How to Tell if Rats Are Still Living in Your Home

At Green Home Pest Control, we stand behind our work. If we are unable to eliminate a problem that we’ve promised to eliminate, we’ll come back for free until the job is done.

Yet some homeowners choose to take matters into their own hands, and use their own tools to control the problem. This is especially true of rat invasions. Many homeowners in Arizona lay out their own traps to see if they can control the problem themselves. They may even catch a rat or two, and sometimes that may be enough.

Are The Rats Still There?

Just because you eliminated a few rats, however, doesn’t mean the problem is gone. That is why it is important to keep an eye out to see if there are any signs that the rats are still present. Some of the most common signals include:

• Typical Sights and Sounds of Rats – Of course, the simplest way to know that rats are still living on your property is to pay attention to the same signs that you saw in the past. If you see any rat droppings, hear noises in the wall, or there is evidence that rats attacked your food or trash, you still have rats.
• Smell – Another common sign that rats are still on the property is the presence of “rat smell.” Rats tend to smell like ammonia, and although the smell can occur at any time, it is especially common after rats have first entered a property. NOTE: If the smell is mustier, it may be mice, not rats.
• Rats Outdoors – If you see rats outdoors, then there is a good chance rats are indoors as well. Rats tend to enter from the same spaces as other rats. Unless you also are confident you sealed your home after you first noticed rats, it’s likely other rats are entering.
• Rat Tracks – Finally, be on the look out for rat tracks. These are small lines on tile and hardwood floors that can be seen with a flashlight if you look closely, or if you sprinkle white powder on top of a suspected area. These tracks fade over time, so their presence is indicative of a rat problem.

Rats are excellent hiders and afraid of humans, so you may not see a rat in your home. But rats are not the best at cleaning up after themselves. If you inspect your home thoroughly, you should be able to see signs that rats are still present. If you’re not sure, call Green Home Pest Control today at 480-568-3752, and we’ll make sure the rats are eliminated.

See the original post: How to Tell if Rats Are Still Living in Your Home on our official Green Home Pest website.

What Indoor Pests May Make You Sick?

All indoor pests are a nuisance. But some pests represent a genuine danger to you and your family. Many types of pests carry or contribute to illness, which means that when they invade, they could cause harm to you and your family.

Identifying and Eliminating Disease Carrying Pests

Prevention is important, because many of the most common pests carry some type of disease, or can contribute in some way to making you sick. Some of these pests include:

• Cockroaches – Roaches can carry salmonella, and other bacteria that can make you sick. They also have oils and “roach dust” that can contribute to allergies and asthma.
• Rodents (Rats and Mice) – Both rats and mice carry bacteria and can cause allergens like cockroaches. But these pests can also carry Hantavirus, Plague, Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, and many other very dangerous viruses. As such, rodents may be some of the most dangerous of pests.
• Mosquitos – Mosquitos have killed more humans than any other living being, including other humans. They are also best known for their ability to carry disease. Although issues like Zika, Malaria, and other deadly diseases are rare in the US, they may still carry West Nile Virus, Western Equine Encephalitis, and several other minor diseases.
• Flies – Like roaches, flies have a tendency to carry bacteria on their skin that they spread to foods when they eat. Flies, quite literally, eat garbage and poop, so they come into contact with diseases like salmonella and hepatitis A fairly regularly. That’s why eliminating foods they have contaminated is important.

Most other pests do not make you sick. Bed bugs, for example, may cause numerous itchy bites, but they are not known to carry disease. Scorpions, spiders, and wasps can all cause pain when they sting or bite – and in some cases, this pain can be severe or even deadly – but they do not necessarily carry any diseases. Rather, it is their venom that causes illness and pain.

Still, with most pests causing either illness or pain, there’s a reason that preventative pest control in Arizona is so important. If you are looking to prevent pests on your property this year, call Green Home Pest today at 480-568-3752.

See the original post: What Indoor Pests May Make You Sick? on our official Green Home Pest website.

Common Myths and Facts About Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are everywhere. Nearly eliminated in the mid-1900s, bed bugs are spreading throughout the United States, and can be found in every city in Arizona. Of all the pests we treat at Green Home Pest Control, bed bugs are the ones that tend to cause homeowners the most fear, as they are highly resistant to previous treatments and almost impossible to exterminate by hand.

