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Pest Profile: Flying Squirrels

Endemic to the Eastern United States, flying squirrels can present a real problem when they colonize your attic for the winter.
Flying Squirrels 101
Southern flying squirrels are the smaller of two flying squirrel species native to North America. They typically have grey-brown fur with white furred bellies, and they are notable for the furry membrane which goes between their front and back legs. Flyers live in colonies, sometimes with as many as 20 members! When they reproduce, flyers usually have 2-7 pups twice a year.
Why They’re Pests
Nobody wants to live with their entire extended family, and it would be even worse to have someone else’s whole family move into your home. Sadly, when one flying squirrel decides that your home is a great hangout, they bring a whole colony of flyers with them to roost. Flyers seek out warm, enclosed places like attics during the fall and the cold winter months so that they can store food and remain cozy while winter rages outside. Pregnant flyers also seek the safety of attics for birthing and raising their pups.
Are They Dangerous?
Flyers aren’t directly dangerous to humans if handled properly (though, like any animal, they will bite if they feel threatened!); their true danger lies in the property damage they cause. These animals are rodents, which means they must chew to file down Pest Control Objectives their teeth. This need to gnaw can result in potentially massive property damage as flyers will chew on anything, including structural elements and electrical wiring. Wiring damage is a very serious concern because it can quickly become a fire hazard.
Do They Carry Diseases?
Flying squirrels mainly carry one disease that affects humans: typhus. It is rare to catch typhus from a flyer, but it is a risk to consider. Flying squirrels also play host to many different parasites, including but not limited to fleas, lice, and mites. Rabies is extremely rare in flyers, but it is possible for them to carry it.
Removal Organic Pest Control Products For Home
Because flying squirrels live in colonies, it’s not enough to trap a few and call it a day. You have to make sure that every single flyer is relocated away from your home, which can be a time-consuming task. To make removing and relocating your southern flying squirrel problem easier, consider hiring a professional wildlife removal and relocation team. Professional wildlife extractors can make sure each member of the colony is safely and properly caught and relocated. After all of the flyers have been removed, your professional wildlife removal and relocation specialists can recommend repairs to your home to keep it from being re-colonized.…

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Pest Profile: Spiders

A fear of spiders is one of our most primal instincts, one that evolved in humans as we were learning as a species to fear the things that could easily kill us. The vast majority of people either fear or dislike spiders, with only a very small minority claiming to like them. So when we come across a spider in our homes, the reaction many people have is to kill it as quickly as possible. However, where one spider has managed to get in, others can and will follow.
Spiders 101
Spiders are relatively unique in the insect world because in reality they aren’t insects at all! Spiders are in fact arachnids. Where insects have six legs and three body segments, arachnids have 8 legs and two body segments. They have fangs which can inject venom to kill their prey. Spiders mostly feed off of insects and other spiders, but some larger species have been known to kill and eat birds and lizards. Epa Plant Growth Regulator Spider venom is incredibly powerful, especially considering the size of the prey they normally feed on, and this high-powered venom makes them potentially very dangerous to humans and domestic animals. Spiders generally use the silk they produce to create webs to ensnare their prey instead of seeking out prey, but they can and do leave their webs to find better locations and will bite perceived threats.
Why They’re Pests
Nobody likes uninvited visitors in their homes, and spiders are more than willing to move in without welcome. They can stay unnoticed by hiding in corners, crevices, nooks, and crannies, and they are able to populate your entire house with their offspring without your knowledge. Furthermore, certain kinds of spiders that like to move in to our homes can be deadly.
Why They’re Dangerous
The majority of spiders we find in our homes are not actually harmful. The problem arises when you run across those spiders that are poisonous to humans or pets (the most common offenders in Georgia are the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow). These spiders can easily remain unnoticed in your home until you or your child or pet has been bitten and an emergency situation arises. Spider bites can range from merely annoying to life threatening, so it is essential for any spider bite victim to see a doctor immediately. What may not seem like a bad bite could end up costing a limb or a life if it does not receive proper medical attention.
Extermination and Control
Because they are so adept at hiding, it can be difficult to find everywhere spiders have set up shop. You may believe that you’ve killed every last one in your home only to find an occupied web floating from your ceiling the next moment. The only way to truly control spiders in your home is to call out a professional extermination team and have them address your Common Pest Control Questions problem. Your professional exterminator will exterminate the spiders living in …

