How to Keep Rodents out of Your Home This Winter
Since Winter has officially arrived, temperatures will start dropping which will lead to all kinds of rodents scurrying somewhere to keep warm. With a house being the perfect target for rodents looking to keep warm, it’s important that you take the right steps to prevent that from happening.
- Inspect all the doors and windows in your home. Look for any cracks, crevices, gaps, and tiny openings that mice or rats could enter through. To prevent rodents from entering your home make sure you fill any cracks, gaps and holes in windows and around your home to keep out unwanted guests.
- With your trash cans, make sure the trash lids are secured tightly to help prevent rodents from reaching the contents. Also, when your trash is outside, keep it far away from any windows or doors that lead into your home.
- Clean your home regularly, make sure you wipe down your counters, vacuum regularly, and alway put your dishes away in the cabinets.
- Make sure you inspect your pipes for leaking in areas like the garage, attic, or basement where moisture gathers. Pests like flies, roaches, moths, and rats are drawn to humid or wet areas.
- Trim any tree limbs close to your home to prevent any rodents, especially rats from climbing into the upper areas of your home.
If you need any rodent control for your home, contact Absolut Pest Control today at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form!
Preventing Mice Infestations
Mice in The Home
When the temperature outside begins to drop in the fall, infestations of rodents and mice tend to begin. If you hear noises in the walls or spot rodent droppings on the floor, this could mean that you a mouse infestation. Due to how small mice are, they can easily get into homes by entering through cracks, holes, floors, and foundations. Check out some helpful tips to make sure mice don’t ruin your home for the holidays.
- To prevent mice from coming into your home all cr
acks, openings and holes should be sealed properly. - If you spot mice in your home, one of the first steps you can do is setting up mousetraps. Using a mousetrap is a safe and efficient way because they will kill them instead of poisoning it.
- Go through the house and remove clutter areas like piles of clothing or old cardboard boxes that could make it easy for mice to build a nest.
- Your house should always be clean and tidy, make sure you are washing the floors and vacuuming the carpets to avoid food from collecting and attracting mice.
The most efficient method of removing mice from homes is by contact a trained pest control professional. If you notice mice lurking around your home, contact Absolut Pest Control today at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online.
Common Pest You’ll Find Around Your Home This Fall
As the temperature, outside slowly starts to drop, you should be prepared for the upcoming winter by making sure that your home is pest-free. Here are a few of the pests you might see lurking around your home this fall.
- Rodents: Common home intruders that you might see around this fall are mice and rats. Mice and rats can spread diseases and chew through your home wiring causing serious damage. It’s important to make sure you keep all the doors shut and look for any small openings where rodents can sneak in.
- Bedbugs: Bed bugs are typically found in mattresses, suitcases, boxes and shoes around the home. These are tiny bugs that are difficult to spot, so you may have to find them by using a flashlight and looking for them along the seams of furniture and mattresses.
- Stinkbugs: As the weather outside gets colder, it’s common to find Stink Bugs congregating on the warmer sides of homes. While stink bugs don’t spread diseases, these pests can damage clothing and furniture with their droppings and odor. Properly named, when these bugs are squashed or disturbed they release a disturbing odor.
- Spiders: Even though they are not necessarily dangerous, spiders can be a nuisance around your household. Spider usually make their way into homes through either the garage and attic, as well as the windows and doorways.
If you notice any of these pests around your home, contact Absolut Pest Control today at 978-388-4589 or fill out our contact form for more information!
How to Prevent Squirrels from Damaging Your Home
Squirrel Control
Squirrels can easily chew through wood and climb onto your roof and enter into your home. Squirrels can cause serious damage around your house which can be very pretty costly. Squirrels are known to be more active in the daylight and quieter at night.
Signs of Squirrel Damage:
- Noise in the attic
- Squirrel droppings
- Holes in the roof
- Damage to insulation the attic
- Garden plants being eaten and damaged bird feeders
Preventing Squirrels
It’s important that once you notice holes that were created by squirrels to fix them as soon as possible. Also, during the day make sure all windows and doors at shut properly, you don’t want any gaps open for squirrels to sneak in.
If a squirrel does happen to enter your home, the best option is to contact a professional right away. Contact Absolut Pest Control at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online for more information on our services!
Dangers of Bees Around Your Home
Bee Control
Bees are an important part of the world’s ecosystem but it can be considered dangerous to let a bee hive thrive near your home. Bees are generally less destructive than rats or termites, however, it’s still an inconvenience to have bees surrounding your home. They are usually more noticeable in the spring but still have a presence throughout the summer and into the fall.
The dangers of bees around your home:
- Bee Stings: When a bee stings a person, it can cause pain and swelling in the area of where the sting occurred.
- Bee Allergies: Bee stings are very dangerous for people who have a b
ee allergy. Symptoms of bee stings can result in pain and swelling, nausea and vomiting, and closing of the throat. - Bee Aggression: If bees feel their hive or colony is being threatened or in danger they will sting you. In warm weather, bees also tend to get more aggressive so make sure you keep your distance.
For safety purposes, the best way to take care of your bee problem is to contact a pest control expert. For more information on bee control, contact Absolut Pest Control at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online!
How to Control Fleas in Your Home
The root of any flea infestation usually comes from pets. While your dog or cat play and run around outside and play with other animals, fleas can easily latch onto them. It’s important that if you discover fleas on your pet, to take care of it as soon as possible.
