Facts On Rats
Preventing And Protecting Your Home From Rodents
The holidays are about being with family and friends and appreciating your relationships and each other. Normally, all of these great holiday memories happen in your home or a relative’s. Last month, we focused on the many types of rodents that can infest your home and what you can do to prevent that from happening and control methods for treating if you have already seen signs of rodents. As we get closer to the holidays and the weather turns colder, your home is more at risk at being seen as a safe and warm haven for these homeless rodents.
Rodent pests can cause considerable damage to your home while contributing to the unsanitary aspect of it. Especially in households with children who are more susceptible to illness.
Enjoy your time with family and friends this holiday season by making sure your home is rodent-proof and rodent-free.
Rats
The general types of these rodents that exist in your home can include the Norway rat, the roof (or black) rat and the house mouse. Roof rats usually stake out attics or cabinets and can climb quite well. Norway rats choose to live in the ground by digging burrows against foundations, tree trunks, and gardens. Their burrows can lead into crawl spaces and small openings around pipes which can enable them to inhabit your kitchens and bathrooms.
No matter the type of rat that lives in your home, you can be sure that it will be attracted to any food item you have in your pantry, especially high-quality food products such as meat and fresh grain. If you have pets, be extra cautious about foods being left out, because rats will smell and detect dog food that is sitting out.
Rats need one-half to one fluid ounce of water everyday when consuming dry foods. They have extremely sharp senses of taste, hearing, and smell. Once they are aware of what is within their reach and given their keen senses, rats will do anything to get to food or shelter. Overall, rats are able to enter a building through openings that are wider than half an inch across. Rats have a very short life span — most die within a year. However, rats can breed rapidly, so even though they die off quickly, their young will survive them. Female rats produce five or six litters of about half a dozen to a dozen young each year.
Now that you know a little about the rat’s habits, how can you tell that you have rats living alongside you in your home? Spotting droppings or visible signs of fresh gnawing should be an obvious indicator of rats. Rat tracks can appear on dusty surfaces or mud. Rats usually build runways and burrows to get into your home and they can be found next to buildings and under debris and low vegetation.
There are many things you can do to prevent rats, but what about the rats you know are already snooping in your attic and dark corners?
Snap traps are probably the easiest and most inexpensive rodent control out there. They can be used along with baits to attract rats. However, once other rats see that a fellow rat has been killed from a snap trap, they may avoid it. The other drawback to using a snap trap is the potential health hazards it can cause when the rat is killed by the trap. Snap traps can also pose a danger to children or pets in your home, as they can break bones or cause an even more serious injury.
Glue-boards are traps that use non-drying glue to capture and hold down rodents. These traps can be placed under tables, furniture, next to walls, refrigerators, or any place where you suspect rodent activity. Glue-boards are designed to get the rodent stuck on the board so that they cannot escape. Like the snap traps, glue-boards can pose health problems if rats’ bodies are pulled apart and exposed in your home.
Live trapping poses less risk or danger to animals you are not targeting, such as your pets. They also do not kill rats, unlike all the other methods discussed above. Instead, rats are captured and left in the trap until you dispose of them. Be sure to place enough bait to attract rats. If rats are without food, they may become anxious and eventually die, leaving behind their bodies to decay, as well as a horrible stench. Try to find areas where there are a lot of rat droppings, chewed entry points, and any other place you suspect rat activity or have heard noises from.
Rat Exclusion
Here are some simple rules of thumb you can adopt to prevent a rodent invasion in your home:
Store all your accessible food in rodent-proof containers such as glass or metal
Place your trash in tightly covered metal cans to prevent smells from escaping or potential rodent entry.
Check your faucets to make sure they are functioning properly and to fix leaks as they occur, since gaps or holes around pipes can serve as easy entry points for rodents.
Seal up any unnecessary openings with concrete or sheet metal. For other access points, a 1/4 inch hardware cloth or steel wool should do the trick.
