Winter Rodent Control Checklist

How to implement rodent control for your winter home in Atlanta GA - Active Pest ControlMany people think pest problems only occur in the summer, but rodent infestations are very common in the winter! According to The National Pest Management Association (NPMA), 21 million homes in the U.S. are invaded by rodents each winter. As temperatures drop, rats and mice will look to make their way indoors for warmth and shelter. To avoid the diseases and destruction brought from rodent infestations, it’s important to implement rodent control into your home each year. Keep reading for Active Pest Control’s top tips for rats and mice prevention in the winter.

Do Rats & Mice Hibernate?

While some animals—certain rodents included—hibernate during the colder months, rats and mice stay active throughout the winter. Because they remain active in these months, they are even more compelled to enter homes to escape the cold outdoors. Once inside, they will nest and spread. In addition to their destructive gnawing and tunneling, rat droppings are capable of spreading disease. Because rodent infestations are so common in the winter, it’s essential to protect your home from them.

8-Point Rodent-Proofing Checklist

Winter Rodent Control Checklist - Active Pest ControlThere are eight spots in particular around your property that are vulnerable to rodent intrusions. By routinely checking the following areas, you can locate where rats and mice may attempt to make their way indoors. It’s important to make any repairs promptly and, in general, keep a tidy home and yard to prevent rodents. The eight main locations to check and make repairs include:

  • Roof
  • Vents
  • Screens
  • Vegetation
  • Gutters
  • Outside
  • Garage
  • Foundation

 

Winter Rodent Prevention

If after reviewing our 8-point checklist, you discover areas of your home needing repair, or more specifically, areas showing definite pest activity, the experts at Active Pest Control can help. We specialize in preventing pest problems before they begin, which is why we can help implement rodent control for your home for the winter. To learn more about protecting your home from rats and mice, give our team a call today!

Prevent Winter Pests in Your Home

A rodent is one of the many types of winter pests that may invade your GA home in the winter months - Active Pest ControlEveryone knows pests are a problem in the spring and summer months, but what about in the winter? Unfortunately, pests don’t disappear with the colder weather. In fact, many pests will look for ways to enter homes to escape the dropping temperatures, which is why infestations are common in Georgia winters. To protect your property from pest problems in the winter, it’s important to implement pest control and prevention.

Winter Pest Infestations

Certain insects will enter a state of diapause in the winter to wait out the cold months in favor of warmer weather. These include stink bugs, cluster flies, boxelder bugs, and Asian lady beetles. Other pests to be wary of in the winter months include:

  • Rats & mice. House mice and Norway rats in particular are known to squeeze their way indoors during the cold months.
  • Cockroaches. The German cockroach will hitchhike inside in boxes and can spread right under your nose.
  • Spiders. House spiders are typically harmless and can be found in dark, secluded areas of the home.
  • Bed bugs. Known to withstand extreme temperatures, bed bug problems are a threat during the winter.

How to Prevent Winter Pests

To protect your property from winter pests, it’s important to implement preventative measures into your home maintenance routine. This includes thoroughly inspecting your home on a regular basis to locate vulnerabilities. One of the most important measures you can take is to seal cracks and crevices outside your property to keep pests from making their way inside. In addition, you should place screens over vents and chimneys, store firewood away from your property line, promptly fix leaks or broken pipes, and keep a clean home to prevent winter pests.

Is Winter Pest Control Necessary?

Just like you, pests want to escape the cold temperatures during the winter. In their hunt for food and shelter, they may enter your home easier than you want to believe. It’s crucial to implement preventative steps to prevent pests in the winter. Active Pest Control can be trusted to help protect your property from winter pests and other pest problems throughout the entire year. Call our team today to learn more about our winter pest control services!

Local Atlanta School Battling With Mice

When you have a mouse in the house or in your business it is a very concerning matter. Instantly, you move into gear and do everything you can to quickly eliminate these harmful rodents including calling in the experts at Active Pest Control. Good move! Although setting up traps in your home or office will catch a few mice, this method is certainly not an aggressive enough plan to rid your space of all the mice that have set up shop inside your walls. Mice are very social creatures, and when you see one you can be sure there are dozens more lurking close by. This is a fact that Sedalia Park Charter Elementary School has learned firsthand.

This Cobb County school has been battling field mice since September, and losing. On the website for the Atlanta Journal – Constitution, it is noted that despite setting traps for this mouse infestation the mice have continued to thrive. The article stated that: “In order to control the mice, school officials have set traps outside the building and in classrooms, sealed visible holes and trimmed trees and bushes bordering the school, according to a letter Principal Karen Wacker sent to parents on Friday…Despite the traps, officials noticed mice in another part of the school after Thanksgiving break.”

Unfortunately, this is a common scenario when trying to fight an infestation of mice without the help of a professional. Eliminating rodents takes a multi-faceted approach which can include the use of pesticides, baits, and exclusion methods. In order to effectively apply these techniques, the assistance of an educated and experienced pest care professional is necessary. After all, one battle with mice is enough, without having them return a few months later because the ‘super highway’ they used to enter in the first place was never shut down!

