Ants in My Chattanooga House?

It’s springtime again – Time to enjoy the fresh air, beautiful sunshine, colorful blossoms, the smell of flowers in the air, and lines of ants on the kitchen floor. Okay, you probably aren’t going to enjoy that last one, but ants are definitely part of spring. When temperatures warm, ants will make their presence known. Here are some ants you’re likely to find in or around your Chattanooga home.

Little Black Ants

These tiny creatures are dark brown or jet black and can be found all throughout the United States. They range in size from the 1.5mm worker ants, to the 4mm queens. They have antennae with 12 segments, and a thorax that is unevenly rounded. While these tiny critters have a stinger, it is too small to be a threat to humans or pets. Being an omnivorous insect, little black ants will eat anything from sweets and vegetables to greasy, oily foods. If they get into your pantry or on your counters, they can contaminate foods, but other than this, they are only a nuisance pest.

Odorous House Ants

These stinky little critters also live in most of the country and measure from about 1/16 to ⅛ of an inch in length. They have brown to black bodies, twelve segments in their antennae, and a thorax that is uneven. Foods these ants like to eat include honeydew, meats, sugary foods, dairy products, and vegetables. Odorous house ants, like the name suggests, give off a bad smell when they are crushed. It has been described as the smell of rotten coconut. Other than this unpleasant characteristic and the possibility of contaminating food items, these ants are mostly a nuisance pest.

Carpenter ants

Carpenter ants are black or reddish-black. They are easily distinguished from other ants by their larger size and their heart-shaped heads. They have a smooth thorax, can be found throughout the U.S., and are far more than just a nuisance.

If you are seeing little black ants or odorous house ants in your home, there is little cause for alarm, but when carpenter ants appear, you’re going to want to take notice. Carpenter ants tunnel through wood and create galleries, and it is possible for these pests to be inside the wood of your home or inside decks and outbuilding for many years without being detected.

If you’re seeing ants in your Chattanooga home, Active Pest Control has a solution that will work for you. With 5 decades of experience and a ranking as one of the top 25 pest control companies in the United States, we are equipped to take care of any pest problem you’ll find in your home this spring–including ants.

Spring is better without ants. Give it a try with pest control you can trust from Active Pest Control.

Keeping Cockroaches Out

They slip out of cracks at night to eat the rotten sludge between your stove and counter. Their disease-covered feet sink into the butter someone left out on your sideboard. They leave feces on the inside of your toaster. Grossed out yet? You should be. Cockroaches are probably the most disgusting creatures the world has ever known. But what’s worse is they are notoriously hard to get rid of. Some cockroaches are able to survive an entire month without food, and cockroaches in general are extremely adaptable to many environments. Legend has it that they could survive a nuclear war, though this is a bit of an exaggeration. They can withstand radiation poisoning for a relatively long period, but they will ultimately succumb to its effects.

Keeping Roaches Out

Yes, they may be hard to get rid of but keeping them out in the first place is possible with a little hard work.

  • Repair any water leaks in pipes, sinks, appliances, etc. Dry up any standing water around tubs, toilets, or anywhere else wetness can be found. Place fans or dehumidifiers in places that are moist or humid.
  • Carefully clean your kitchen, paying close attention to hard-to-reach places such as between the stove and counter, underneath the refrigerator, and inside your toaster.
  • Wipe out cupboards and drawers with a soapy cloth.
  • Don’t leave dirty dishes on the counter. If you can’t wash them right away, place them in a sink full of soapy water.
  • Store all food in the refrigerator or inside sturdy containers with tightly fitted lids.
  • Vacuum thoroughly, especially where there are food remnants present. Don’t forget areas such as underneath couch cushions and behind beds.
  • Only put pet food down at mealtimes, otherwise; store the food in a container with a lid.
  • Carefully inspect the outside of your home, looking for gaps and cracks. Pay attention to areas where appliances, pipes, or wires enter the home. Seal up any holes using a caulking gun.
  • Check all screens and door sweeps and make sure they are in good repair.
  • Make sure mulch, trees, bushes, and other vegetation are kept at least a foot or more from your home. Roaches and other pests use these as bridges.
  • Dry up any standing water near your foundation. If you have birdbaths, place them as far from your house as possible.
  • Do not leave pet food, or any other food, outdoors. Clean your grill area after each use. If you have bird feeders, consider removing them or placing them far from your home.
  • Make sure all garbage containers have tightly fitted lids and store them away from your home.

