Unwanted Winter House Guests

Norway and Roof Rats

With the dropping temperatures this coming season, you may become the unwilling host to some unwelcome winter guests: Rats. These animals often invade homes in search of warm winter nesting areas. Norway rats and Roof rats are commonly found here in the Southeast.

Norway and Roof rats have litters of 6-12 young born about 21 days after conception. Females have 4-6 litters per year. Their offspring can begin reproducing as early as 8 weeks after they are born, so it is not hard to understand just how quickly they can become a major problem inside your home.

Both species will eat nearly any type of food. They prefer cereal grains, meats, fish, nuts and fruit. They are primarily nocturnal, and they have a keen sense of smell to offset poor eyesight. These animals are destructive to property and foodstuffs. Their teeth never stop growing, so they constantly chew on things to keep their teeth filed down. They damage electrical wires, conduits, wood, and other substances causing potential hazards inside your home.  Their hairs and urine contaminate foods and dishes. They play an important part in the transmission of human diseases such as typhus, rat-bite fever, and bubonic plague.

Adult Norway rats weigh an average of one pound. Roof rats are slightly smaller on average. Norway rats usually construct nests in underground burrows or at ground level. Nests are lined with shredded paper, cloth, or other fibrous material. Roof rats usually frequent attics, building crossbeams and pipes. They often leave a dark colored layer of grease and dirt to mark their travel ways.

Control of rodents inside your home is included in our Quarterly Household Pest Program at no additional charge. Control of Norway rats can be achieved at the ground level or basement level, while Roof rat control measures must be used in attic spaces and areas above ground level. You should remove tree branches overhanging the roof of your house in order to reduce access to attic areas. Control is achieved with glueboards and snap traps, and other methods. Most rats have a strong tendency to avoid new objects in their environment. It may take several days before they will approach a control device such as a glueboard or snap trap.

Pest Control
17 January 2012 comment TrackBack-URI

WINTER DOWN TIME? NO SUCH THING

Winter is one of the most important treatment times for lawns,  shrubs, and pest control.

Winter is often perceived as being a slow, down time for the lawn and pest industry. This is a huge misconception. In fact, the winter treatments for lawns, shrubs, and indoor pests are some of the most important treatments done throughout

the year.

Lawns have a completely different group of weeds that appear during the winter months. The pre-emergent treatments we apply during the fall and winter help to greatly reduce these weed populations in lawns during the spring. Even though bermuda and zoysia lawns are dormant, the lime and root developing fertilizers we apply during this season dictate how healthy the lawns will be in the spring.

The dormant oil treatment applied to ornamental trees and shrubs in the colder months is a key factor in minimizing damage in the spring. By eliminating the over-wintering eggs from the summer insects, we can severely curtail early season insect populations that will begin to feed on plant foliage when the temperatures begin to increase.  We also fertilize trees and shrubs during the winter months. Our pressurized, deep-root method of tree and shrub fertilization gives woody ornamentals the nutrients they will need for vigorous spring and summer growth. The pressurized injection method aerates the root zones allowing for better root growth and development.  The deeper and stronger a plant’s roots are, the less damage it will receive from freezes, wind chill, and summer heat.

Many varieties of insects enter your home during the winter in search of warm nesting areas. These insects would often not choose to colonize inside your home, but are forced inside in search of warmth. The perimeter barrier we maintain around the foundation, windows and doors of your home effectively minimizes the number of insects that successfully enter the home and make their nests inside your walls.

It is a common misconception that nothing needs to be done when the grass is brown, the leaves have fallen and the temperature has dropped. In actuality,  the treatments we apply to your lawn, shrubs and home are extremely important to insuring good effective control of weeds and insects not only in the winter, but during the spring and summer months as well.

Lawn Care, Pest Control, Tree and Shurb
9 January 2012 comment TrackBack-URI

The Argentine Ant Invasion Continues in Georgia

As you go about your day, you stop and notice you have a trail of ants in your kitchen or bathroom. The first thing you do is spray them with a household bug killer. A few days later, they are back with friends and maybe even on the other side of your home. You then notice that they are coming from the walls and maybe even from the cracks in the floor. What kind of ants are these? Where did they come from? Why are they in my walls? These are questions I receive daily. I have been working at Top Turf for over four years. My name is Troy Prescott and I am “Your Neighborhood Pest Control Expert.” Let me answer some of these questions.

If this sounds like a problem you are having, then your home is being invaded by Argentine ants. Argentine ants are about 3/16 of an inch long and dark honey brown, not black. They entered Louisiana from South America about 100 years ago and have spread throughout the southern region of the United States. They arrived in Atlanta twenty years ago through transportation of potted plants and food shipments. Argentine ants have been invading homes ever since. Although they are not a poisonous type of ant, Argentine ants are very aggressive. They can completely eliminate other types of ant colonies and other insects to use as a food source.

Argentine Ants are in your walls, because they are nesting and looking for a food source. The larger the colony, the bigger the appetite. Argentine ants will utilize just about any food source they can find. I have seen them in microwaves, dishwashers and even refrigerators. That’s not all, if they are in your walls, then they are coming from somewhere outside. Argentine ants are most commonly found outside in mulch, pine straw, under rocks, in potted plants or any place that retains moisture.

If you find the trail of Argentine ants that is terrorizing your home, that is not necessarily the end of it. One trail of Argentine ants in Georgia has measured over 350 feet long. Argentine ants are difficult to eliminate, because they consist of a over a million worker ants and hundreds of queens. They have the ability to combine with other Argentine ant colonies over the winter months to form “super colonies” that nest just about anywhere.

Controlling Argentine ants is a difficult task. It is a year round problem that requires a thorough, long-term program. This program consists of correcting Argentine ant’s living conditions or as pest control technicals like to say, “condusive conditions”.

Pest Control
21 July 2009 comment TrackBack-URI