Integrated Pest Management

What is IPM?  This question is often asked, and many times ill-defined, so it is no surprise that there is a lot of confusion about this important topic.

IPM is a process that involves using common sense and sound solutions for treating and controlling pests.  These solutions incorporate three basic steps

1. Inspection
2. Identification
3. Treatment

Treatment options vary from sealing cracks and removing food and water sources to pesticide applications when necessary.

Most importantly, IPM requires a partnership between you and your pest control professional.  By working together, you will have the peace of mind that your family and home will be protected against pest-related health and property threats.

When it comes to IPM, there are very few "standard operating protocols."  Instead, your pest professional will assess YOUR unique situation and develop a comprehensive management plan to cure your pest problem.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are another one of those critters that just send shivers through most people.  Bed bugs can be found just about anywhere people gather!

Bed bugs are usually brought into the house from the outside, on clothing, baggage, second-hand furniture, or in laundry done in an infested home. Social stigma is attached to the bed bug more than to any other insect.  This is unfair since the most conscientious homemaker may bring them in on his or her clothing after brushing up against someone while shopping or spending an afternoon at the movies.

Once in the house, the bed bug will hide all day in the most out-of-the-way place it can find.  Its hiding place may be a good distance from the bed - in wall spaces, floor cracks, behind partitions, in furniture, or it may burrow into the mattress tufts or crawl in among the crevices of the bed frame.

Wherever it hides, it has an uncanny instinct for finding its way easily to the bed when the lights are out.  They will climb up from the floor, climb walls, or drop from ceilings with ease to get at their victims.  They are attracted to your body warmth and the carbon dioxide you exhale.

Because of the increased amount of traveling we do today, compared to a few decades ago, bed bugs can be a real problem in hotels, buses, airplanes, and other areas where groups of people gather together.  Buildings that house several people or families at once can also cause infestation problems (apartment buildings, condos, senior citizen homes, etc.) since the bed bugs can travel between walls with ease.

Habits of Bed Bugs

Schedule Your Free Bedbug Inspection

If you suspect you have a bedbug problem, or you just want the piece of mind knowing your home is bedbug free, then contact us to schedule a free bedbug inspection. A trained bedbug specialist will conduct a bedbug inspection and recommend treatments and programs that will minimize your chances of infestation. Schedule Appointment

Fire Ants - Treatment with TopChoice

TopChoice is a granular insecticide that provides unsurpassed control of fire ants. Available only through lawn care or pest control professionals, TopChoice offers several important advantages:

•   Apply any time of year.
•   TopChoice works all year long - Fire ants are most active when the temperature is cool and when the ground is moist. In hot, dry weather, deeply embedded ants are not as apt to crawl over or through the insecticide granules. However, applications made to turf under these conditions will be warehoused until the ants begin to actively build mounds and forage on the surface. Irrigation or rainfall will bring ants to the surface where they will come into contact with the active ingredient.
•   Long residual effect - TopChoice kills existing colonies of fire ants and prevents new colonies from establishing for up to one year. After its initial release into the soil profile, TopChoice binds tightly to the soil creating a lasting barrier, one that's not affected by heavy rainfall. Because it acts gradually, TopChoice kills foraging workers, but not before they carry the insecticide back to the colony and spread it to the queens and other ants.
•   Unique mode of action - Fipronil (the active ingredient in TopChoice) acts on the GABA receptors of insects, switching off nerve impulses and causing severe disruption of the insect's nervous system
•   Controls secondary pests - Besides providing effective control of fire ants for one year, TopChoice also controls mole crickets for four months, nuisance ants for three months, and fleas and ticks for one month
•   High safety profile - TopChoice is selectively toxic to insects, and optimum control is achieved with extremely low dose rates. Because of its selective effects, there are no concerns about family or pets when TopChoice is applied by a professional.

Rodents

Learn How to Identify Rodents

Signs of an Infestation:

Droppings
Wet or Dried Urine
Tracks, Rub, or Smudge Marks on Dusty Surfaces
Gnaw Marks
Partially Eaten Citrus Fruit
Noises in Attics or Walls, Especially at Night

Our Five Step Rodent Control:

1. Inspection - Begins with the customer interview, followed by a visual inspection, noting all of our findings.  We Invite Customer Participation In Inspection Process
2. Identification - Identify Species; Identify Exterior "Conductive Conditions and entry points:  (e.g., grassy areas, shrubbery); Identify Interior nesting sites (e.g., evidence of shredded paper, fecal droppings) and food sources (e.g., pet food.)
3. Plan of Action - Formulate “Plan of Action” for identified species.  Consider the “CUSTOMERS NEEDS” (e.g., children and pets, urgency of situation and follow up).  Consider rat management options and how to Pro-Actively address any future re-infestation.  Plan Exclusion activities and Eradication of the existing infestation.
4. Control and Prevention - Eradicate the largest possible portion of the  rat population with a “Thorough  Initial  Service.”  Use Integrated Pest Management (I.P.M.) steps:  Sanitation, Exclusion,  Elimination
5. Communication - Discuss with the customer all inspection findings, exclusionary/trapping activities imposed and the technician’s intent to monitor the Traps until the infestation is resolved.  We return within 48 hours to check the traps and remove any trapped rodents. Traps are monitored 3X per week for the first two weeks, and then as needed.  Remember, we Do NOT clean up rodent droppings