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Pest Profile: Bats

For some people, bats are intrinsically linked to horror films, especially those involving vampires. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Bats are wonderful creatures who improve their habitats by helping with pollination, reducing insect populations and providing excellent fertilizers. However, when bats decide to keep house in your home, it’s time for them to go! But be careful, homeowner: bats are protected by law in the USA. Learn more about these winged wonders and what you can do when they decide to come live with you.
Bats 101
Bats are small, winged mammals-the only mammals who can truly fly! There are roughly 1,240 varieties of bat in the world. They mostly survive off of eating fruits and insects; a bat can eat up to 1/3 of its weight in insects in a night! They are also nocturnal animals who become active at dusk. While they spend most of their time in the dark, bats actually have quite good eyesight and fantastic hearing. They use echolocation in combination with their amazing hearing to pinpoint insects in the air with deadly accuracy. Bats can live for over 20 years under ideal conditions.
Why They’re What Are The Approaches For Managing Pests Pests
Bats normally live in caves and trees. However, humans continue to expand our habitat into theirs, causing bats to lose more and more suitable shelters. To survive, bats in heavily human populated areas seek shelter in quiet eaves and ceiling spaces where they can hide and sleep during the day. Many people find encountering bats in close quarters to be terrifying, and depending on how many bats take up residence in your space, you may find an impressive mess of bat urine and droppings have accompanied your bat residents, which is never pleasant.
Are They Dangerous?
Bats are generally only dangerous to the insects that hang around your yard. They will actively try to avoid contact with humans and larger mammals, like pets. Still, like any animal, they can and will bite when cornered, so it is best to not attempt to provoke or handle a bat at any time.
Do They Carry Disease?
People often think of rabies when they think of bats. It is important to be cautious and take every possible step to not risk exposure to the rabies virus. Bats are typically carriers of rabies and as such don’t normally succumb to the virus. A day to day individual won’t be able to tell if a particular bat has rabies, so it wise not to interact closely with bats.
Histoplasmosis is another disease concern with bats. Histoplasmosis is an airborne disease caused by the spores of Histoplasma capsulatum, a fungus that grows in soil contaminated with bat or bird droppings. Histoplasmosis can affect your lungs to the point of causing severe, tuberculosis-like symptoms. Be sure to use the proper precautions around bats and bat droppings no matter where they are located. Guano (bat feces) in any concentration poses a serious health threat, especially when disturbed, …

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Pest Profile: Mice

Mice can be polarizing: some people find them cute, while others find them terrifying. The only thing we can all agree on is that mice should not be in our homes! Mice can do serious damage to your home and introduce Does Lavender Really Repel Bed Bugs the risk of infection to your food. Not only can they contaminate food but they can also spread dangerous infectious diseases. Learn more about the problems mice present and how to handle your mouse problem.
Mice 101
Mice are very small members of the rodent family. They are remarkably adaptable creatures which inhabit almost every environment on our planet. Able to reproduce within the first two months of their lives, mice are Familycircle Com Maintain The Clean prolific breeders capable of producing litters of 10 to 12 pups at a time. Due to their position as prey, mice rarely live longer than a year in the wild, but they can live as long as three years when protected.
Why They’re Pests
Mice are herbivores with a particular fondness for grains. They tend to enter homes in search of food sources. Because we humans like to store our grains in cardboard boxes and tubes, we tend to be easy pickings for mice, who appreciate the simplicity of having a warm home with ready food. Mice are particularly invasive during the cold months of the year when food is scarce. Because of their small stature, mice also find it easier to enter our homes than other pests. Mice only need a hole A� of an inch in diameter to find their way into a home.
Are They Dangerous?
Because of their size, it’s difficult for mice to be physically threatening to you, even if they bite. Still, it is essential that you be careful and not handle a mouse without thick gloves: mice have very sharp teeth, and there’s just no need to risk getting an infection from being bitten.
How miceare dangerous, however, is in the amount of damage they can do to the inner parts of your home where they’ve been living. In addition to using your attic or walls as their own private bathroom, your mice have been sprucing up the place to their liking by destroying your insulation to build their nests with and gnawing on your support beams and electrical wiring. Mice can and will gnaw electrical wires down to the metal, which can potentially lead to an electrical fire.
Do They Carry Disease?
Mice carry salmonella, hantavirus and many other zoonotic diseases (diseases spread from animals to humans),which humans can contract through contact with mouse excrement. Mice are indiscriminate about where they defecate, so they often end up doing so in the human food they have been eating. Unwitting humans can catch salmonella and hantavirus through eating mouse contaminated food. Hantavirus can also be contracted through breathing in dust that has come in contact with mouse excrement.
In addition to these excremental diseases, mice can also harbor fleas and …

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