Once They Have Infested:

It may be possible to keep cockroaches out on your own. However, once they have breached your defenses and taken root in your house, they can be extremely difficult to eradicate without professional help. Keep in mind that, if you have seen one cockroach there are most likely hundreds, if not thousands, more living in your walls. Here at Active Pest Control, we offer several pest plans to help you live pest-free*. With almost 40 years of pest control experience, Active Pest Control can get rid of cockroaches for you. Don’t wake up to cockroach footprints in your butter. Get help today.

Your Pets & Pests

Pet owners know that when the weather warms up it’s time to think about pest control for their pets. We have a black lab who loves to be outside as much as possible. With our landscaping being a work in progress it is extremely important for us to treat him for things like fleas and ticks. We also need to watch out for heartworms that are transmitted through mosquito bites. We pet owners love our pets as part of our family. It is important to keep them healthy and safe all year long. Keeping them safe from summer pests is just one of the many things we do to keep our furry friends healthy and safe.

Let us start with flea prevention. This is a very common problem to have with household pests. Fleas can easily jump onto your pet and make their way into your home. They can become an incredible nuisance to your pet and your home. They leave itchy red bite marks on their body. Sometimes your pet can be allergic to fleas and have a more serve reaction causing them to lose hair or develop rashes. The best way to prevent fleas from using your pet as a host this summer is to treat them regularly with a flea repellent treatment. There are many different options to choose from. They have ointments to apply on their backs or a pill to take once a month. It is best to consult your veterinarian as to what type of flea control is best for your pet.

Ticks are also a common problem to deal with during the warmer months. Ticks will hide out in tall grassy areas waiting for their next host. Once they find one they latch on. They can transmit diseases to your pet like Lyme disease. This can be a very serious threat to your pet. The threat of ticks has become so common that tick repellent is now usually included in flea repellent products. Most flea repellents will work to repel fleas and ticks. Ask your veterinarian about what options would work best for your pet.

Mosquitoes are not just a nuisance to your pets during the summer months, they can also transmit heartworms to your dog or cat. Heartworms are a serious threat specifically to dogs. Once a dog has been bitten by an infected mosquito it takes about 7 months for the larva to develop into adult worms. They spread out in the heart and lungs. These worms can be 12” long and live 5-7 years. A dog can have up to 250 of these worms in its system. It is very important to treat your dog with heartworm medication throughout the mosquito season. Ask your vet about heartworms and how to keep your pet’s heartworm free.

If you would like to pest proof your property, than you need to contact the professionals here at Active Pest Control. We offer pest prevention plans that are safe for your pets. This can really make a difference on how you and your pets enjoy the outdoors this summer. We can greatly lessen the chance of exposure that you and your four-legged family member have to tics, mosquitoes, fleas and many other common pests! Show your pets some real love with a home pest prevention plan custom tailored for you.

Seeing Ants In Your Georgia Home?

It just so happens that your home provides everything an ant and several hundred of it’s friends need to survive. We’re talking about food and shelter. If gaps around doors and windows or cracks in the foundation are present, these pesky ants will slip right in. You’ll likely see them hanging out in the kitchen, bathrooms and other areas of the home you’d consider off limits to these foraging pests.

Here in Atlanta, we deal with both nuisance ants and wood destroying ants. Nuisance ants are relatively harmless. Their presence in your home is annoying but not considered threatening. If they trek through your pantry or across those cookies on your counter, you might want to throw out the food but you don’t have to worry about a bigger health threat. The carpenter ant is a wood destroying ant and again is not dangerous to your health. The same cannot be said for wood structures. Carpenter ants don’t eat wood like termites do but they do tunnel through to create galleries. They may even establish satellite colonies in your walls. Left untreated, carpenter ants can inflict significant damage to a structure.

