Bolton Pest Control

Archive for April, 2011

Not long ago a neighbor of mine called in the middle of the night screaming that she had witnessed at least 6 huge rats climbing from a hole next to her pool equipment and scurrying along the fence. “Yikes”, she says “what am I to do”. The next day I walked over a few rat bait stations and some rat traps for around the pool equipment. After about 2 days I received another call, “there is a dead rat floating in my pool, what I should do?” I said scoop it out and get it in a trash bag to dispose of the body. What she had was a large amount of Norway rats burrowing underground and living the high life. Enjoying evenings of cat food and bird food, the rats were having a ball.

It has been called the Brown rat, ship rat, wharf rat, sewer rat, gray rat, barn rat, burrowing rat, water rat, common rat, house rat, migratory rat, and the wander-rat. With so many aliases’ it is not wonder homeowners and professional have such a difficult time trapping the rat.

The Norway rat originally evolved in Central Asia, but reached Europe in the 1700′s, the United States later that century and now it is found throughout the world, we are all so lucky. It used to be considered is a rodent of cooler climates, but now also infests many tropical environments as well, primarily in the seaport areas.

The Norway rat is commonly sold as a pet rat, although it would not be my pet choice and has been bred for white coloration as “lab rats” as well, leading to the occurrence of white and brown marked races. The Norway rat is primarily a ground dweller, although it can climb very well, and prefers to reside in burrows. It swims very well and often lives in sewers and other underground water systems. Rats are primarily a nocturnal animal, and will restrict its range of movement only to that which is needed to find food and water. They typically travel the same exact route out of their homes every night.

Norway Rats are omnivores and opportunistic feeders, feeding on any natural or human foods available. They are neophobic and may avoid new objects placed in their environment for some time, so it is necessary to remember that when you are placing a bait station, snap trap or glue boards in their path.

A normal life expectancy for them is one year or less, although when cared for they may live several years. The gestation period of the female is 22 days, litters average 8 to 9 pups, and she may have several litters in her one year.

They can cause large amounts of damage from gnawing as they chew on pipes of plastic or metal, wires, wood, or furnishings and walls, and commonly bite humans.

The adult Norway rats are large and robust, being up to 16 inches from nose to tip of tail. Their tail length is shorter than their body length, and it is scaly and almost without hairs, this is different than that of the roof rat which has a tail that is as long as it’s entire body. Colors range from white to brown to mottled, or blackish gray, reddish brown, and other variations. In relation to its head it has a blunt nose, small eyes, and small ears.

There are some things that can help in your attempts at rat control. Modifying its habitat by eliminating harborage sites can be very effective, along with proper building maintenance to exclude their entry. You will want to elimination any available interior and exterior food and water. The use of traps and baiting are highly effective for home pest control. The shyness these rats exhibit toward new objects can affect the response to bait boxes and traps so you should expect them not to go inside the bait stations or traps for a few days. Glue trays may not be highly effective due to the strength of this species, and its ability to pull free from the glue. Like the other domestic rodents they prefer to remain against vertical surfaces, in contact with their “guard hairs” on their body, and control measures should be placed against these pathways. So proper placement of rat bait stations or rat traps is important in you rat trapping endeavors.

There are many websites which offers a full line of professional pest control services including glue traps, mouse traps, animal traps for squirrels, moles etc. for all your Do It yourself Pest Control needs. Now you can use the same products the professional pest control technicians use at a fraction of the cost.
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We get asked quite often on application guidelines for ant bait, where to place it and also how to apply the ant bait. The information listed below will give you recommendations on locations for using and applying ant bait inside and outside of a structure. Please do not hesitate to email or call us if you have any further questions or need product recommendations.

Ant baits come in a few different forms, liquids, solid matrices and granules. Liquid is an ideal formulation for many ants that are typically co existing with honey dew producing insects. The Argentine ant for example will consume more bait in the liquid form versus the solid. Particle sizes are also important when considering an ant bait granule, as some ants may not be able to pick up larger grit sizes.

What type of ant bait that is recommended will typically depend on what type of ants and also their food preference? Another important factor is sanitation so that the bait is not competing with other food sources; remember that the bait is trying to mimic the ant’s food source.

Location of carpenter ant baits should be in the areas where the ants are being seen indoors. Inside ant bait should be placed in window sills, electrical outlets, pipes and sinks, countertops, toilets, pipes and drains, sinks and any other source of moisture. On the outside, ant baits can be placed at corners of windowsills, at corners of the foundation, around entrances and exits, around base of trees, outside tree holes, and at incoming and outgoing plumbing and electrical lines.

Best way to determine what ant bait they will select is to give them all the options, proteins, carbohydrates and oils. Some of the ant baits have all options in the formulation (advance Dual Choice ant bait stations). Make sure the ants are feeding on the ant bait, and continue placement in areas where they are actively picking the ant bait up. The ants should be allowed several days to feed on baits before switching any of the baits.

