Natural Pest Control Blog

Question:
What are carpet beetles my friend was helping me do some cooking and  opened up a container of curry powder and there were tiny insects inside. The date was good on the packaging, she said they can attack any dried foods, also clothing and dried flowers. Is this true and where do they come from?
 
Answer:
They are probably not carpet beetles but the larvae of the good old Indian Meal Moth.
They are certainly found in all sorts of dry goods especially pastas, pet food, bird seed and so on. The larvae are the things which cause the damage. The adults are moths which tend to fly around the home. They have usually laid their eggs (up to 300) by the time you see the adults. The trick here is to kill the eggs before they develop; so, if possible keep your dry goods in sealed containers in the fridge or at least the coolest place possible.
Now, Carpet beetles are another story; there are many varieties with names like carpet beetle, larder beetle, leather beetle etc., They can cause a lot of damage not only to rugs and carpets but pretty much any natural material. They often feed on dead rodents. I come across them in attics, most often when something has died there.
Identification is the key. Send or bring a sample to our office

If you have or suspect you have any of these bugs don’t ignore them.

My neighbor had a skunk trapped in her basement window well, it managed to get out but I have very deep basement window wells. How could it escape from there?

Answer:

Skunks can be very inquisitive and often end up in strange places. Don’t be overly concerned about being sprayed. Spraying is a last resort for them when they are being threatened.

 I usually find a long piece of wood (plank) that I carefully put into the window well and then get out fo the way. The skunk will usually climb up the plank and go home. If it doesn’t you will need to call a pest control operator.

Don’t leave it there. it will die a horrible death and leave an awful smell.

I have a question:

I have moths inside my house, I have some very expensive sweaters and I am worried that they will get damaged.

Answer:

Don’t panic yet. They may not be the moths that eat clothing such as Webbing Clothing Moth, Casemaking Clothes Moth, Tapestry or Carpet Moth.

Whichever one you’ve got needs to be controlled. If you have several of them (adults) flying around you may need to get professional help to ensure the caterpillars are eliminated and the life cycle is broken.

If the moths are Indian meal moths the life cycle still needs to be broken. Remember, once you see the adults the eggs have already been laid. Indian meal moths need similar treatment but cna often be contained by keeping dry goods in sealed containers especially dried pet food. Look for worms and eggs and clean them up use your vacuum to suck up eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. Dispose  of the vacuum bag outside.

I have a question:

We are having a mouse problem we have already caught six how many more are there in my house?

Answer:

There very well could be. Rodents reproduce very rapidly and usually. They can have litters from 1-24 although 9-10 is more usual.

Those numbers make my skin go cold. You either live with mice and their nasty side effects or you eliminate them.

There’s no compromise. An external bait system makes sure they stay outside. When they get in they can do all sorts of damage and their feces and urine can cause many illnesses and horrible smells. If you have already caught 6 there are probably alot more.

Set lots of snap traps 1-20 should be enough to knock the population down.

Be vigilant keep the traps in place alonside walls for as long as possible. Get an external baiting programme. PLEASE DO NOT USE GLUE BOARDS they are so cruel.

I have a question:
I had an invasion of lady bugs last year and I do not want to get them

again in the house, I know that they do the plants alot of good, but when

you get several hundred of them I find this too muchg to cope with. Can I

do something now to avoid a reoccurrence?
Answer:
It’s a little late in the year to stop them coming in. Once the days

lengthen in the new year they will start o migrate into the warmer rooms

of your home. They are currently over-wintering in the attic and siding.
Control is your best option; seal up any cracks and crevices that may

allow them access. You can also save heating costs by doing just that. If

you can’t do the work yourself or if you just need advice email us.

I have a question:

What is going on with all these flying squirrels that I am hearing about, my neighbor had one in her attic and I have one in my basement?

Answer:

I believe it’s the mild weather of recent winters that’s allowing a population explosion. A normal, very cold winter often causes food shortages and kills the offspring by starvation and same species predation. Yes, thats right! These oh so cute creatures will eat anything, they will especially kill and eat each other to survive.

So, if there’s plenty of food around outside they do not need to eat their young and we then end up with a serious over-population proble.

They are the most difficult of all pests to get rid of. They are nocturnal and gain access to homes through multiple smal holes. They can chew cables and cause fires, they defecate and cause stains and smells and health hazards. They really are a nuisance. They can glide 150 feet or more. So cutting trees down makes little difference. They really have to be trapped and eliminated. There are often groups of 6-8 living together.

Get an inspection to make  sure it’s not mice causing the problem. Don’t ignore them. Most people have never seen one, believe me they are all around us.

I have a question:

We are having a mouse problem we have already caught six how many more are in my house?

Answer:

There very well could be. Rodents reproduce very rapidly and usually. They can have litters from 1-24 although 9-10 is more usual.

Those numbers make my skin go cold. You either live with mice and their nasty side effectas or you eliminate them.

There’s no compromise. An external bait system makes sure they stay outside. When they get in they can do all sorts of damage and their feces and urine can cause many illnesses and horrible smells. If you have already caught 6 there are probably a lot more.

Sets lots of snap traps 10-20 should be enough to knock the population down.

Be vigilant keep the traps in place alongside walls for as long as possible. Get an external baiting programme. Please do not use glue boards they are so cruel. A mouse will try to pull him self off and can take the skin off his feet or nose. Humane traps where you take the little mouse to the woods will be killed by other mice as they are territorial.

I have a question:
We have small tubes running down the basement wall what is it?
Answer:
They could possibly be termite tubes, if you have them get them check out. They look like light brown tubes made from sandy material. The termites use them to travel around looking for wood to eat.
This is actually a good sign it at least tells you that you have them. Sometimes termites can go undetected for many years causing lots of damage. Prevention is much better than the repai options. We even have devices that can detect them before they get into your house.
I think it’s always safest to have your home pretreated to ensure that you never get termites. Borates are the safest, most effective long lasting treatment you can have withou poisoning our environment