Integrated Pest Management

There are many pest control jobs that you can handle yourself with home remedies or products you buy over-the-counter. However, there are some pests, such as bed bugs, wood-destroying pests, and disease-bearing insects, that you’re generally better off leaving to a pest control professional. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to call in a professional for out-of-control infestations. It’s not always easy to know when the situation has gotten out of hand, though. Here are some warning signs that you need to call a professional pest control service.

1. You’re overwhelmed by their numbers.
While you may be able to handle pests in small numbers, it can be a different story when they number in the hundreds or more. If you find your basement or crawl space is teeming with creepy-crawlies, you probably have an extreme case that’s too big to handle on your own. Ants, termites, roaches, or other mass-reproducing insects can create a situation where you need to call a professional pest control expert.

Besides the nasty experience of battling such a large pest population, here’s the best reason to call in a professional exterminator: Taking on a job that’s too big will end up costing you more in time, energy and money for chemicals and supplies than the cost of having a professional do it. Read the rest of this entry »

If you get bedbugs, you don’t have to call a licensed pest control company, but you’d be foolish not to, is the take-away message from a warning issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last August. “Using the wrong pesticide or using it incorrectly to treat for bedbugs can make you, your family, and your pets sick,” the EPA said in a consumer alert quoted by The Hill Healthwatch online. “It can also make your home unsafe to live in – and may not solve the bedbug problem.”

Alarmed by reports of dangerous pesticide misuse and extreme measures being taken by some homeowners and apartment dwellers in do-it-yourself efforts to eradicate bed bugs, the U.S. EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a joint statement last July warning consumers against using outdoor pesticide products inside their homes in attempts to get rid of bed bugs. Reports from licensed pest control professionals in the field and news media of people dousing their beds, their pajamas and even bathing their children in garden insecticides has caused growing concern among government officials, the medical community, public health guardians, and the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). The use of harsh chemicals not approved by the EPA for residential use can cause severe burn-like irritation of the skin and eyes, possible damage to the central nervous system, and may even expose you to carcinogens. Read the rest of this entry »