Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed on human blood.  Early detection is critical in bedbug control since they are some of the most difficult pests to eradicate. The best solution for this pesky insect is Dunwoody pest control services. Hiring professionals to get rid of bedbugs is a smart choice especially if you live in shared housing units. A bedbug infestation usually has a negative effect on the psychological well-being of house occupants and housing markets. For people who live in condominiums or apartments, coordinated efforts are more effective when eradicating these insects.

Pesticides alone can’t get rid of your bedbug problem. They are, at best, moderately effectual at controlling the pests. When used, pesticides should be handled with care because they are dangerous to your health. Here are some do-it-yourself methods of bedbug control.

Determine the infested rooms

Bedrooms are the most commonly affected areas. However, any room that is used for sleeping can also be infested by bedbugs. Living room sofas also provide harborage for these irritating insects. The sooner you find all their hiding spots, the faster you will be able to get rid of them before you have a full-blown infestation on your hands.

Clean up infested areas

After finding all their hiding spots, you need to strip the furniture and put it in the washing machine. These items should be washed in hot water to make sure that the insects die. Vacuum your mattresses and sofas thoroughly to remove all traces of bedbugs. When you are done vacuuming, take the vacuum outside and dispose of the bag. Buy high quality bedbug-proof encasements that are tight enough to prevent the insects from escaping. The encasement zippers should be tight enough to protect your bed from getting re-infested.

Ensure that your bed frame and headboard are free of bedbugs. Vacuuming alone will not completely remove bedbugs from your headboard because the eggs will remain. To get this job done, you need to buy insecticide sprays. Before using any insecticide, read the labels carefully. Once you ascertain that all the pests are eliminated, you should buy bedbug interceptors. These are devices that prevent bedbugs from climbing into your bed. How do they do this? They are slippery enough to hinder their ascent. If you are still experiencing bedbug infestation problems after doing all this, you should contact Dunwoody pest control professionals.

It is that time of year again, the time to look out for wintertime pests in Atlanta.  While you might think that the winter is a time you are free and clear from bugs and rodents, think again. In fact, winter is the time when pests decide to hunker down and make their homes--inside your home.

Mice and spiders are the most common pests that you will find in your home this winter. Just ask an Atlanta pest control expert if you are uncertain.

MiceMice will look for a way into your home as soon as it gets cold.  Once they get inside they will destroy food, leave droppings, and keep you awake at night.

Mice will leave signs of where they have been in your home, such as they pathways they take in and out. Follow these clues to figure out where they are living (and how to get rid of them).

When trying to figure out if you do have mice or not, look for droppings, urine trails, chewing, rub marks and small holes in your walls. 

 To get rid of mice, call Brookhaven pest control.  Additionally, eliminate clutter.   Mice love to nest in dark, quiet areas. They prefer things that have gone unattended for a while. This is why they love areas like the basement or the attic.   

You will also want to seal up any holes that could give mice access into your home.  Secure the bottoms of doors that lead to the outside.

Keep leftovers in airtight containers, and try not to leave anything on a counter that they can gnaw through.  

SpidersWhile most of the spiders that you will find in your home are harmless, they are still not pests that most people welcome.

Spiders are just like any other pest, they do not like the cold and will come inside during winter.   Typically you will encounter wolf spiders, jumping spiders, and cellar spiders.

The best way to get rid of, and prevent, spiders in the house, is to vacuum.  Vacuum any areas where you typically find spiders.  Make sure to vacuum areas that are harder to reach. These areas are often overlooked so spiders can make their homes here.  This also includes under furniture. 

Also make sure to check your firewood when you bring it in. Spiders often make their homes in the wood, and then you transport them inside without noticing.

Afraid of seeing spiders or mice this winter?  Contact Brookhaven pest control!

Roach infestations are no laughing matter. The process that you have to go through to get rid of them is tedious. If you find roaches anywhere in your home, you need to start planning how to dispose of them before they multiply further. They can cause diseases and damage your property. So how do you get rid of them? First you have to determine whether you have a roach infestation. A cockroach is usually identified by its brown, oval shaped body, long antennae and spiny legs. Once you spot a single roach, there are likely to be several more hiding in dark places such as crawl spaces. Call your Atlanta pest control professional for help, or follow the tips below.




