Posts Tagged ‘Extermination’

First Ant Swarm of 2012

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

It’s official, Blue Chip Pest Services received its first Odorous House ant swarm call for the 2012 season.  Trust me when I say this is not normal. And even though we had a spring like 68 degree day last week that shouldn’t have been enough to cause a swarm.  But it did.

Normally a swarm won’t happen until early spring when we have several warm days stretched together with a little bit of rain.  This type of condition (warmth and rain) after a long winter makes for an excellent swarm environment for ants and termites.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident.  This is normally the one time of year most homeowner or business owners don’t have to worry to much about insect issues in or around their property. But if by some unnatural occurrence you too get a ant swarm, give us a call or get you DIY supplies at one of our three locations.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

 

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Putting away christmas decorations? Look out for Brown Recluse spiders.

Friday, January 6th, 2012

With the holiday season coming to an end most of us now have the task of putting all the decorations away until next year.  This is an excellent opportunity to get rid of all those cardboard boxes and upgrade your storage container to one that is more pest friendly.  Plastic storage containers help items stay dry, dust free and eliminates resting sites for brown recluse spiders and silverfish.

Unlike most insects that enter your home, the brown recluse will seek out undisturbed areas the hide out and rest.  For those of you who store cardboard boxes in the basement, the garage or attic this article is really for you.  Cardboard boxes provide an excellent hiding area for the brown recluse.  Because most boxes do not seal as well as plastic containers the brown recluse can easily find it’s way under a loose lid or an ill fitting seem.  Unfortunately for us, the next time we reach into the box there could be potential for the spider to bite us if we accidentally corner it or brush up against it.

So, if you have any concerns about brown recluse spiders or have had sighting or problems in the past, I strongly suggest using this type of storage container.  Now, this in no way means that a spider couldn’t get into a plastic storage container, but it does drastically reduce the odds of  this happening.  The better your container lids sits on the rim, the better your odds will be.

Lastly, if you have a brown recluse problem, just using a plastic container will not solve your problem.  Because the brown recluse spider bite is so dangerous, this is one pest that I do recommend the D.I.Y.’ers to hire professional pest control company come in to eliminate the problem.  It isn’t so much that the chemicals will be better than you can get at one of out retail stores, its the application of the materials in to the right spots and knowing what to look for that can only come from experience.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

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What Is An Over-Wintering Pest?

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

An over-wintering pest is a insect that does not die off in the winter time.  These insects will seek out a crack, void or hollow to ride out the winter cold.  Most of these over-wintering pests will find these places to hide out in the wild but unfortunately some of these insects happen to find our homes as inviting as we do. Over-wintering pests that are most commonly found in the St. Louis area are the Boxelder Bug, Asian Lady Beetle, Cluster Fly and Wasps.  These insects most commonly congregate on the sunny side of the house.  The reason they choose the sunny side is that the winter sun will heat up the wall void to give them some warmth.  Once the insects have gain entry into your home they can become a nuisance all winter as they will become active during warmer winter days.  The insects, once active, will go to the first sign of light.  The bad news for us homeowners is that the first light they see first may be coming from the inside and not the outside.  When this occurs, you will find dead (sometimes alive) on your inside window sills.

On my next couple of blogs, we will talk about each on of these commonly found over-wintering pests in more detail.  Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

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Squirrels – Only cute in the house of the St. Louis Cardinals

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Rally squirrel, rally squirrel,  I can hear the cry of the crowd.  Yes, even I have to admit it, the rally squirrel has captured this playoff run in a nice and positive way.  However, if you have a real squirrel problem at your home, watching it run up and around your home can cause some real damage and potentially could be the ruin of your home.

So why can squirrels be so much trouble?  The fact is, a squirrel living in your attic or soffit can cause your electrical wires to run hot and start a fire.  Squirrels, like some of the other animals that constantly have to gnaw on things to help their teeth from growing to long often confuse wires for tree branches and begin to gnaw on them.  This can and has caused major fires in home all across the world.

A few more reasons why squirrels living in your home can cause problems. Squirrels can introduce fleas into your home. As with any wild animal, fleas thrive on numerous hosts, squirrels included. Once a squirrel has found a nesting site, that area will also become infested with fleas.  So once a squirrel has been removed from the home, the fleas may find their way into your home looking for a new host.  The other reason why it’s important to remove a squirrel from your attic is because they will pick a few spots to use as their personal toilet. These areas can become so heavy from all the fecal matter and urine that it may cause water spots in the dry wall or even in some extreme cases cause the ceiling to cave in.

At Blue Chip, our certified animal specialists are trained for any type of animal removal possible.  We offer animal removal (live, trapped or dead), exclusion work and animal waste removal.  For the D.I.Y.’ers, visit one of our 3 stores for safe and secure live traps, we’ll even throw in the advice for free.

Please call us if you have any questions or concerns regarding these pests at 636-343-7900 or go to bluechipexterminating.com for more information regarding our service options.

 

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