Insects are a part of life. They have played an essential role in the ecosystem and will continue to do so as long as Mother Nature is still alive. Well, Mother Nature’s ecosystem would stop functioning and collapse altogether without them.
That is the reality.
Scientists actually fear an “Insect Armageddon”, or the eradication of all insects on earth.
They are pollinators and prey for other wildlife. They are highly beneficial.
Insect population has drastically gone down, according to The Guardian. However, when it comes to pests, it is a different story.
Pests are around the whole year-round and in different forms. While insects are beneficial to the ecosystem and are something we cannot live without, pests are unwelcome visitors in our homes.
We would be lucky if the pests we have are a mere nuisance, but what if the pests in our homes are capable of transmitting diseases?
To be blunt, deadly diseases!
Pick your pests: mosquitoes, termites, flies, roaches, rats, mice. These are disease vectors indeed.
If you have these pests in your house, or one of them, your first instinct would probably be to apply some DIY pest control. If these do not work after all your best efforts, you would probably call in the pest control professionals. It is your best bet if you want to completely eradicate these pests.
The question is, how often do we need the companies that can come to my home and exterminate bugs? Now, this is not really an easy question, but one we will try to answer as best as we can.
Well, it is important to note that insects are not the only pests that can cause us problems. Animals like raccoons, rats, mice, and even birds can be a nuisance and disease transmitters too. The number of treatments differentiates every year, and there are pests whose treatments have to be made on a regular basis.
What Are The Most Common Pests In Concord?
It all depends on the weather.
During the colder months, one of the more common infestations involves spiders. Now do not get me wrong, spiders are very peaceful creatures. They would rather be left alone. In fact, it has been said that we all are living within 3 feet of a spider in our homes and offices. They are harmless unless we are talking about the poisonous ones. In Concorde, it is possible for you to be visited by black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders, the two venomous spiders that are common in the entire United States. Though venomous, these two species of spiders usually reserve their venom for prey. They only bite humans for self-defense. Most of the time, they live outdoors, but usually seek shelter during winter. Nobody wants a poisonous spider for a visitor, no matter how much we say they are harmless. It is advisable to call a pest control professional if you see them inside the house as they best know what to do with them without killing them.
Wintertime also brings out the cockroaches, perhaps the filthiest creatures on earth. Obviously, nobody likes a cockroach, and just an appearance from one of these insects elicits screams from many. There are 4,600 identified species of cockroaches, but not all of them are considered as pests. Here in the United States, there are 4 types of cockroaches: the American, German, brown-banded, and Oriental cockroaches. Cockroaches thrive on filth and eat anything. They eat rotten food, feces, dead animals and insects, and even their own kind. They also eat fresh food, our food on the table. Due to their filthy eating ways, cockroaches are not just a nuisance but are also vectors of diseases. Among the diseases they transmit are cholera, typhoid fever, leprosy, asthma, and salmonellosis.
Roaches are hardy insects and are said to have developed resistance to some pesticides. Roaches are incredible survivors; they can live for a month without food and a week without water. They can even live with its head cut off, breathing through tiny holes that are found all over their bodies. They die only because they could not drink water without their heads. Cockroach infestation would then be best left to the professionals.
Rats and mice can also be a problem during the cold weather, seeking warmth, food, and water inside houses. A lot of people are terrified of rats and mice and for a good reason. These rodents are disease vectors. Some of the diseases they transmit include leptospirosis, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome, and rat-bite fever. They transmit diseases by contaminating the food that we eat through their droppings, urine, saliva, or vomit. Rats are known to avoid confrontation, but when they feel threatened, they bite and scratch. They are also highly intelligent and have great memories they get wary of unfamiliar objects and thus stay away. Because of this, it is oftentimes very hard to catch them. The pros will know what to do, fortunately.
Summer brings in a different group of pests. Ants may be coming your way. I know some - or many - of you are hard-pressed about identifying ants as pests. After all, they have this admirable trait of being hard workers and team players. Unfortunately, they do attack homes and steal food. They swarm and they bite.
Ants are not all pests. There are some species that are beneficial to the ecosystem, and they are in the forests. They only become pests when they are in or near human dwellings. They go inside houses in search of food and water. They send out individual patrollers who look for food. Once a patroller finds food, they send out signals, and in a few minutes, dozens to hundreds of ants are swarming your food.
Ants live in colonies, and each colony can have thousands to millions of ants. This, of course, becomes a big problem for household owners. Not only do they steal food, but ants can cause more structural damage than termites could. If you have ant infestation problems, call a pest control professional immediately.
During the spring and autumn months, watch out for the most dangerous creatures on earth, the tiny mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can kill, and they have caused more deaths than all the wars in history combined. This is because they are capable of transmitting several deadly diseases. These diseases include dengue fever, malaria, West Nile fever, encephalitis, chikungunya, and Zika virus. They are bloodsuckers, but only female mosquitoes bite. The females are the only ones equipped with a proboscis, or piercing mouthparts. They cannot produce eggs without a blood meal. The males can live on nectar alone. Mosquitoes breed in standing water.
Termites are also a big problem. They totally destroy houses and cause billions of dollars in damage all over the world. They may be small, but in great numbers, they are terrible to have around.
How Often Should Pest Control Be Scheduled?
There is actually not one answer to this question. It depends on the type of pest you have. For that reason, we will take them one by one.
If you have a roach and ant infestation problems, pest control experts can take care of them with specialized treatments. However, these treatments will wear off eventually and these pests will come back. It is recommended that you schedule for treatment every two months. If rats and mice are the problems, the pest control experts will recommend a suitable treatment for you.
For termite infestation solution and licensed inspectors, pest control professionals recommend another inspection after the first one after 3 months. It all depends though on the severity of the infestation. If there are no signs of termites, then a yearly inspection would do.
For spiders, you may get a yearly or seasonal inspection, since poisonous spiders may cause some trouble for you and your family.
Things You Can Do First Before Scheduling A Pest Control Treatment
As a general rule, good housekeeping is the key to a pest-free household.These pests are in our houses for two main reasons: food and water. Another thing is shelter, though pests can also live outdoors.
Maintain cleanliness. Cockroaches and flies thrive on filth, and they love it when your house has plenty of dirty things they can eat, sleep on, and play around with. Sweep and mop the floors, use your vacuum cleaner to vacuum floors, carpets, and furniture. Wipe off food residue and drink spills. Wash your used dishes and do not leave them overnight unwashed on the kitchen sink. Make sure your trash cans are always covered, then dispose of your garbage regularly and properly.
Inspect your house for any cracks, crevices, and holes, as these could be used by pests as entry points. Install screens on doors and windows to keep flying pests out.
If you need help with your pest problems, call the best pest control experts in Concorde, North Carolina, the Go-Forth Home Services.
Go-Forth Home Services is the best among all the Concord exterminators, being in this business for 60 years. Call us now!