If you have a tough time locating their hideout, you can find it by looking for their droppings. They are little pellets covered with brown spots. How do you locate the cockroach's entry point? This is not an easy thing to do since they are fast insects. Start by checking the outside of your house for foundation cracks as well as holes in windows and pipes. After finding the points of entry, you should seal them. The next step is to kill all the roaches that are currently inhabiting your home.




To survive, these insects need warmth, water and food. So they camp out in the kitchen in large numbers. Before using an insecticide, you should make sure that you remove all food stuff from your kitchen counter and other open surfaces. Using toxic chemicals in the kitchen is not advisable. A mixture of borax and sugar is safe to use. Just mix 3 parts of borax with 1 part of sugar. The sugar is used as bait and the borax kills them by dehydrating their exoskeletons. Wait a few hours for the mixture to work before cleaning up your kitchen.




The final step is preventing a re-infestation from occurring. Make sure that your house is thoroughly cleaned at all times and clean up crumbs after you eat. Wash the dishes before going to bed instead of letting them stay in the sink overnight. Keep all your food containers sealed tightly. The trash should also be taken out regularly. Roaches like to hide near places with water. Therefore, you should repair all leaks under the sink. These measures will ensure that the roaches never come back to your home.

Are you looking for a Brookhaven pest control company, or perhaps a Mableton pest control company. Well, before you hire one, there are certain things that you should know. Hiring the services of a professional pest control company is a wise idea when your home has been infested by rodents and creepy crawlies. However, they cannot do everything for you and there are certain things that these professionals want you to know so that you know how to handle current infestations and prevent future ones.

3-Things-Pest-Control-Pros-Want You to Know

Before you call a pest control company, here are a few things that they would like you to know:

1. Clean kitchens do not prevent infestations, although it helps: We all know that food is one of the main attractions of bugs and rodents. However, the experts say that just maintaining a clean kitchen and making sure that dirty dishes and open chips bags will not prevent your home from being infested. Making sure that your gutters are unclogged and any decorative baths and pools are drained regularly is important as moisture attracts and sustains different pests, apart from food.
2. Good hygiene cannot fend off certain bugs: Many people believe that if you maintain good hygiene, your home will not be infested by pests. Well, this is not true! According to pest control experts, bugs such as bedbugs are not bothered by whether or not your home is clean. They feed on your blood and not on the food left on your kitchen counter or sink. You should check luggage, furniture and other items before bringing them into your home and unpack in the garage. Last but not least, think twice about getting that great sofa at the flea market just before you are getting a fantastic deal!
3. Avoid DIY pest control methods: Another important piece of advice that pest control pros give homeowners is to avoid trying to get rid of pests on their own before calling the professionals. If you do not know what you are doing, you could leave a mess for the pest control company you call and leave their services ineffective.

To make sure that your home is free of nasty bugs and rodents, call the best and most experienced pest control company to receive excellent and effective services. Only the best can keep your home pest-free and give you valuable advice on keeping away creepy crawlies and critters in the future!

The one time a year that everyone looks forward to, summer, is also when all the pests come out to fill our homes and pets with their babies. Atlanta pest control companies are here to help. So, how do you keep these unwanted pests like fleas, flies, and other pests out of your home and off your pets?  

House pests

Many little things fly around looking for any way into your home, house flies and fruit flies are among the most annoying of these. Flies seem to come in looking for food, and multiply before your eyes, so what do you do? If you want to do it yourself, here are a few tips:

*First, you must clean anything that may attract them. This can be one of the most difficult steps, as flies can feed on anything. 
*Try to find any areas in your home that they can get in, including window screens, open doors, or any other tiny areas that lead outdoors.
*If the flies are a big problem you may want to get some fly traps, this will at least catch the ones flying around to cut back on their reproduction.

When you can't get rid of these flying pests it's time to call a professional. What can they do?

* Help you identify and understand the type of fly, identify areas where the flies reproduce, and come up with ways to prevent them in the future.
* Additional insecticides are readily available to them. Each type of fly is different, and not all can be removed using the same treatment.

Pet Pests

While we all love our pets, they can be a huge culprit to many pests like fleas and ticks. Once they hitch a ride inside, it can be a huge problem for you and the well-being of your pets. Prevention is always number one, but if that's not enough here's what you can do:

*Due to an increased risk of Lyme disease, anemia, along with skin rashes, always get a vet involved if your pet's pest problem isn't solved with regular treatment.
*During/after any pet pest issues, you should wash and treat all places that your pet comes into contact with.