Do not spray a repelling insecticide in areas where you are trying to bait for ants, most of the insecticides aside from Termidor and Premise 2, which are non repelling insecticides. You want the ants to pick up the ant bait, but spraying a chemical around the areas of the bait, something the ants will sense and avoid will definitely make the bait unattractive to the ants.

There is always the option of ant bait stations that make it easy to have bait in a sensitive area, where there is a chance of pets or small children gaining access to the ant bait. But aside from that the bait stations also make treating for certain ants easier because you simply place the ant baits in areas where you are finding the ants.

Tips for Use o f Ant Bait Stations:

• Place Maxforce ant bait stations by ant trails and where ants have been seen.

• Three bait stations should control an average size room, or approximately one bait station per 100 square feet.

• Do not spray chemicals or disturb trails between ant nests and bait stations.

• Periodically, replace Maxforce ant bait stations that are empty and relocate stations that show little or no ant activity

How to Apply Your Carpenter Ant Control Bait

To apply the gel remove the cap from the tip, it usually unscrews. Save this piece as you will want to replace it when you are finished using the ant control bait and this will keep the ant bait from drying out.

You will insert the tip onto the end that you have just removed the cap and place the plunger in the other side of the tube. Gently engage and apply pressure, you will see a small amount of the bait come out of the tube. Some ant baits have a Honey Dew formulation and will appear runnier than others.

Apply the ant bait in spots in cracks and crevices. For best results, make or place many spots of dabs of bait where you see the ants foraging and entering the structure.

Do not apply the ant bait in areas where you have recently applied a repellent insecticide or contaminated with a fogger the ants will have an aversion and not pick the bait up.

Do not apply the ant bait in areas that are routinely washed, such as countertops, as the ant gel will be watered down or wash away. Remove the dead ants before applying the ant bait gel.

Place the ant bait in locations as in cracks and crevices, corners and any out of the way place, under cabinets, refrigerators, behind kitchen appliances, along baseboards, under sinks, in pantry, around pipes and plumbing penetrations water heater, door and window frames and in the garage and the attics.

Of course apply in these areas that are being frequented by ants. Visually inspect for ants and place the bait where you are seeing the ants.

Online sites like ePestSolutions offer a wide range of pest control products and pest control supplies to control every type of pests and insects. From control of termites, bed bugs and cockroaches to moles, pigeons and scorpions. All insecticides and pest control products are for do it yourself pest control.
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Wasp and Hornets life cycle.

Wasps like many other insects go through 4 stages of ‘development’ (complete metamorphosis)

egg – larvae – pupae – adult

The ‘Queen’ wasps hibernate over the winter to emerge in spring. Depending on the species, the queens choose a suitable site to start the ‘new’ wasp nest. OLD wasp nests from previous years are not used again although it has been known for the queen to start her new nest adjacent to or ‘within’ an old wasp nest (vespula vulgaris).

In addition, it is possible for several queens who survived the winter (normally all from the same previous years wasp nest) to start ‘construction’ of their new wasp nest’s in close proximity to each other.

The queens start off by ‘collecting’ wood which they then ‘chew’ up with their saliva to make a kind of paper mache or wood pulp to begin forming a nest.

When the queen’s first offspring emerge from pupation as adult wasps, they are all known as ‘workers’ in the colony and are all sterile females. The queen wasp continues to lay more egg’s and the workers take over the responsibility of nest building, catching insects which they kill with their sting to take back to the nest to feed to the young ‘grubs’ (larvae.

The workers chew up the insects and again ‘masticate’ the food with their saliva to feed to the grubs. In return, the grubs secrete a sugary substance which feeds the workers.

Over the following weeks and months the wasp colony grows and grows. The queen barely gets out these days as she is continually laying egg’s and the workers are now a formidable force as the population rapidly grows in size.

t its peak in the summer, an average wasp colony of common wasps (vespula vulgaris) may contain up to 20,000 individuals.

Heat – Its worth noting, that heat is a major contributor to the rapid develpment of the wasp nest. Queens who selected their nest site in a warm location acheive ‘big results’. Also the availability of quality food is an important deciding factor.

At the end of the summer, the wasp colony takes on a different function. The queen now starts to lay ‘different’ eggs. These will eventually emerge as males (drones) and new young queens. The activity becomes ‘very active’ and the workers are super protective about their nest.

The young queens mate with several drones to become fertilized for the following year.

Eventually the whole colony die’s off apart from the new queens who like the queens before them, find a suitable place to hibernate for the winter.www.waspcontrolliverpool.co.uk

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There are not a lot of circumstances if you may possibly require wasp nest removal in london. In fact the only 1 that comes to thoughts is when you’re in London and there is a wasps nest in your property. If that’s not what is going on you then most likely don’t will need them. Really, it could possibly be a hornets’ nest as well. They’re a sort of wasp too.