For pet owners, put any uneaten pet food away before you go to bed, as any pet food left out is subject to rodent consumption!
Carefully watch your bird feeders. Be sure you are not feeding the local rodent population instead of desirable song birds!
Squirrels
Most people are familiar with squirrels and some may even find this particular rodent to be cute and charming. Gray squirrels are small rodents found throughout Texas.
Squirrel Control
Trapping
Traps are often effective where there is a small population of gray squirrels or in urban areas where a toxicant cannot be used safely. Small cage traps are available from feed stores, sporting goods stores and many garden supply centers. Traps should be baited with grain or oats and placed near the entrance to the burrow. Rat traps are also an effective way to catch smaller gray squirrels. The traps should be baited and placed near the burrow entrance.
Traps with an expanded trigger can be placed in the squirrel’s travel path. Set this way, the trap does not have to be baited. The animal will step on the trigger as it moves along the path.
While you may be comfortable trapping live animals, if you need to relocate them, please contact wildlife removal professionals.
Identifying the rodent you may have in your house and utilizing appropriate control methods is key to keeping your home clean and ready for the holidays.
By: Fran Phalin
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Fran Phalin is a freelance editor and writer specializing in home improvement topics. She is based in Austin, TX. For pest control services on any rodent, whether you need assistance in preventing them or need a pest control professional to control and trap rodents for you, please visit Anteater Pest and Lawn at: www.goanteater.com.
Porcupines are rodents, but they aren’t squirrels. Behind the incisors there is a gap with no teeth at all. The gap is called the diastema. In back you have “cheek teeth”.
Region’s rodents are on the rise
RAT numbers in our region are rising, according to a vermin survey. Figures collected by the National Pest Technicians’ Association (NPTA) from the North East show more reports of rodents were made in 2008.
Copernicus and the rodents. Apparently we have rats, mice or possums in the ceiling. At least Perni has perked up a bit. He had to go to the hospital after midnight on Friday night with a urinary infection.
Groundhog Day rodents predict six more weeks of winter
Posted is National Posts news blog, watching the news so you don’t have to with up-to-the-minute breaking stories, news from the Internet and takes from National Post writers.
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Preventive Pest Control
Biological Pest Control
Pesticide Use & Environmental Impact
Thanks to the increasing awareness about environmental issues, groups and individuals have started taking various initiatives to promote more sustainable life styles.
Because of the adverse impact they have on the environment, "hard" pesticides are now being gradually sought to be phased out to make way for more environmentally friendly alternatives, "soft pesticides".
But pest control, through pesticide use, is often necessary considering the fact that without a measure of control many insects can cause huge damage to crops. Besides, insects can also affect our quality of life in many different ways. These pests, if not effectively controlled would pose grave public health risks and also create significant negative impacts to the economy. The use of pesticides, as a measure to ensure favorable outcomes, in areas related to food production, public health etc. therefore cannot be discounted.
Pest Control in Hydroponics
In hydroponic cultivation pesticide use is discouraged and often not required. This is because hydroponic crops tend to be more healthy and pest resistant as they are grown under controlled conditions under a precisely regulated nutrient regime. Hydroponics systems mostly use natural preventative measures to control pest and parasite infestations. One of these is companion planting which uses a clever strategy to repel pests by growing plants that produce smells disagreeable to the pests. These plants are grown along with the main crop which is intended to be protected.
But not all bugs are put off by the smell, and at times, other means have to be adopted such as biological insect control. Biological insect control uses predator insects to reduce or destroy infestations. The predator insects consume the harmful, crop damaging species and die out or leave the garden. This is a safe, poison free natural method of pest control. Predator insects are bred commercially for such use and have proved extremely beneficial in pest control. These mostly carnivorous insects do not attack vegetation and being extremely voracious consume bugs on a massive scale daily.
Infestation Control
The best way to keep tabs on infestation, whether in the greenhouse or the grow-room is to carry out physical inspections to check for any pests. This should be done carefully by checking all likely places where pests may be present like leaves, around stems and even the growing medium. If any bugs are detected the next step is to determine the type of insect and the number of plants affected. The strategy to eliminate the pests will depend on the number of bugs and the extent of the infestation.
