The French New Year and Pest Control

In America, there are many traditions that folks participate in to welcome in the new year. Among them are things like doing a countdown at midnight, kissing the person you are with, dressing in weird hats, using noisemakers, and, of course, eating lots of food. This last tradition seems to be a common one around the world. In France, certain types of cakes and tarts are associated with New Year’s Day. Heart-shaped cakes and log-shaped cakes made of ice cream are among the more popular. But the one that is really interesting, in our opinion, is a type of cake that has a paper crown upon its top, called King’s cake. This puff pastry, which contains a type of filling called frangipane, has a small treat hidden inside. If you are the lucky person to find the dried bean, small coin, or ceramic figure in your piece of King’s cake, you get to wear the paper crown and be King for the day!

So, what can we learn about pest control from this French New Year’s tradition? Well, sometimes you might find something inside your food, but you don’t get to be King for the day for finding it. When you have pests in your home they can spread harmful bacteria and illness wherever they go. Rodents, cockroaches, and flies are among the worst. If they get into food storage areas or land on food prep surfaces, you could get some unwanted microscopic things inside your food. This can lead to stomach illness, dysentery, fever, or worse.

Pest Prevention Tips

If you want to keep these dirty creatures, as well as other common pests, out of your Georgia home, here are some practical steps you can take:

  • Inspect your home for gaps or cracks and fill in holes using a caulking gun.
  • Trim bushes and tree limbs back away from your house.
  • Remove standing water from your yard.
  • Stack firewood off the ground and far away from your home.
  • Make sure all trash is in tightly sealed containers.
  • Keep your house free of crumbs and food spills.
  • Store all foods, including pet food, in tightly sealed plastic containers.

If you have done all these things, and you are still having trouble with invading pests, or if you simply would rather not take any chances, it may be time to consider a professional pest control company. Here at Active Pest Control we offer year-round pest control options. This plan eliminates common household pests, has rodent monitoring and control, and includes the Sentricon® Termite Colony Elimination System. Plus, we won’t charge extra for additional service between scheduled visits. If you would like to welcome in a pest-free* New Year, and not have to worry about finding illness-causing surprises in your cake, drop us a line today.

Happy New Year! From all the staff here at Active Pest Control, we look forward to partnering up with you for a pest-free* and stress-free 2016!

Termite Protection Is Crucial Protection

Did you know that termites cause over 5 billion dollars in damage annually in the United States?  It seems like an incredibly large number, doesn’t it?  Well, that’s because it is!  The reason this number is so high, and continues to grow, is because most people don’t even know that they have termites until the damage is extensive – often beyond repair!  These little pests do most of their eating, sleeping, breeding, and living deep in the bowels of your home.  This makes them extremely difficult for homeowners to discover.  An extremely attentive homeowner may notice some of the signs:  small piles of wings on the window sill, swarming ‘flying ants’ in the yard after a rain on a warm day, or small piles of ‘sawdust’ lying around in odd places; however, most homeowners can just brush these subtle signs away.  Besides, you may think, “Well, that’s why I have homeowners insurance,” but don’t think that too soon because most insurance carriers have a clause in their policies stating that they will not cover the cost of repair or replacement for damages caused by termites!  Talk about kicking you when you’re down!  This means that the majority of that $5 billion annually has to be absorbed by you – the homeowner!

In the not so distant history of pest control, the only point of attack of termite infestation was handled by trying to eliminate infestations after they occur, but often, they would return in a short amount of time.  It was not very effective, and often costly.  Thank goodness that we have discovered a far more effective way to deal with termites.  Exclusion!  That’s right; the newer way to deal with these pests is to not even let them in in the first place!  That is where a call to a pest control professional like Active Pest Control comes in.

Here at Active Pest Control, we use the Sentricon® Termite colony elimination system. This proven system monitors your yard and the boundaries of your home for termite activity, and when termites approach the discreet baiting stations they consume bait that will interrupt their growth and reproduction capabilities.  Not only that, but they love this bait even more than wood!  They are a social group and can’t wait to share this yummy snack with the rest of the colony; and, soon, the entire colony has been eliminated – before it could even enter your home!  It’s awesome!  Our trained specialists can inspect your property to locate any areas of easy access and help you eliminate those, and they can detect any current infestation inside your home and eliminate that as well.  Don’t become part of the statistics.  Protect your home, family and your pocketbook with a call to Active Pest Control today.  You’ll be glad you did.

What Is Termite Baiting?

When you hear the word bait, what do you think of? Does it conjure up an image of a man with fat fingers squeezing a worm onto a hook? Do you see him sitting in his boat or on shore waiting for the pole to bend so he can yank a giant fish from the water? If you do, it may seem impractical to use bait to catch something as small as a termite.

Now maybe you’re imagining a cup of worms being laid next to your home and all the termites squeezing out of the nooks and crannies to feast on it. After getting a belly full of poison they die in a big pile right there next to your basement wall–where they can be easily shoveled up and disposed of. You’re getting closer.

Some of you already know that termite bait doesn’t work anything like fish bait. You wisely relate it more to cockroach bait, and you are mostly right. Termite and roach bait are similar in many ways. Both are picked up by the insect and brought to where the “group” lives. And, both act as a toxin that continues to spread. But how it spreads differs.

Cockroaches and termites both have nasty habits. I know what you’re thinking, “Cockroaches and termites are nasty? I don’t believe it!” It’s true. And, it is these nasty habits that are exploited by the baits that are used to eradicate them.

Cockroaches are not picky eaters. They’ll eat toothpaste, hair, glue and even other dead cockroaches. When they eat a dead friend who was killed by toxic bait, they are poisoned by the bait, and soon die to become a meal for another roach.

Cockroaches also have a wonderful habit of leaving their excrement everywhere, and walking through the excrement of other roaches. Real nice, roaches. Real nice.

Termites go one step further with the whole “excrement” idea. They actually eat each other’s poo. This makes it even easier for a toxin to work its way through a colony. After the worker termites are eliminated, the colony is starved for food and goes into a suppression phase. As the colony starves, the queen starves. Without a queen, the colony dies.

If you’re looking to protect your home from termites, termite bait is the best way to go. It works to kill termites “before” they can damage your home. It isn’t perfect though. Sometimes the number of termites that take the bait from a bait station isn’t enough to fully eradicate the colony. But it is enough to warn a pest technician that there is a problem and zero in on where new bait should be placed. Call Active Pest Control and find out how a termite baiting system like the Sentricon© Termite Colony Elimination System can safely and effectively protect your home from termites.