So inside a way you can find 3 principal sorts of wasp that you may come across inside the UK, and 1 of those can be a hornet. As for the other two, it’s understandable in the event you did not even realise there had been two different kinds. They look virtually identical. Unless you are up close and have two side by side and you are searching really carefully, you probably won’t notice. In reality you might not realise then either, unless you realize that the diverse species may be separated for means of identification by the spots they have on their back. You may believe it’s a distinction between male and female or just some kind of distinction that every of them has personally. As regards their sex although you will hardly ever ever come across a male wasp and if you do then you’ll have no need to worry since they don’t have stingers. All the wasps in the peak with the season are female wasps, they’re the only ones with stingers. They only breed the males in the finish with the season, so they are able to mate and make a lot more queens.

This is why it can be truly so essential that wasps nests are dealt with when they are discovered. Yes, there is a issue in the time and you don’t want a lot of them buzzing around all the time. Also though, if they are not dealt with and allowed to total their whole course, a lot more queens will be created and there will be much more nests the following year. Really possibly in your vicinity again considering that conditions have naturally been viable just before and they had been in a position to survive there. So even if you believe it is possible to see out this season somehow, do you genuinely want to believe regarding the chance that it might be even worse subsequent year?

An additional reason to try to get the nests early is that in the finish of the season the wasps become a lot more aggressive. The cause has nothing to perform together with the truth that you will find males around then either, as we say they don’t have stingers anyway so they are not a dilemma. What happens though is the fact that the wasps no longer have to search for protein for the growing eggs. That protein that they were searching for would have come in the type of reside insects, so not something humans have a tendency to consume. When all the eggs have hatched although, there is no require for much more protein. Now they just have to get food for themselves and they’re going to go following the high energy food. The food which is highest in energy is obviously the sugary, sweet food. That is something humans do like although but wasps could be willing to fight for it. That’s why wasp nest removal in london is crucial to obtain in quick. In the event you get them in early, ideally whilst it really is just the queen along with a couple of other people then it’ll be simple to deal with. The problem is though we usually only notice them when you’ll find a lot to notice. At that point, it’s crucial to go for the kill and get in professional pest controllers. Undoubtedly do not attempt to handle it yourself, you will not have the proper substances to perform that.

There are not a lot of circumstances if you may possibly require wasp nest removal in london. In fact the only 1 that comes to thoughts is when you’re in London and there is a wasps nest in your property. If that’s not what is going on you then most likely don’t will need them.
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Imagine you are enjoying your backyard, doing some gardening …when out of NOWHERE, wasps hovering around you, not letting you enjoy yourself!

Wasps can be very dangerous (especially around children and babies), travel in packs, and can be extremely intimidating.

Many people literally panic when wasps are buzzing around and will even avoid hanging out in their own yard. It’s unnerving and hard to relax when these pests won’t leave them alone.

A worst case scanario is you are trying to enjoy your hard, when one day you discover that wasps have decided to call your yard home.

The good news is, how to get rid of a wasps nest is something that you can learn how to do yourself. There are 4 options immediately available:

Option number 1- You get the pros to do it.

The upside is that professionals get the job done right. Sure you might have to leave your house for a couple hours or stay indoors, but the nest will be gone. However there is a downside.

They cost a lot of money. They don’t make any guarantees that the wasps will stay gone. And they might need to repeat the job, costing you more and more money, just to keep the wasps gone.

Option number 2 – Attact their nest with sprays.

Again, you may have to purchase the sprays over and over …not just because they don’t work, but because you have to do a perfect job. Not to mention most of them are not good for you or the environment.

Option number 3 - Set up traps around your yard.

Traps are a lot of work to set up, but can they be effective in reducing the numbers of wasps?

There are lots of clever traps available out there that will aid in getting rid of your wasps nest, but alone they don’t usually work that well.

Option number 4 – Let the wasps run your yard.

It’s amazing how many people will idly sit by and hope that the wasps will just go away. Or people retreat and don’t deal with the actually problem.

If you let a wasps nest go untreated it will get bigger, and the colony will grow.

So is that it?

Do you have any other options in the fight of getting rid of the wasps nest from your home?

The good news is, yes!

The bad news is I am unable to give you the long version of the answer in this short article. The good news is I can share with you a MUST-use tip that will help you any time you are trying to get rid of a wasps nest yourself. Make sure you work at night time when all the wasps are sleeping, otherwise you could possibly miss lots of the wasps. In a worst case scenario you leave some wasps behind, they might stick around and rebuild their nest stronger than before.

For detailed step-by-step instructions on how to get rid of a wasps nest safely and quickly, click here to learn how to get rid of wasps.

Thank you for tuning in, and best of luck!

Shawn Evans

Author of Wasp Removal Secrets, Shawn Evans runs http://www.WaspRemovalSecrets.com to help people learn to enjoy their yards by safely getting rid of pesky wasps.
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