ – See more at: http://donnaperuginichildrensauthor.com/2011/03/03/where-did-the-saying-cleanliness-is-next-to-godliness-come-from/#sthash.TK7ImvmE.dpuf

Clutter and the bugs…

Clutter and the bugs…

Sanitation is the key to any commercial restaurant and should be the guiding light to any homeowner. With the spread of bed Bugs nothing has the potential to cause extreme infestations like clutter. The problem is where to begin the treatment and to be successful you must get to all the spots. I don’t care if it’s heat or steam treatment if you can’t get to where the bug is living there is virtually no chance of winning the war against these little biters. This problem extends to cockroaches and rodents as well, clutter is the enemy whether in or around your home.

Inside:

  1. My theory is that if you haven’t touched the item its time to throw it out or better yet give it to a charity!
  2. Closets are not a throw and forget place.
  3. Under beds is also not a very handy place – exceptions include those little plastic cases, at least they are manageable.

Outside

  1. Never stack firewood against the home, ever!
  2. The more stuff around the home and in the yard may attract bugs, spiders and rodents.
  3. Don’t use the shed or garage as a dump site either. If you ever take anything from that area make sure it is clean before bringing it in. Bugs and rodents love to hide in that stuff.
  4. Attics – you can store boxes up there but again make sure they are empty before bringing anything inside. If you store stuff in a commercial storage facility make sure you check stuff before bringing it home.

CLUTTER IS THE ENEMY! SANITATION IS YOUR FRIEND!

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