So to recap, if you are seeing ants in your home, it’s because they’ve found a way in and are liking the accommodations. Now how to fix this problem.

To prevent ants from getting inside, you must start on the outside. You’ve got to make sure that the exterior of the house is sealed tight. That means any tiny hole or gap is identified and corrected. Next you will want to make sure that all hedges and shrubs are trimmed away from your home. Though they look nice, landscape elements often provide a nice bridge to the house.

Moving indoors, you must be sure to eliminate any potential food sources. Food on the counters and open packages in the pantry must be outlawed in your home if you want to deter ants. Use containers that seal to hold food. Crumbs and spills should be cleaned up right away as well. Don’t forget to run a cleaning cloth under the toaster and sweep under the major appliances to get rid of crumbs hiding.

If you already have an ant infestation in your home, Active Pest Control offers effective home pest control services that get rid of ants and other household pests. Best of all, our program protects your home all year round. Contact us today to find out how our Atlanta pest control pros can help you solve your ant problem!

Get Your Chattanooga Home Ready For Sale

If you were considering the prospect of selling your home, it may be time. Last year, Chattanooga realtors saw the greatest number of home sales since the recession of 2006, and they are expecting 2015 to be an even bigger year. Not only that, median sale prices on homes in Chattanooga are up 5.9 percent from 2013, making the average home $147,900. And, the good news keeps coming, as last month Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reduced down payment requirements from 5 to 3 percent. It is finally time for millennials (ages 25-34) to get out there and buy their dream home. That home may be yours. Are you ready to sell?

Spring cleaning tips for prepping your home.

When those potential buyers stop by, you want them to leave with the best impression possible. It has never been more important to do proper spring cleanup.

  • Lawn: Now that winter has passed, make sure all twigs, leaves and other debris is picked up off your lawn. Use an herbicide to get rid of weeds. And, check to make sure your inground sprinkler system is still working, if you have one.
  • Deck or Patio: Sweep, clean, stain and reseal your deck or patio.
  • Water build up: Make sure your gutters are in good working order and that water is being channeled away from your home. To avoid injury, hire a professional to clean your gutter and downspouts. It is well worth the $100 to $200.
  • Roof: Look for cracks or missing shingles and make sure your roofline is in good shape.
  • Exterior walls: Look for any rotted or chew holes where water and pests have eaten away at your wood. Look in hard-to-see areas because a home inspector is likely to check these areas for their client.
  • Chimney: Examine your chimney for efflorescence, a white calcium deposit that is a warning sign of water absorption.
  • Windows and screens: Replace any broken or damaged screens, weather stripping and door sweeps.
  • Leaks: Inspect your home for leaky faucets, spigots or pipes. If you find puddles or areas of moisture, have a plumber take care of these trouble spots.
  • Lights: Make sure all your lights work.
  • Clean: Spring clean everything and get rid of unnecessary clutter.
  • Pests: Make sure all trash cans have sealable lids and that they are in a place where they can’t be knocked over. Get rid of spider webs outside. And do an inspection of your attic for nests or dens. Hire a pest control professional to do an inspection and offer options to keep your home pest-free* during the sale process.

Hopefully, you will have a quick and profitable sale. But sometimes it can take a while. Maintain a pest treatment plan to avoid damage from wood chewing pests and to give your home a pest-free* feel every time buyers come to visit.

7 Ways To Prevent Pests This Spring

Are you looking for help with home pest control in Rome, GA? We are here to help you get started on protecting your home from pests this spring season. As the weather warms up, pests will begin to emerge, looking for food, water and possibly a new shelter. If they can find access into your home, then they have hit the jackpot. Your home provides a large, warm sheltered area to live and hide out in. There is plenty of food sources and water that is available, no matter what season. If pests find these items, food, warmth and water, then your home will become the new hot spot for pests. They will try their best to stay out of your sight, adapt quickly and start to multiply. This means that by the time you notice pests in your home, there could already be a full infestation in your walls, attic, basement or crawl space.