If you have found that you too are battling with mice this winter, give us a call. Here at Active Pest Control we have the best and the brightest in pest control working to ensure your pest issue is dealt with in a timely and effective manner. We have been successfully eliminating pests for almost 40 years here in Atlanta. That’s a lot of hands-on experience waiting to work for you. Don’t let mice get the upper hand; call us today and experience the difference the Active Pest Control team makes!

4 Reasons Pests Love the Holidays

What do you love most about the holidays? We’re guessing that spending special time with family and friends is way up at the top of the list, but bugs and wildlife have a different list. Here are the things those pests love most about this festive season.

Oh, Christmas tree. As you’re singing this Christmas tune, remember that there are lots of pests that love those Christmas trees. The one you need to watch out for most is spiders. These creatures leave their eggs in trees. When these egg sacks get into your nice warm house, they are going to think it is springtime–and that will lead to lots and lots of baby spiders decorating your walls. Be sure to shake your tree vigorously before you bring it inside. This can dislodge egg sacks, and also loose needles, from those festive boughs.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Bugs and rodents love to be warm. If they figure out that it is warm inside your house, you may have some uninvited company this holiday season. There isn’t much you can do about this particular attractant. It isn’t practical or comfortable to keep the temperature set at 32°F all winter long, but what you can do is keep those pests out. Inspect the exterior of your home for rotted holes or other openings and use a caulking gun to fill them in. Make sure all your weather stripping and door sweeps are working properly, and inspect your door and window screens for holes.

Dashing through the snow. Holiday is a time for travel, but we’re not the only ones who love to travel during the holidays. This is a prime season for bed bugs to spread. If you plan to spend the night somewhere away from home, be sure to learn how to detect these pests and prevent them from laying their eggs in your clothing or luggage. Bed bug eggs do not need the mother to hatch. That means a single batch of eggs tucked in your belongings could result in a full-blown infestation in a few short months.

You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel. This line from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas gives us a hint at something else those pests love the holidays for. They love food. But not just any kind of food, they specifically enjoy rotting food. That is why it is important to make sure you throw away any pantry items that are past their due date, and consider keeping items that come in cardboard or paper packaging sealed inside hard plastic containers instead. This will help those items last longer and keep all forms of pests out.

Protect your family this holiday season by properly shaking your tree, sealing your walls, learning what signs bed bugs leave behind, and keeping food sources away from those pests. And always remember that the team at Active Pest Control is here if you need us. Happy holidays!

Mouse-Free Thanksgiving

Before you know it, your doorbell will be ringing, and your house will be filling with family and friends gathering to share in the joy of the holidays with you. Can’t you just smell the turkey as it slowly roasts in the oven? Your nose fills with the tantalizing scent of the sausage, onion, bread, rosemary, thyme, garlic, and sage as they join together in harmony slowly perfecting that holiday stuffing. Then there is the abundance of vegetables that are all adorned with a hefty heap of butter as they slowly steam filling the air with the smell of yum! And who can forget that sweet, delectable scent of the warm apple pie, blueberry pie, or pumpkin pie that tries to entice you to have a dessert first? There is absolutely nothing in the world as wonderful to the senses as Thanksgiving!

All of this, however, only serves to remind you of all the work and preparation that is still left to do; and all of it must be completed in just a few short days. There is shopping to do and baking to bake, and, Oh that dreaded housework that must be done to perfection. Let’s see, vacuuming, washing windows, scrubbing floors and bathrooms, making up the guest rooms……so much work, so little time! Now to the kitchen! The refrigerator must be cleaned and polished to a shine and so does the stove. The china must be taken from the hutch, washed, and stacked for display. Then off to the pantry to organize so the relatives don’t see the disorganized mess that usually lives there.

You think you are on the last bit of housekeeping, when all of a sudden you see it! The side of the tapioca box has a little chew mark on it. At first, you wonder if you accidentally tore it when you opened it, but then you realize something used teeth on that tear. You frantically begin to sweep boxes and cans side to side searching, and then you find it! Those little blackish, oval pieces of yuck – that mice deposited after eating your dry goods – are right there in plain sight. Why hadn’t you noticed them before you wonder as you go to work disinfecting the pantry cupboards?

Once you disinfect, deodorize, and eliminate all the germs you possibly can, you pick up your cell phone and call Active Pest Control. You realize that if there are signs of mice, then there are mice; and mice are too social for there to be just a few. There is no way that you can serve those you love knowing that those germy little disease carrying rodents have invited themselves for dinner and have been crawling all over your dishes, food, and silverware! You also know that the professionals here at Active Pest Control have made our company one of the top 25 pest control companies in the country and that Active Pest Control is known for fast, effective, safe, Eco-friendly pest control services.

That doorbell rings – for real this time -, and your house is soon full of guests for Thanksgiving dinner. As you pull that turkey, steaming hot, from the oven, you think back to that phone call to Active Pest Control. You remember how Active Pest Control showed up the very next day and completely took care of those mice, and now that you have the Active Pest Control Complete plan working for you, you never have to worry about pests ruining your day again! A smile breaks over your face as you realize that a huge crisis was quickly and safely averted by the trusted hands of the Active Pest Control family.