Proper identification of the type of pest is important as this will determine which predator insect will best get rid of infestation. This can be done with the help of good garden microscopes and standard gardening reference books. Once an infestation is detected and the harmful bug identified, quick release of predatory insects to control the infestation should follow.
It should be noted that the environment has to be maintained to be favorable to the predator insects. Many predatory insects are susceptible to high temperatures; also there should also be an adequate source of water or shelter. The grow room environment will therefore need to be carefully monitored.
Common Predators
The following are some of the predators most commonly used:
Ladybugs (Hippodamia convergens)
Ladybugs are most effective against aphids. Ladybugs need plenty of water, so place a small dish of water in your garden. This will help keep both the ladybugs and the insects close to your plants. Adult ladybugs are orange and black and feed on aphids, mites, scales, thrips, whiteflies and beneficial insect food.
Aphidius Colemani & A. Matricariae (Aphidius colemani & A. matricariae)
These are small black wasp (2-3 mm.) with narrow waist. They have long antennae. They prey on aphids turning them into brown, mummified shells. These predators are most active at temperatures between 18-26C (65-80F).
Praying Mantis (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis)
These are large green or brown insects having fine papery wings. They are shipped as egg cases that take 2-8 weeks to hatch. These general predators prey on aphids, beetles, caterpillars, leafhoppers, hornworms, squash bugs, white flies and several other pests.
Lacewings (Chrysoperla carnea, C. comanche & C. rufilabris)
These are general predators that feast on mealybugs, scales, spider mites, thrips, white flies and insect eggs. They are green or brown in color when adults. Lacewings are most active in temperatures 24-28C (75-80F).
Phytoseiulus Persimilis, New Zealand - (Phytoseiulus persimilis)- New Zealand Strain
These are bright orange mites (0.5 mm./1/20 in.), and are very effective against spider mites. They breed twice as fast as spider mite to make short work of any spider mite infestation. They do not form webs, but move along the plant using webbing to catch spider mite. These predatory insects are most active in temperature ranges 22-35C (72-100F) and 60-80% humidity.
| By Diana Heyden Published: 12/11/2007 |
Biological Pest Control and Hydroponics
Many hydroponic gardeners and consumers are concerned with the quality, purity and safety of the food they eat. With soils becoming tainted and water sources. Read more…
Moreover, these interactions are the basis of ecosystem services such as pollination or, in this case, pest control. The work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
This sounds like a perfect place to use one of the new kinds of remediation products designed for cleaning out drains and other hard-to-access locations where wet organic matter builds up. … The Invade products , like many other newer biological products, is composed of non-pathogenic bacteria that actually eat the organic buildup.
An unusual helper in biological pest control
An unusual helper in biological pest control. By odinruz. coati. The white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) is a common site all around Playa Viva.
There are 5 basic ways to treat anthills and other bugs; chemical insecticides, biological insecticides, botanical insecticides, insecticide soaps, neem insecticide and predatory bugs. There are also some designed for certain types of bugs and … Of course we all know that mother nature has a mind all its own.
Using Biological Control to Control Pests
Biological control is an appealing choice to control pests, since there is no persistence of insecticides in the environment or the development of pesticide resistance.
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Rat Contamination
Bread and Droppings: Pest Control Group Warns of Rat Contamination
Experts warn that our daily bread could contain some unwanted extras - rat hairs, urine and even droppings. But there are ways to control your rat population, by chemical, mechanical, and electronic devices.
If you are about to bite into a slice of wholemeal toast at the breakfast table or tuck into your favourite lunchtime sandwich, it may be as well to look away now. Pest control experts yesterday warned that your loaf of bread could have been spiced up with some unwanted extras - rat hairs, urine and even droppings.