Here are seven helpful tips to keeping your home pest free this spring season:

  1. The first step to keeping pests out of your home is to not allow them access into your home. This means making sure to seal up any cracks on the exterior of your home. There may be cracks or gaps found around venting, window, doors, piping and wiring. You may also want to double check your foundation for any entry ways. These gaps do not have to be very big to let pests in.
  2. You are also going to want to make sure that all your food is sealed in airtight containers. If pests do get into your home, you are not going to want to give them access to any food sources. This also applies to pet food as well.
  3. Make sure that you also seal up trash containers inside and outside your home. Rodents, like raccoons, are notorious for getting into trash around homes.
  4. When you are landscaping this spring, make sure that shrubs, bushes and trees are well groomed and kept away from your home. These items can help make a bridge for pests to cross to get into your home. They also offer a good hiding place for pests while they forage around your home for food.
  5. Store any wood items at least 20 feet from your home. Wood piles attract pests, like termites and carpenter ants, to your home.
  6. Make sure that your home has proper venting in attics and crawl spaces so that there is no moisture build up. Also, make sure to fix any leaking pipes as soon as possible. Pests are attracted to moist areas in your home.
  7. If you would like help dealing with home pest control in Rome, you can contact a local professional pest exterminator to help you eliminate pests and setup a year-round pest control program to protect your home.

Rome pest control can be a daunting task. Take your time and call a professional, if you would like assistance dealing with pests. Don’t let pests put a damper on your spring, call the pest professionals at Active Pest Control today to learn more about spring pest prevention and control!

Spring Bug Control In Chattanooga

Do you like it when bugs crawl all over everything? Of course not. No one does. But a surprising number of people put up with it every year. Make this the year that you say, “enough is enough, bugs!” Okay. You don’t have to actually say it. But you should look into partnering with your local pest management company.

When the temperature begin to warm up, those bugs that are living in your attic, wall voids, garage, and basement, are going to start looking for food. Going months without eating tends to make you a little hungry. That means the box elder bugs, cluster flies, stink bugs, lady bugs, wasps, and other overwintering pests are going to start coming out of the woodwork. They’ll be crawling on your kitchen walls, dying on your window sills, flying through your living room, and getting into everything.

Some of these pests are just a nuisance, but others can be a menace to your family. Cluster flies can spread illness and have you staying home from work with flu like symptoms. Wasps can have you running to the hospital with a screaming kid. And if you have the misfortune of running into a swarm of termites or carpenter ants, you’ll think the end of the world has finally come.

Prepping for the spring invasion is simpler than you think. Gingerly slip your hand into your pocket or pocket book, and gently slide out your phone. Now tap in the number for Active Pest Control. It’s 423-414-2736. Talk to the friendly person on the other side, and have them come and do an inspection. See? Easy. Hold on. Why are you looking at me that way? Are you worried about cost? Active Pest Control has packages starting at only $30. If you buy a coffee every day for an entire month, you’re going to spend around $45. Having a home with no bugs in it is way sweeter than a cup of coffee.

Stop and think about all the time this year you’ve dealt with pests. Did you have to deal with flies in the kitchen? Lady bugs all over your walls? Cockroaches in the pantry? Ants in the cabinet? Mice leaving droppings in your drawers? Pests can make you sick, eat your home, and bite and sting. When you have Active Pest Control protecting you, you can sleep easy–and not wake up with a hard shelled cricket crawling on your neck. Get your walls sealed, and keep those pests outside, where they belong. It’s just better that way.

Do Your Children Feed The Bugs?

Kids can be messy. Not your kids of course. I’m talking about other people’s kids. You know the ones. They make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich right on the counter and leave a gob of jelly for you to find later–usually because you put your forearm or hand on it. They leave a wake of half-eaten bread, candy and Pop Tarts on every surface in the house and surprise you with sticky morsels on the kitchen table, or unidentifiable crumbs in the cushions of the couch. It is one of the many joys of child rearing.

