Rats
Brown rat, Common rat, Norway rat, Sewer rat, Rattus norvegicus
Average Norway rat is about 16 inches total length and weighs about 12 ounces or 340 grams. They reach sexual maturity in 75-90 days and their average litter is 6 to 14 pups. And they can easily have 3 to 6 litters in a year, but in perfect conditions, they can actually have between 10 and 12. Ideal means living inside a structure with no predators or whether to combat.
Earwigs
Dermaptera
Earwigs are an outdoor insect which becomes a major problem once they move indoors. They usually invade in the late summer and early fall, generally at night. They have a different physical appearance with two pincers protruding from their rear. They are considered pests because of their appearance and foul odour when crushed. Treating inside and fully outdoors is the only way to control earwigs.
Mice
House mouse, Mus domesticus
Average house mouse (which is more common) is 5 to 8 inches total length and can weigh about 1 ounce or 36 grams. The house mice in ideal conditions can produce offspring from 2 to 13 mice after a gestation period of 18 to 21 days.
Interesting to note that the house mouse is the most intensely investigated animal of all mammals besides humans. With newer and established mouse populations a female can produce 6 to 10 litters spaced between 30 to 50 days accounting for possibly 42 to 60 offspring in a year. The only thing that affects this would be temperature, food supply, and competition. The same as rats, the ideal condition for mice to thrive is an indoor structure like home or factory.
Carpenter Ants
Camponotus modoc, Camponotus vicinus
Carpenter ants are tenacious insects which left untreated can do thousands of dollars in damage behind the walls, completely undetected by the homeowner. Carpenter ants usually establish nests in a number of locations throughout a home. The parent colony consists of a queen, its brood and over 2000 worker ants. They then have satellite colonies in different areas with workers but no queen. She will never leave the main nest.
These ants are nocturnal by nature so you could have thousands of ants in the walls yet only see 4 or 5 at a time. To have an effective treatment you must kill the queen ant. Most Pest Companies only do a baseboard treatment and place some dust near a wall plug but that will never reach the nest.
Damage Done by a Carpenter Ant
Our service treats the entire home from top to bottom with an odourless insecticide. We concentrate on the foundation where they enter the home, the water pipes where they must go for water as well as the attic where 80% of the nests occur. If you do not treat these areas you are just masking the problem. We use the safest products available. We do free estimates and have a written guarantee for one full year.
Bedbugs
Common bedbug, Cimex lectularius
Bedbugs were virtually wiped out over 50 years ago due to aggressive pesticides like DDT. However, in the past few years, they are becoming a major problem again in all of North America including the entire GTA area according to the National Pest Control Association. Adult bedbugs are ¼ inch long and feed on blood. They mainly come out at night and they are translucent until they fill themselves up with blood.
Hatchlings are so small they can pass through a stitch-hole in a mattress. Even adults with their flat bodies can slip into tiny cracks in any furniture in your home.
Bedbugs Treatment
They are almost impossible for the homeowner to treat. Pesticides available in hardware stores will not work and they also have to be approved to spray on mattresses. Our technicians treat all mattresses in the home, all dressers and drawers as well as baseboards. Chairs and furniture must be treated as well. We use only MOE approved water-based odourless insecticides that are registered for this procedure. As well we use the latest Micro Injector technology that actually injects a fine mist into the mattress and furniture where the insects live and breed. With our system you will not have to throw out your mattress or furniture and our service is fully guaranteed in writing.
Grain Beetles
Coleoptera
These are pesky little creatures that come out of your pet food, rice, cookies, flour, etc. There are many different species we deal with but mainly they all feed on stored products you bring home from your local food stores who brought it in from their manufacturer. The larvae stage generally feed on the same food as the adults.
Roaches
German cockroach, Blattella germanica
In our area, we deal mainly with three types of roaches. They are Oriental, German and the Brown Banded cockroach (picture below). All of these are nocturnal type insects that prefer dark places. Roaches can come into your home in many different ways such as in boxes, groceries used clothing and appliances.
Treatment for infestation
If the infestation is bad we will use insecticides and a fogging machine for total control but in most cases we are using a paste called Max Force which the roaches ingest to kill them. The Max Force is very safe and the homeowner does not have to go through the trouble of cleaning out all of their food and dishes as they would for a spray treatment.