The glut of wheat following last year’s bumper harvest together with a surge in the rat population is being blamed for the possibility that rodents have contributed a little something to your sandwich.
According to the National Pest Technicians Association the rat problem is the worst for 30 years, and wholemeal bread is more at risk because it is less processed than white. Farmers’ representatives and the milling industry dismissed the claims as scaremongering, arguing that wheat for human consumption was stored very carefully and deliveries of wheat were minutely inspected before they were used to bake bread, biscuits or other products.
The NPTA is alleging that because so much wheat was produced some British farmers are struggling to store it securely, while recent mild winters have caused the number of rats to increase by more than 20%. NPTA director Peter Crowden said the rat problem was the worst he had seen in 30 years. "There’s a lot of grain in a 30-tonne lorry and they don’t test it all. And what about the rats urinating over it all as they run through?"
Crowden said he had seen rats and evidence of rats in wheat storehouses this winter. He called on the government to tackle the rat population, which he put at between 30 million and 40 million in the UK. He insisted he was not exaggerating the problem to frighten consumers and farmers and thus further NPTA interests.
However, Guy Gagen, chief arable adviser for the NFU, said he would be "very surprised" if rat hairs or droppings did get into bread. He said farmers who produced crops for human consumption were members of a rigorous assurance scheme. Inspectors made sure rodents were kept at bay. Gagen said wheat intended for human consumption tended to be stored in metal containers that could be tightly secured.
Martin Savage, trade policy manager of the National Association of British and Irish Millers, said he was "perplexed" at the claims. "This could provoke a food scare and it’s absolute nonsense," he said, though he accepted the rat population was on the up - he had come across one farmer who had got through a quarter of a tonne of poison since the last harvest.
Crowden insists he has got it right. "They want to come out with me if they don’t believe it." But even if droppings are getting through, Crowden does not believe it will do you any harm. "We’ve all got a bit namby-pamby, haven’t we? It won’t actually hurt you. It just isn’t very nice."
Bread and Droppings: Rat Contamination
Experts warn that our daily bread could contain some unwanted extras - rat hairs, urine and even droppings Bread and Droppings: Pest Control Group Warns of Rat Contamination .
Salmonella Horror: Worker Says Rat Dry-Roasting In
Rats, mice, roaches and other vermin are a part of the food-supply chain. Get over it - it is a fact of life. Surely no one thinks their food is free from all contamination.
Your article (Bread and droppings: pest control group warns of rat contamination, 22 January) reminded me of Laurie Lee’s description of the loaves delivered to his childhood home in the early 20th century: …
Contamination! Posted by Lab Rat at 03:26. I came in this morning, all bright and ready for phage propagation (harvesting phages from plates is actually quite fun) and what did we find?
Rat-infested restaurant closed
Rat droppings were discovered in the store room at the rear of the restaurant and raw chicken was being stored with cooked chicken, risking contamination.
| © Guardian News & Media 2008 Published: 1/21/2009 |
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Electronic Pest Control Review
Electronic Pest Control
Electronic pest control devices use sound waves at certain frequencies, which pests dislike, as a method of controlling pests.
The concept of electronic pest control is relatively new; however, these products have many useful applications. Prior to these new devices, pest control mainly involved using poisons. While the minute amounts of poisons used in pest control may not kill you, they do have the potential of affecting your health adversely on a long-term basis.
The Advantages of using Electronic Pest Control
There are several advantages of using electronic pest control methods compared to the conventional means of pest control using poisons. In the first place, electronic pest control devices are safe and nontoxic for human beings. Hence, there is no necessity of spraying poisonous stuff in the kitchen and other areas of the house when a simple device, which can just be plugged in, will do the same job quite effectively.
Electronic pest control devices are designed in such a way that the sound wavelengths are only heard by certain insects and do not affect humans at all. Pets are also usually not affected by them. Some of them are designed to affect rodents, hence, if that is the kind you want, you need to check for that.