No matter what type of pest problem you have, prevention is the key, but when that fails a professional may be necessary. They can help

For anyone considering Atlanta pest control, it is good to know that there are a number of benefits when it comes to professional pest control.  Pest control does matter.

When using professional pest control services, residents can rest easy knowing that the company they choose has experienced, trained technicians who understand exactly how and where to treat in order to get rid of any type of pest, be it an insect or rodent. 

Plans

One way that pest control can really pay off is in purchasing an annual plan. This ensures that the professionals will be there several times a year, to keep the pests at bay.  This also means that homeowners can rest easy, knowing that their homes are safe from termites. If termites or carpenter ants were to go unnoticed, it could results in thousands of dollars worth of damage to the home.  Pest control costs are very small in comparison. 

Safety

Pest control technicians know how to safely use their products and exactly where to put them inside and outside of a home.  This keeps families and pets safe.  Oftentimes, when one does pest control himself, harmful chemicals can be put in the wrong places.  Professional pest control offers peace of mind that no hazardous chemicals will affect people or pets.

Time and Flexibility

Most pest control companies work on homeowners' schedules, making it easy to have treatments or retreatments done when they are needed. 

Additionally, when a professional is involved, they will remember to monitor and report whenever it is time to retreat the home.   Homeowners who choose to do it themselves often do not know the correct times to retreat or re-spray for bugs, and it is only when they see more pests that they do something about it. 

Risks

Using the wrong elimination method can have consequences.  If homeowners are not sure how to treat the problem at hand, there could be consequences (such as swarming bees, more ants, etc).  With a professional on hand, there will never be any question. 

Pest control really matters when it comes to the health of one's family and pets. Calling a professional means never wondering what to do. 

Calling Atlanta pest control also means saving time and money as the professionals guarantee their services. They will rid the home of insects and rodents.  

Flea and tick control is one of the most important tasks that pet owners have; it is also one of the most difficult as infestations are usually hard to combat once they are in full swing. Atlanta pest control professionals can help.  Like bed bugs, cockroaches and other household pests, fleas and ticks can survive in a variety of different environments. Fleas in particular are capable of living outdoors in grass and cracks in concrete; inside a home, they can survive in a carpet and in crevices in a hardwood floor. Fleas, ticks and other parasites can cause pets to become seriously ill in addition to causing serious discomfort.

About Fleas
Fleas can be found in most places and can cause diseases like flea allergy dermatitis (FAD). FAD can cause severe allergic reactions like itching and inflammation. The itching an inflammation may cause extreme chewing and scratching that result in the pet damaging their skin and losing hair. Fleas can also transit parasites like tapeworms to humans.

About Ticks
These arachnids are extremely irritating and can transmit a variety of diseases. Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and anaplasmosis are among the diseases that ticks can carry; these diseases are serious and can even be fatal for both human and animals. There are over 80 different species of ticks in the United States, including some that are able to survive in extreme temperatures.

Preventing Flea and Tick Infestations

• Pets should be combed frequently with a flea comb; these combs can remove both fleas and their feces from the pet's fur.
• Homes should be vacuumed regularly and the bag or canister from the vacuum cleaner should be discarded or emptied after each use.
• The home's lawn should be mowed regularly.
• Cats should be kept inside.
• The pet's old bedding should be discarded.
• Both the home and yard should be treated with commercially available treatments which can effectively kill fleas and ticks.

Flea and tick products may be used on a pet, but should be carefully administered; some ingredients are potentially dangerous and an owner should commit to some research before choosing a particular product. Owners should also read and follow the instructions on the products carefully.

It's that time of year again, stinkbug season.

As summer starts winding down, the insidious stinkbug is already scouting out places to spend the winter, and your house looks pretty darn inviting. That is why an Atlanta pest control company is waiting for your call, to eliminate this pest. 

In case you're wondering why your mother never warned you about stinkbugs, it's because she didn't need to. Stinkbugs have only been around for about two decades, after arriving in the U.S. in crop shipments from the China, Taiwan and Korea.

But you needn't panic if you discover your home or apartment infested with stinkbugs; you just need to show these pests who the boss is.

The culprit's technical name is the brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), but green stinkbugs can be found in the southern states. You can spot a stinkbug due to its shield shape, and it can be anywhere from half-an-inch to an inch long.

Why Are Stinkbugs Such A Nuisance?

Although stinkbugs can't cause structural damage to your property, as termites can, and they don't sting or bite people, they are still a significant problem in your home.