The paste will continue to work in most situations for up to a year. It is widely used now in most food establishments and hospitals because it is so safe.
Ants
Common black ant, Garden ant, Lasius niger
There are many different species of ants in our area but the one that can do the most damage to the homeowner is the Carpenter Ant. They are the largest ants found in the United States and Canada. If left untreated, they can do major damage to the home’s structure over a period of time. They are social insects and generally nest in wood.
Meal Moths
Indian meal moths the most common
Most of the damage to food is done by the larvae. The adults however, are generally what you would see when they fly after the larvae/pupae stage. For proper control, all open food unfortunately must be discarded, cupboards cleaned out and washed and then properly treated with an insecticide.
Fleas
Cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis
Fleas are generally 1/8 of an inch long, wingless, laterally flattened and have piercing-sucking mouthparts. Fleas undergo a complete metamorphosis and after each blood meal lay 4 to 8 eggs at a time. The female can lay 4 to 8 hundred in her lifetime. Eggs hatch in about 10 days. Adult fleas feed on blood within two days of becoming an adult.
Effective treatment requires 3 major steps: sanitation, insecticide application and animal flea control with bathing or advantage from your Vet.
The entire location must be treated to get complete control including furniture, beds, carpets, and baseboards. We deal with flea problems 12 months of the year.
Urban Wildlife
Racoons, squirrels, etc.
Raccoons and squirrels have become a major problem in the last few years in urban centres. I believe this is due to the massive building boom and warmer winters we have been experiencing. As soon as they enter your premise they become a major concern to you. Raccoons and squirrels both have the ability to do a lot of structural damage in a home.
Raccoons tend to go inside more to nest when having babies and squirrels seem to inhabit for the same reason but generally do not want to leave once they have arrived.
Hantavirus
The Hantavirus is a disease in mice that was first detected in the American South-West in the late 1980’s and eventually found its way into Canada and Ontario. The Deer Mouse is the principal carrier of this disease thus far and it is transmitted by inhalation of particulate matter found in feces and urine droppings. Disease mortality in humans is approximately 60%. If you have Deer Mice you should be very careful when cleaning up droppings.
Our goal is to completely eliminate all rodents
We use an Integrated Pest Management Program (IPM) which is a way of working smart with a comprehensive attack plan for maximum control with the least amount of risk to our customer and the environment. This involves identification to determine populations, or if there are sanitation issues and then implement and plan for a solution tailored to each home and property.
Sanitation is important. Try not to leave food out, and if you have pets try not to leave their food ion a bowl overnight as rodents are nocturnal and move around generally after dark and when you are asleep. Bird feeders and composters are a common attraction not only for birds and squirrels but also rats and mice. If they find a feeding source they will nest, live and populate in close vicinity. If you use these, you must be vigilant and keep them far away from your home.
Why So Many Rodents
Mice and Rats are Commensal rodents which are defined as sharing one’s table or food. They typically share all food they find within their own family which at times can be quite large. Mice and Rats reproduce rapidly and a female mouse can produce up to 56 offspring annually and a single female Norway Rat can produce over 60 offspring within a year. They reproduce year-round in stable environments if inside a home or building with adequate food, water and harborage. They enter homes by squeezing through small openings, a mouse a space of 5/16ths of an inch and a rat a 1/2 inch. Common entry points are under garage doors, space where the soffit ends near the brick outside, where a central Vac tube enters a home and the Air Conditioner hose from the main unit that goes into the home.
With the population growth in Southern Ontario in the last few years and the addition of many new highways, mice are quickly losing their natural habitat. This, in turn, drives them indoors looking for shelter as they prefer dark nesting spots. As well, a big factor is the constant use of outdated and over-the-counter rodenticides used by the homeowners. The relative toxicity is very low and over time the rodents build up immunities to them. As professional technicians, we are licensed to use different formulations that are much more effective for long-term control. We use anti-coagulants, which are blood thinners added to a very palatable meal bait that reduces the clotting ability in rodents, thus eliminating any odor problems as well.