Electronic pest control devices do not kill any insects or animals. The sound waves they produce drive them away without killing them. Hence, you can rest assured of not having to deal with dead bugs all over your home.
One of the best reasons for using an electronic pest control device is that it functions 24/7. Therefore, once it is turned on, you do not need to keep applying any substances every few weeks in order to keep away pests. These systems work day and night without requiring intervention any further.
Each of these devices is effective over a large area, hence, it is recommended to place these units at all entry points of your home. If insects are stopped from coming inside, the problem can be stopped right at the door. While this may be an effective strategy on the ground floor, however, it is advisable to use a device on each floor of the house, since there is no point in allowing pests to hide in some other part of the house.
Various Kinds of Electronic Pest Control Devices
Electromagnetic Pest Control This electronic pest control device is the most interesting and complex. It makes modifications to the wavelengths of the frequency signals that already exist in the wiring of homes, thus agitating rodents and insects. Thus, your entire house is turned into a pest-repelling device by the electromagnetic pest control device, which is the most effective way to keep pests away.
Ultrasonic Pest Control: These are useful for repelling large pests such as rodents from coming into your home. A specific wavelength of sound is used by these which agitate the pests. Humans cannot detect these sound waves, hence this electronic pest control device does not disrupt sleep or any other activity carried out daily. Another plus is that it does not need to be monitored.
Ionic Pest Control: These devices create negative ions which suck out bacteria and fungi from the air. Insects and rodents are also warded off by the negative ions. Although the idea may sound alarming, negative ions occur naturally when there is a storm, hence this device is absolutely safe and will cause no harm to anything but the pests it is intended for.
You can find several pest control calculators on the Internet, which you can use for computing the variables that you input like the amount you want to spend, the kind of pest, the square foot area in order to get the best value for your money. While the ultrasonic pest control device is the most inexpensive type, however, it does not have the air-cleaning feature that the ionic pest control device has. Each of these types of devices has its pros and cons, but all of them are effective for controlling pests.
Using Electronic Pest Control in Your Home
Because some pest control can be dangerous to humans and household pets, electronic pest control and even ultrasonic pest control have become very popular.
Ultrasonic Pest Control
What is good about ultrasonic pest control? Face it, the nuisances of pests is something that we all can do without.
Organic Garden Pest Control
There so many different chemical pest control products out there that you can purchase, ther… Electronic Pest Control Product.
Shopping for an Electronic Pest Control Product Online
If you are interested in finding an electronic pest control product, you should know that there are many available for you to choose from.
Finding the Right Electronic Pest Control Device
If you want the best pest control measures that you can get, getting an electronic pest control device is something that you are really going to want to consider.
| By Rita Putatunda Published: 12/22/2007 |
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Home Team Pest Defense
Do It Yourself Pest Control
Most of us have to deal with pesky critters that want to cohabit with us. Here are a few do it yourself pest control ideas that you can try out to keep them away.
No matter how clean you keep your home or how new your house may be, pest infestation is bound to happen. Pests like roaches, termites, beetles, ants, ticks, spiders, earwigs, bees, and rodents are usually drawn to homes because of the warmth, shelter and food. While some pests may be merely annoying, some others, like rats, carry disease, while some others, like certain kinds of spiders, can be poisonous. And as for termites, these can devour through all your wooden structures, causing you thousands of dollars in damage. However, hiring a professional exterminator to get rid of pest infestation in the home can be an expensive affair, hence more and more people are opting for do it yourself pest control.
Before turning to insecticides, however, there are a few pest prevention methods you can use to limit infestation. One of the most important ways to reduce the populations of insects in your home is by cutting off the very things they come for, the food, shelter, and water. For example, see that you store your trash in containers that have lids which fit tightly. As soon as crumbs fall anywhere or there are spills, clean them up promptly. When you vacuum, make sure to do it thoroughly, particularly in cracks and crevices. If there are any leaks, fix them, in order to prevent insects seeking the moisture. Don’t stack boxes, wood, or paper near or in your home. If you have a garden, or plants in your house, keep the vegetation manicured and allow plenty of ventilation and sunshine. Seal all the cracks and holes around your house to prevent insects from getting entry inside. A cockroach needs just 1/16 of an inch of space to hide. When bringing in boxes, furniture and the like into your home, make sure that they are not harboring any insects.