For starters, they stink, hence the catchy name. The smell emitted by a crushed stinkbug  has been described as ranging from the acrid smell of rotten almonds to the stench of stinky feet.

How Do Stinkbugs Get Into My Home?

When stinkbugs want in, they are hard to stop. They gather on the outside walls of your house at the end of summer, and soon start crawling into your home through any cracks and crevices they can find.

While they are primarily a nuisance pest, an infestation of stinkbugs can be quite unnerving and overwhelming when the pests appear in large numbers. However, there are tried and true ways to keep stinkbugs out.

What Can I Do About Stinkbugs?

The best defense against stinkbugs is to close all their entryways into your house by sealing and caulking all cracks and crevices. Make sure your door and window screens are intact, and pay attention  to openings in your home's exterior where pipes, wires and cables enter the house.

Don't use commercial insecticides, which are not recommended for stinkbugs, and NEVER try to get rid of them by stepping on them - they'll stink up your house.

Instead, you can get rid of the stinkbugs you see by vacuuming the area thoroughly, and call a professional exterminator to finish the job properly.

It is a commonly heard myth that earwigs crawl into the brain through the ear to lay eggs. There is no scientific evidence of this. Yet, we still choose to stigmatize these insects. Let's analyze this particular leaning and delve into the truth behind the question, "are earwigs harmful?". 

The first concern most people will have is the potential harm to people. Allow me to first dispel any illusion that you may believe about earwigs being dangerous. These insects are actually quite harmless in regards to their relationship to humans. They do not bite, sting, or invade the human brain via the ear, regardless of previous preconceptions. It is said that they may have the ability to pinch with their pincers if provoked or irritated by picking them up. Basically, in terms of being physically harmful, they're a simple case of "leave them alone and they'll leave you alone". 

The second, and frankly most valid, concern is the environmental harm that could be inflicted by these menacing little pests, it is the more likely reason for one to call an Atlanta pest control company. This is an area in which earwigs truly do pose a potential threat. While they are generally scavengers, some are omnivorous or even predatory. Strangely, the "dangerous" ones in this scenario are the omnivores. They would be the ones responsible for feeding on any produce which may be out in the open. The other concern would be for any potted plants that may be on display throughout the home. These plots of soil are a perfect breeding ground for earwigs to lay their eggs, as they are only interested in laying eggs in such locations. This is where the potential for infestation lies. 

Infestation: a word any homeowner dreads. This is the main reason to take any and all preventative measures. While earwigs may not be particularly harmful in terms of physical injury, they can still stir quite the commotion if allowed to infiltrate and nest. So be sure to take precaution this summer. Do your research and determine the most effective and efficient ways to prevent earwigs from coming into your home or alternately, find out the quickest way to be rid of them if they've already found their way inside. 

There’s nothing fun about being stung by pests. The stings from pests can cause immediate skin reactions. These reactions can range from a mild itch to severe pain. Some people are also allergic to certain stings, such as bee stings. In fact, approximately 40 people per year die in the United States due to an allergic reaction to bee stings. If you are in the Atlanta area, then you should also contact an Atlanta pest control company in order to put a stop to pest problems in and around your home. Below is information on some of the common pests that sting that you should be on the lookout for:

Bees: Bees are found globally and there are more than 20,000 recorded species. Some bees are solitary, although species such as bumble bees and honey bees are extremely social. Bees can be a big problem if they build their hive around or even in your home.

Hornets: The only species of true hornet located in the United States is the European hornet. It is yellow and brown in color and measures about an inch and a half in length. The hornet is known to inflict a very painful sting and this is why you want to be sure you control the number of hornets around your home by calling an Atlanta pest control company.

Yellow Jackets: Yellow Jackets are named after their appearance. Although most are yellow and black, some appear to be mostly black. A colony can have 1000 yellow jackets, making them a big potential problem. Although they are not quick to sting a person, they will defend their colony and just one will be capable of producing many stings.

Wasps: Most wasps have two sets of wings and a thinned out waist. Some wasps are aggressive and can carry out multiple stings. If you notice wasps around your home, you should contact an Atlanta pest control company for assistance.

Scorpions: Scorpions have an erectile tail and are related to spiders and ticks. Some, but not all, scorpions are poisonous. However, they can produce a very painful sting and an Atlanta pest control company should be called out if you find scorpions in or close to your home.

These pests are everywhere and this means you should take necessary precautions when you are going to be outdoors and call out an Atlanta pest control service for your home.