Posts Tagged ‘pest management’

What Are The Things That Rats Eat?

Scientifically, rats, being creatures that belong to the family Muridae, are classified as rodents that belong to the Rattus species. Rats are also acknowledged to be the most dominant rodent species in the animal world. It is widely considered that the 2 most well known rat species, the brown rats and the roof (or black) rats, trace their origins In Asia. These two species of rats have now proliferated in virtually all parts of the world.

Black Rats

Roof rats (known as Rattus Rattus) are also called black rats and ship rats. These rats are commonly black in color, slender, 16-21 cm long and weigh about 80-300 grams. Their tail is longer than the head & body and their nose and muzzle are pointed. They are called roof rats because they are climbers. Their paws are built to climb and build nestles in higher parts of dwellings, attics, rafters and crossbeams of buildings.

Barn Rat

The Norway rat is sometimes known as the house rat, brown rat, gray rat, barn rat or wharf rat. It is the larger of the 2 mentioned here, and one of the best-known species. Rattus norvegicus is their scientific name. Their other name refers to their grayish-brown body, with a lighter colored stomach. A brown rat in full size is 18 to 26 cm long and weighs between 400 & 600 gm. They have a tail shorter than its body and their nose and muzzle are blunt. They prefer moist conditions and nest in deep burrows.

At around three to four months of age, these rats start to breed. They breed up to 13 times a year and produce 1 to 22 in a litter. Brown rats & black rats eat about the same things. Their diet mainly consists of nuts, grains, vegetables, fruits, cereals, meats, seeds and invertebrates. They eat about a third of their weight in food every 24 hours.

Rats are known to carry illnesses and viruses that they could transmit to humans, and rats are also recognized to create damage to property. Some of the illnesses potentially deadly to humans that spread through rats are toxoplasmosis, Weil’s disease, plague & salmonella food poisoning.

You probably think that it is not a priority for you to administer pest control measures for your home right now. Although you may not be considering it now, someday in the future you may be selling your house. Real estate brokers and possible buyers alike would generally avoid a pest-infested house, knowing full well that it is bad investment. For instance, termite colonies discovered along the foundation of your home are huge hindrances for potential buyers. Moreover, banks generally refuse loan applications with residences used as collaterals if they discover that the house is overriden with pests; like prospective buyers, lending institutions perceive pest-infested houses as terrible investments. You could consider the money you pay for a professional pest control company to assess the cost and accomplish pest eradication in your home as an investment for the future value of your house.

Find out the most effective methods of eradicating ants and other pests from your homes or offices.

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A Close Inspection Of The 3 Ordinary Types Of Cockroaches That Lurk In Your Abode

If living outdoors, cockroaches thrive and are actually harmless. They are found all over the planet, except for hostile environments. Currently, over 4000 kinds of cockroaches have already been identified; 3 of these prefer to live in places where humans also live; just picture the mayhem that these pests cause in human lives.

Identifying these cockroaches is pretty easy and can aid in extermination methods. It could be the first step in irradication & control. The following are the three main types of cockroaches.

American Cockroach

The American cockroach has a reddish brown color and single stripe on the head. It can grow up to 25mm in length. These creatures get easily attracted to liquor & can often be found in bars or at home in case you had a party and didn’t clean up rapidly. They can live for around one & half years, and have an incubation period of 6 to 8 weeks.

German Cockroach

The German cockroach has 2 lighter stripes on the back of its head, and boast of a tan or brownish color. They can grow up to lengths of 15mm. It is probably breeds the fastest in comparison to its cousins, giving birth to around 30 to 40 nymphs with an incubation period of 30 days. That is relatively fast, seeing one of them can multiply to 30,000 in just a year. These can live for around 6 months.

Oriental Cockroach

Among these 3, the Oriental cockroach is probably the biggest. It grows around 25mm in length. These insects move more slowly than the other cockroaches & are a dark brown to black with a shiny body. They are often known as the water bug considering that these creatures love dark, moist areas. These roaches are potentially seen in damp mulch or cellars. Incubation can last two months with about 15 eggs hatching &; they can each live for up to two years.

Discover the most effective methods of eradicating bed bugs and other pests from your homes or offices.

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What Are Ways For Me To Prevent Bed Bug Attacks?

You awaken at the sound of the alarm clock and see that your body is full of unexplained itchy weals and rashes. This is gloomy news. In your most unaware moment, an enemy decided to pounce. The rashes and welts are proof that a bed bug had crawled up on you for a snack. If you awaken with weals all over your torso, it could signify that you now share living quarters with a bed bug (or an army of bed bugs) that hides in the dark crevices of your room and waits until you are deep in slumber to come out and dine on your blood.