Basically, you need to deal with the problem before it becomes unmanageable. Generally, people don’t do anything about pests until they begin overrunning the place. The more you procrastinate about pest control, the more difficult it will be to do it yourself. Also, it is a good idea to learn about the particular type of pest problem you have. For example, if it is cockroaches that are the problem, you need to find out what will work best to get rid of them. You will find a lot of resources on the Internet that will help you to formulate a good strategy and choose products to deal with your pest control problem. For example, there are many homemade, non-toxic organic pesticides that you can find out about that you can use. Many chemical pesticides are very harmful, hence it is always safer to opt for non-toxic remedies.
Given below are a few safe, natural pesticides that you can make at home which can work against just about anything, from getting rid of insects to killing fungus, mold or mildew, and exterminating pests:
Garlic is very good as an organic pest control ingredient in the garden, it is also a natural insect repellant and pesticide.
Garlic Spray: Put two tablespoons of mineral oil in a bowl and add 3 or 4 ounces of finely chopped garlic bulbs into it. Let it soak for a day. Dissolve one teaspoon of fish emulsion in one pint of water and mix this into garlic and mineral oil mixture. Strain this liquid and then store it in a glass container (do not use a metal container). When you want to use it, dilute one part of the solution to 20 parts of water. This kills mosquitoes, onion flies, and aphids.
Garlic as an insect repellant and pest control:
- Planting garlic along with tomatoes keeps red spider mites away.
- Borers will get repelled by planting garlic around fruit trees.
- If you apply garlic spray on sweet potatoes it will keep the rabbits away from them.
- Spray the garlic pesticide on ponds in order to kill mosquitoes.
Tomato Leaf Insect Spray: Crush some tomato leaves in a vegetable juicer and add 4-5 pints of water along with one tablespoon of cornstarch. Strain this liquid and store in the fridge, using it according to requirement.
Some of the best botanical pesticides are: Rotenone (extracted from cube and derris), Neem, Sabadilla, and Pyrethrin.
Garden pests can be controlled with insecticidal soap. It is very effective against aphids, flea beetles, spider mites, mealybugs, whiteflies, and thrips, and sometimes even leafhoppers and caterpillars. It becomes more potent when mixed with Rotenone. Insecticidal soap only works when applied directly, hence you need to spray it directly on the pest. It is also effective against powdery mildew, if it is combined with botanical or horticultural oils.
Mint and onion are excellent as repellants against bugs, fleas and beetles.
Pyola is a natural insecticide which contains canola oil and pyrethrins. It is effective against squash bugs, aphids, and beetles. Since most of the canola oil in the US is made from genetically engineered canola, growers of organic vegetables ought to check it out before using.
Boric Acid, also known as Borax, is very good against cockroaches, ants, ticks, fleas, termites, and many other insects. It is also an effective biocide and fungicide, especially when it is combined with hydrogen peroxide, and kills mold and fungus, including the toxic black mold.
Note: Be cautious when using broad spectrum pesticides. Try and target only pests, so that you do not kill beneficial insects.
Illinois Pest Control Guide
If you are looking for a pest control company in Illinois, then you have come to the right place.
Thinking About Diy Pest Control
There are hundreds of articles and guides across the internet touting the effectiveness of home pest control methods.
DIY Pest Control
I have used salt, cinnamon and vaseline for other issues that have come up with critters around our home.
DIY Pest Control
Although quite a few pest control companies now claim to use organic pesticides, there’s nothing like quick, handy and no-cost tricks to keep the little rogues at bay.
DIY Pest Control
Our fogger was designed for control of flying or crawling insects and other pests that inhabit your home or structures.
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By Rita Putatunda |
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