This propensity for uncleanness can often happen in a blink of an eye. I remember making hot dogs one day. I called my son in to get his. He was five years old and used to putting his own ketchup on his hotdog, so I paid him no mind. But something went wrong during the process and he managed to get a rather substantial amount of it on his hand. Before I could even form the words, “Don’t move,” he moved. With a speed that left my mind unable to fully comprehend what had happened he smeared the ketchup down the front of his shirt in one thick streak and looked up at me with surprise. Apparently, the ‘ol, “Wipe it off on the shirt trick didn’t quite work as well as he had planned.”

What I did not know back then as a young parent is that all those sticky spills, all those dobs of sugary foods, and all of those crumbs were the reason we had so many pests. It doesn’t take much to feed a bug, and my house was full of a veritable buffet of choice dishes.

If you have not painstakingly sealed your exterior walls, maintained your screens, and had your perimeter treated by a professional pest control company, bugs and rodents will visit your home. But what many people don’t think about is that these pests are looking for a food source. If you have open trash, food on the counters, dirty dishes stacked by the sink, and crumbs in your rug, pests will be motivated to stay. Without even realizing it, your kids are feeding those pests.

I’m not telling you to chase after your kids and wipe up every little spill, because that’s just crazy talk. I’ve raised two little piggies and it is hard work. I get it. But there is a solution. It lies in what I mentioned above. If you partner with a pest control company they will do all the hard work of sealing bugs and rodents out and you won’t have to work so hard at keeping everything clean. I’m not going to lie. You’ll still need to do a couple of things to make sure your home stays pest free, but there are easy things like making sure you don’t leave the door open as you bring groceries from the car to the house, and remembering to put fruit in the refrigerator instead of on the table where fruit flies can develop. Your pest technician will walk you through it.

Those kids are going to make some messes, but that doesn’t mean you have to live with the cockroaches, ants, flies, beetles, mice, rats, and everything else that wants to creep around your house and spread illness. Get your yard and exterior walls protected and get bug free for 2015.

Post Vacation Bed Bug Tips

You just got home from a relaxing vacation in the Caribbean…fast forward a few weeks and you have now realized that you brought home with you more than sea shells and trinkets. This unwanted souvenir is a bed bug and now all the unwinding you did in the tropics is completely overshadowed by the stress these pests have created. No one wants the memories of a great vacation replaced by bed bugs.

While bed bugs pose no known risks to the health of humans, that doesn’t mean anyone wants them in their home. Bed bugs generally only come out at night to feed. Their meal of choice, human blood. Sounds like something out of a horror movie doesn’t it? They leave behind red, rash-like bumps that itch. While they are more of a nuisance than anything, the idea of bugs crawling on you, biting you while you sleep can make it rather difficult to get any rest.

There are some things you can do to try to avoid a bed bug infestation after you get home from your trip.

  • Before you leave for you vacation, leave trash bags in your car. When you get home from your trip, put your luggage in the trash bags and leave them there until you are able to get them thoroughly cleaned.
  • While in your hotel, avoid unpacking your clothing. Don’t leave your suitcase on the floor, and if possible, leave your suitcase in the bathroom.
  • Take a few minutes to look around the crevices and cracks of the hotels mattress and bedding with a flashlight. If you think you see any signs of bed bugs, ask for a different room on a different floor.
  • When you get back from your vacation, remove your luggage from the tied off trash bags when you’re ready to wash your items. Wash all clothing in hot water as hot as your washing machine will allow. Anything that cannot be washed should be tossed, if at all possible.
  • Vacuum out your suitcase before you put it back in your closet and as close to the door as possible (outside would be best).
  • Keep an eye out for the signs of bed bugs once you get home. Signs include copper stains on sheets, discarded bed bug skins, rash-like red, itchy bumps on your body or spotting bed bugs or bed bug eggs.

If you think you may have brought bed bugs home with you from vacation, it is important to contact a professional as soon as possible. Bed bugs can multiply quickly and it doesn’t take long for a couple bed bugs to become an infestation and many over the counter pesticides won’t help with these guys! However, the pros at Active Pest Control can!