Here are some helpful tips to avoid fleas from growing in your home;
- Vacuuming daily is essential because it will help capture any eggs, adults, larvae and pupae before they start to grow. Also remember to empty the bag every time your vacuum.
- Wash all clothing, bedding, blankets, towels and pet bedding weekly if you suspect fleas in your home.
- Make sure you give your dog or cat a bath regularly. Use safe flea shampoo on your pets and you should also double check with your veterinarian in taking !
- Before you let your pets run outside in the yard, make sure the area around your home is well maintained. Make sure there isn’ heavily shaded areas around your yard, fleas don’t really like areas with a lot of foot traffic or sunlight.
If you discover fleas in your home, your best solution is to contact a professional exterminator! Absolut Pest Control can take care of your flea problem, contact us at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online!
Basic Tips for Preventing Tick Bites
Tick Control
Summer is the perfect time to do all those fun outdoor activities you have been anxiously waiting to do since the winter. Before you hit the outdoors to either to go hiking or do some gardening, you will want to make sure you are well protected from ticks. Ticks are small arachnids that require blood meals to complete their complex life cycles. Ticks can very dangerous because they transmit diseases to several hosts; diseases including Lyme disease, Heartland virus, and Q Fever. It’s important to take the right steps in protecting yourself from any kind of tick.
Ways To Prevent Ticks:
- Purchas the right bug repellent that is safe to use and will be effective for several hours while you’re outdoors.
- After you return you from the outdoors, make sure to inspect your entire body carefully for any ticks that may
be stuck on your skin. For ticks to transmit Lyme Disease, they have to be attached to the skin for at least 36 hours to transmit Lyme disease. - If you go hiking or spending time around a wooded area, make sure you wear long sleeves and long pants, socks, and boots (no open toe shoes).
- Ticks like tall grass, so try to keep your lawn short and well-maintained. Also, try to stay in sunny areas when outdoors, that will reduce tick exposure.
- Ticks can easily make connect with your pets while they are outside, make sure you inspect pets once they come back inside and remove any ticks you find with a pair of tweezers.
If you are in need of tick control or any other pest problem, contact Absolut Pest Control 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online.
How To Protect Your Home From Termites
Termite Control
A termite is a small, pale soft-bodied insect that lives in large colonies with several different castes. Termites are known to feed on wood and can be very destructive to trees and timber. The main type of termites are subterranean, and they live in the ground. The subterranean termites invade wood or any types of material that have cellulose. You don’t want these type of insects invading your home and destroying it, it’s important to know how to properly protect your home.
Tips on How to Prevent Termite Access:
- Secure gaps around water and gas lines where termites could enter your home
- Eliminate excess moisture in your home in areas like the basement and crawlspace areas
- If you have firewood or spare construction materials, keep it raised and off the ground and away from your house
- Keep mulch away from the foundation of your home, mulch is a food and water source for termites.
- Another food source for a termite colony is dead wood, try to get rid of dead trees or stumps around your home
Call a pest control professional if you feel there is a termite problem invading your home. Contact Absolut Pest Control for termite and insect control at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online!
Summer Pests
Pest Control in the Summer
Summer is a great time of year to spend with your family and friends outdoors, however, the summer is also a peak time for the annual bug and pest emerge. Throughout the United States, the main pest and bugs that appear more during the summer months are ants, mosquitoes, bees, wasps, and bats.
- Ants can enter homes through the small cracks and they always go for any kind of sweet, greasy or protein-based food. You will want to make sure that all your floors and counters are always clean and remember to put away all food!
With viruses like West Nile and Zika being carried by mosquitoes, it’s important to always be prepared with EPA-approved insect repellent. Also since the main biting for mosquitoes is dawn and dusk, try to have your arms and legs fully covered when outside!- If stung by a bee or wasp, most people can have some sort of severe reaction to them. Make sure to constantly track and monitor any nests that could be growing around your home. If you do encounter a bee or wasp, make sure you act calmly around them because it can be dangerous if you disturb them.
- Bats become more and more common over the summer, especially in August. If you found a bat in your home you should never bats should never be handled them at any time. Your best option is to contact a professional to help take care of the problem.
If you have any problem with any of these types of pest over the summer, contact Absolut Pest Control at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form!
Helpful Facts About Carpenter Ants
Identifying Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are among the largest types of ants living in the United States. These type of ants are usually 3.4 to 13mm and black, sometimes they have reddish-brown or yellow color to them. Carpenter ants can cause serious damage to your home, so it’s important you are able to identify them early on.
Facts About Carpenter Ants
The place that these ants call home is usually in moist, decaying conditions like hollow, rotted wood.A fact about carpenter ants is that they don’t eat wood, unlike other termites. Instead of eating the wood in your home, the carpenter ants simply remove the wood to make space for their nests. The reason they create these large galleries is to continue to grow and expand their colony.
Carpenter ants like to eat food that is sweet and has protein, like leftover food that you may have forgotten to clean up after your dinner. They also have been known to eat other insects so that could also add to the insect problem in your home. If you notice any wood dust and debris, it could mean that their nest is nearby.
If you believe you have a carpenter ant problem in your home, contact Absolut Pest Control at 978.388.4589 or fill out our contact form online!