Still, despite how well-known these pests are, they are still widely misunderstood. There are many myths about bedbugs that Arizona homeowners still believe today. Below are some myths and facts about bed bugs.

Myths About Bed Bugs

MYTH: Bed bugs tend to live in dingy areas and spread from cheap motels.

FACT: Bed bugs do not care about the quality of your home, and are just as likely to be at a Motel 6 as they are at a Ritz Carlton. The idea that they are found at cheap and dingy motels is a myth, and one that only exists because there tend to be a lot of motels in areas with a dense population (and thus more visitors).

MYTH: You can only get bed bugs if you stayed somewhere that had bed bugs.

FACT: Bed bugs are not afraid to travel. When they have outgrown one location, bed bugs may leave a house and wander to another home nearby or grab on a nearby pet and hitch a ride. You can get bed bugs even if you never leave your house and never invite guests over. And since bed bugs can theoretically live in offices, movie theaters, and your friend’s houses, you’re always at a slight risk for a bed bug invasion.

MYTH: If bed bugs don’t feed, they die.

FACT: While this is technically true, bed bugs can live for as long as 2 to 3 months or more without a blood meal, depending on the season. Waiting them out is impractical.

MYTH: Bed bugs feed at night.

FACT: Bed bugs do tend to feed at night, but have no problems biting during the day if they are hungry. They are happy to eat when they need to eat.

MYTH: Throwing out my mattress will help.

FACT: Bed bugs are not really bed bugs. They live on couches, in walls, on carpets, in cabinets – anywhere they can find safety and shelter. Throwing out your mattress is often a waste of a perfectly good mattress, as the bed bug population is unlikely to be eliminated.

Eliminate Your Bed Bugs

If you believe you may have bed bugs, and you’re located in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, or anywhere in the Arizona area, call Green Home Pest today at 480-568-3752. We are happy to come visit your home, and see what we can do to eliminate your bed bug problem.

See the original post: Common Myths and Facts About Bed Bugs on our official Green Home Pest website.

How Long Do Pests Live Indoors?

Pests always tend to find a way indoors. They can fit through the smallest of cracks, climb through the thinnest of holes, and make their way up the tallest of stairs. When there is no pest control barrier set up around the property, pests will always find a way inside.

As every pest control company will tell you, when you see one pest, chances are there are plenty more that you simply haven’t found yet. That’s one of the main reasons that monthly, preventative pest control is so important. But not everyone wants to call a pest control company right away, which often leads to a very common question: How long do pests live indoors, anyway?

How Long Do Pests Live Anyway?

Most pests live a surprisingly long time. While some pests live only for about a month (house flies, fruit flies), or 3 months (fleas, mosquitos, and crickets), other pests can live well over a year:

• Bed Bugs – 1 Year
• Black Widow Spiders – 1-3 Years
• Brown Recluse Spiders – 1-2 Years
• Brown Rats – 2-3 Years
• Ants – 1 Year (Queens Can Live 25 Years)
• Mice – 2 Years
• Cockroaches – 1 Year
• Scorpions – 5-10 Years

Even termites live for 2 years each. Pests can live a long, long time, especially given the right conditions and with access to their necessities.

What About Indoors?

The question about how long pests can live indoors is a bit trickier to answer. Pests need access to two things for survival: food and water. Without those, their lifespan is shortened.

But for most pests, including rats, ants, roaches, and mice (among many others), finding food is never a problem. These types of pests can eat almost anything, and need only the small amount of food and water to survive – an amount that is easy to find in any kitchen, basement, or bathroom.

Scorpions feed on other insects, which makes finding food a bit more difficult. But they are also unbelievably efficient – they can go as long as 12 months or more without feeding. So survival indoors is rarely a problem either. Spiders can do the same, as brown recluse spiders can live for 6 months in an airtight, sealed container.

Bed bugs can live 2 to 3 months without feeding, and more when the weather cools. The only pests that die quickly indoors are flies. If flies cannot find food, they tend to live for only 2 or 3 days.

See the original post: How Long Do Pests Live Indoors? on our official Green Home Pest website.