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You probably already know if you have roaches, mice, or rat infestations in your home. But it is important to know how big the problem is, how pests are entering, and where pests are getting their food and water, and how best to get rid of them and prevent them from returning. To find out, go through every room in your home, focusing on the kitchen and bathroom, where pests are usually worst. You may need a flashlight for the dark areas. Start in Your Kitchen Look out for waste and droppings: Cockroach droppings look like dark smudges with dark dots. Their egg cases are yellowish and ribbed, about the size of a small fingernail. Rodent droppings are brown, the size and shape of rice grains. Look out for Chew marks in woodwork, walls, and food containers. Gaps, cracks, and [...]

NYC neighborhoods have the most rodent complaints and they are a lot bigger than you probably realize, and possess the uncanny ability to drag a slice of pizza onto the subway. Rat Complaints and sightings are soaring in Manhattan, including neighborhoods like Chinatown and the Lower East Side. Needless to say, we have a bit of a rat obsession problem. But how bad is it? There are some very interesting rat stats from the year 2010 to 2016: There are two reports to this effect: The first is, as thus: Brooklyn has the most rat sightings, particularly in Bushwick. Staten Island has the least, whereas Queens has far fewer than expected. 29,174 rats were discovered in three-plus family apartment buildings across New York in the past five years. More rat sightings were documented on [...]

Baits are the primary pesticides used to treat cockroach infestations. They can be packaged as pastes, gels, granules, or dusts. Most insecticides used in baits are slow acting. Consequently, an effective bait program does not give immediate results, but may take 7 days or longer to provide visual evidence of its effects. Baits can be quite effective for long-term control of cockroaches unless the cockroaches have other food sources available to them. Baits do not control all cockroaches equally. Female cockroaches with egg cases do very little feeding and avoid open spaces; consequently, they are less likely to be immediately affected by a bait. Bait Stations: Prefilled bait stations is the most popular form for home use, which are small plastic units that contain an attractive [...]

It hardly takes a genius to notice that cockroaches usually make their raids on pantries, countertops and kitchen appliances when evening falls. They can get into houses in a variety of ways, food packages, used furniture, appliances, suitcases and more, and once there, often make homes in the overlooked corners and crevices of your home. Cockroaches are one of the most numerous groups of insects in the world, found almost everywhere and comprising a lot of species, like some 4,500-different species. The American or palmetto cockroach is the most common one in the United States, but German, brown banded and Oriental cockroaches are also common in some other regions. They breed quickly, and as omnivorous scavengers, can subsist on a wide variety of food sources. They are difficult to [...]

The first step to ensure safety from rodent-borne disease is to have a basic knowledge of what they are, there features, modes of infestation, the diseases rodents can transmit to humans and the possible modes of transmission. Then secondly, know the various means rodents can be eliminated from homes to avoid severe infestations and spread of diseases. Rat and mouse are rodents. Some of the common species of commensal rodent are: Rattus norvegicus (Rn), sewer rat; also known as norway rat. Rattus rattus (R2), house rat; also known as roof rat. Mus musculus (Mm), mouse. Rodents have some special features as follows: They are social animals, nocturnal, good climbers (especially for Rattus rattus), good jumpers, range of movement: 30-50m for rats, 5-10 m for mice, good swimmers and [...]

In the fall and winter months, rodents, like the house mouse, are looking for a safe place to spend the winter. Since these mammals are commensal, they rely on humans to help them survive. When they find their way into our homes they will look for a safe and undisturbed place to build their nest. Believe it or not, mice will hide just about anywhere inside your home, including in: Attics, basements, closets, car trunks or under the hood, inside walls, storage boxes, wood piles and any other undisturbed areas. These hiding places can be categorized into two, Outdoor Hiding Spots and Indoor Hiding Spots. Outdoor Hiding Spots (Underground and Higher Locations) • Underground Rats can be found living outdoors in a wide array of habitats. They're usually big on underground burrowing. [...]

Naturally roaches are seen in warm areas of the house; under logs, around cabinets, and all of that. This why you generally find them in numbers indoors rather than outdoors. Roaches are not the best of companies, so by all means try to keep them out of the home, else you may find that roommate that you never had and never wanted. Like every other creature on the planet they have a reaction to temperature and this write up will just educate you on how to exploit this. Cockroaches are cold blooded creatures without the capacity to adjust their body temperature, so they are wired to survive in regular warm temperatures, but that is of course if you’re not trying to burn them. Generally, cockroaches do not survive if between the temperature gets overly hot or cold; a lot of the roaches’ [...]

No one ever announced that they got rid of their cockroach infestation easily, and that is because getting rid of roaches is one of the most cumbersome tasks anyone can take on even for professional exterminators. They never seem to go away completely; one and the next day you will find another one, take care of that one and it doesn’t stop you from finding 10 more another time. It all seems like they are unstoppable, and it’s even worse knowing that they have the genetics that helps them survive harsh living conditions, including various traps that humans try to kill them with. Cockroaches are normally around 15 mm long. Unfortunately, some have been found to be up to 9 cm long! Do everything you can to keep these big guys out of your house. Fortunately, if you do see them, there [...]

The bad news around here is that bed bugs can spread. They can catch a ride in your clothing or bag, and hop off somewhere else to start a new life. It’s worth considering this possibility, as you are. The good news is, it is possible to avoid this using some precautions. It’s also worth noting that they can bite during the daytime, a fact which some people just don’t acknowledge. If bed bugs are in a school, a corporate office, or somewhere else where people are not sitting or lying down at night, they will bite by daylight. It can be transferred to an office or transferred from the office to elsewhere. Though few people report this happening, it is better to take precautions against it. If it does happen, not only can you create a stressful situation at work, but you are also [...]

Most times, it is hard to tell if you’ve been bitten by a bed bug unless you find bed bugs or signs of infestation. When bed bugs bite, they inject an anesthetic and an anticoagulant that prevents a person from realizing they are being bitten. Most people do not realize they have been bitten until bite marks appear anywhere from one to several days after the initial bite. The bite marks are similar to that of a mosquito or a flea -- a slightly swollen and red area that may itch and be irritating. The bite marks may be random or appear in a straight line. Other symptoms of bed bug bites include insomnia, anxiety, and skin problems that arise from profuse scratching of the bites. Because bed bug bites affect everyone differently, some people may have no reaction and will not develop [...]