For effective elimination of these pests, you need to first find out their precise location. This makes it easy to devise an elimination plan and prevent them from re-invading your household. It is up to you to decide whether you want to do this on your own or if you need an expert’s help.

To kick start your bed bug extermination exercise, you have to vacuum clean and even steam clean your room extensively, particularly your beddings and other foamed furniture. It is also important to give a high temperature cleaning treatment to your bed linen and pillow covers in a good washing machine, which in turn will ensure that all the bugs that are left get killed due to the heat. It is also a good idea to wipe off the floors properly with a disinfectant, so as to eliminate the bed bug eggs that may be lying all over the place.

You must take extra precaution and make sure that once the cleaning process is over, you dump the accumulated waste in properly sealed bags and into a distant garbage bin to prevent the creatures from entering your home again. Having got rid of all the bed bugs, you have to block all entry points for them, particularly around water pipes and sewers.

You must also ensure that you are making use of natural and safe enough methods of pest control as the strong chemicals used in many bug repellents can contaminate your articles of daily use and cause possible harm to you and other residents in your home. Being unvarying in our habits of cleanliness and tidiness can really play a huge part in stopping bed bug infestations.

Find out the most effective methods of eradicating ants and other pests from your homes or offices.

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Classes Of Ants And Their Descriptions

Ants are highly adaptable insects able to thrive even in the harshest of habitats on the planet. Ants live in a highly structured colony, and their number can reach up to more than a million, the citizens of which are the worker ants, the soldiers, and the solitary queen. In the wild, ants are appreciated as indicators of changes in the environment. When they infest human homes, however, ants are considered as pests.

Ants are one of the most common creatures in the world & are of different types. In spite of their small size they could pose a threat to humans as well as animals.

Ant behavior may be different according to their class. The size of ants range from two to 25 millimeters & their color may vary from red to brown or black.

Driver ants and army ants are highly evolved ants. Driver ants can be seen in Africa and army ants are found in South America. Unlike other species, they do not have permanent nests. These colonies reproduce via two ways – nuptial flights or fission.

Ants that create their nests in trees by putting leaves together are known as weaver ants. These creatures first pull the leaves together with a bridge of workers and then they sew the leaves by pressing silk producing larvae on the leaves.

Ants with generally have enlarged abdomens are honeypot ants. They usually live in hot, dry places such as Australia, Africa, North America and they can be found in deserts as well. Some places considered these ants as a great delicacy.

Leaf cutter ants live only within their colony and feed only on fungus. They come in various sized classes to perform several functions that are to be executed in the colony.

Ants that have a sac of poison are known as the fire ant. Their “poison” is known as piperidine alkaloids.

The Australian bulldog ants are those with only 1 chromosome and these are amongst the biggest & most primitive varieties of ants.

Find out the most effective methods of eradicating rats and other pests from your homes or offices.

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Rat Trouble? Here Are Some Points To Eradicate Them

Rats are extremely troublesome and are the most hated pests that affect a lot of homes. They cause so much irritation that most house owners wish to exterminate them as soon as possible. Here are a few suggestions, which can be very effective in handling this widespread problem.

Rat elimination needs you to place baited traps at appropriate locations all around the house, especially at places which are most often used by rats, like exits and entry points. It is essential to realize that rats have an adjustable spine and can fit into quite small spaces. Therefore you should ensure that there are traps placed at the small crevices and holes present around the house.

Rat poison is another very effective rat elimination technique, which is commonly used in homes nowadays, but it is not advisable if you have kids or pets at your house. One of the newest tools used in rat extermination are sonic repellents, which are quite popular with pest control companies. However, caution should be taken to plan for removing the dead rats before you go ahead and use any of these techniques.

Keep in mind that rat elimination implies more than just killing and removing the rats that are present as a fast remedy. It is also essential to make sure that rats do not enter your house again, for which you should make your residence virtually impregnable for any further invasions from these pests. Though rat proofing can be rather difficult, it is a successful and permanent solution to the problem of rat attacks. To avoid rats, you should make sure that all entrances to the home and all exits from it are obstructed when you are not using them, and the garden is continuously looked after and maintained to stop rats from inhabiting it.

In residential places, poor sanitation and waste management help rats to live. Good sanitation will effectively limit the number of rats that can live in and around the place. This involves good housework, correct warehousing and managing of food materials, and reject and elimination of rodent shelter. If you have a dog pen, keep it properly. Get rid of clutter around your home. Good sanitation will not eliminate most of the rats but will make the rat unable to flourish.

Hiring the services of a competent pest control agency can be quite helpful for appropriate implementation of the elimination plan and their suggestions will provide you a long-term solution so that you are saved from having to face this serious problem again.

Learn more about the most effective methods of eradicating termites and other pests from your homes or offices.

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