Common Ways to Find Out if You Have a Bat Infestation

Bats are a vital part of the ecosystem. While they’re important and a common sight outside, you don’t want them in your home. How do you know if your home or business has been invaded by bats?

One of the most common ways that you’ll realize that you have a bat infestation is by the presence of bats. Bats are nocturnal and tend to roost in attics. So, if you suspect you might have a bat problem, one of the best ways to find out, would be to check the attic during the day for sleeping bats. If you find any, then you have an infestation on your hands.

Another way to find out if you have bats in your home is to look for the droppings. Bat feces looks a lot like mouse feces, only bigger in size. Also, they tend to be clumped together in one place.

Additionally, scratching can also be a sign of bats in your house. Sometimes, you’ll be able to hear a strange scratching through the walls in your home. Usually, it will sound like it’s coming from the attic. While it can also happen during the day, this is not as common given that they tend to sleep throughout daylight hours. Scratching noises tend to be a clear sign that there are animals in your home.

If you aren’t sure about whether or not you have bats and do not want to go into the attic to come in contact with them, you can post people outside your house. Bats tend to take off at dusk to find food, so if you have people taking watch, you will see them fly out of your home. The best way to make sure that they are roosting there is to do this several times.

Scent can also be a signal for homeowners that they have a bat problem. Guano builds up and gives off the scent of ammonia. Now, the problem with this is that by the time it has built up enough that you can smell it, then you typically have a large bat infestation on your hands.

There are a lot of easy ways to confirm whether or not you have bats living in your home. Of course, if you come to the conclusion that you have an infestation, the best course of action would be to have the bats removed. Information about bat removal in Durham can be found at this website.

3 Signs Your Home Has Termites

Termite infestation starts in the spring when winged termites swarm and look for a new home to start a colony. When they find a place to call home, their wings drop off and they begin to dig in the ground. From this new location they routinely burrow into the structure of your house to eat the wood. Here are some telltale signs that you are hosting termites:

1.    Hollow or Damaged Wood

Termites eat wood from the inside to the outside. If you knock on wood and it sounds hollow, you may have termites. As termites hollow out wood you may see holes in plaster or drywall; these have dirt around the edges. The wood is weakened and may appear sunken or rippled. You will also notice termite droppings along the foundation that have been pushed out of the holes; droppings look like dark powder.

2.    Winged Termites

If you catch sight of a termite swarm, or just see shed wings lying around near your house, you may have termites. Winged termites are attracted to light so you may see them near light fixtures or on window screens.

3.    Dirt Tubes

Termites build dirt tubes along the foundation of a building as a conduit from their underground nests to the wood they eat inside the structure. If you see these tubes along the sides of foundation walls, you have termites. Destroying the tubes will not get rid of them.

If you notice any of these signs, or have any other reason to suspect you have a termite infestation, have a professional come to your home and give you a definitive answer. Termites can feed undetected in your home for years, so an annual inspection is the best way to prevent damage from these pests. Visit this website to learn more about termite control in Raleigh.

How to Tell if You Have a Rattlesnake Infiltration in Your Yard

Snakes can make your skin crawl and worse than that, they can be deadly. No one wants snakes in their yard, but there is a big difference between harmless snakes and rattlesnakes. You may have seen some slithering in the grass, but that may not be a cause for alarm, because they could be non-venomous snakes. However, a rattlesnake is a different matter and requires professional removal.

One way to tell if you have rattlesnakes in your yard is, of course, the telltale rattle sound. However, some snakes’ rattles might have been cut off or missing, and baby snakes might not have them at all, but could still be venomous. Another way to tell if the creature is a rattlesnake is by its appearance. Look for:

·         Wide, triangular-shaped head

·         Narrow neck

·         Wide body

For obvious reasons, you might not want to get close enough to a snake to try to tell the difference, so that is why it is a good idea to consult experts.

If you suspect you have rattlesnakes, make sure you wear protective shoes that will guard against bites and don’t let your children play outside unsupervised. Calling snake removal experts is an important step. Visit this website for more information about snake control in Raleigh.

Safe Ways to Remove a Honey Bee Hive From Your Property

Honey bees are not aggressive and if you find them near your home, you need not be concerned. If you discover that they have established a hive on your property or in your home, however, you need to have them removed to prevent structural damage and accidental stings to pets and children. Some popular methods of hive removal are these:

1.    Use a Pesticide

If the hive is small enough you can use a pesticide spray. This method is best if the hive is in an exposed location such as under the eaves of the house or on a tree. Once the bees have died, knock down the hive; be careful of any bees left inside that could still be alive.

2.    Lure The Bees to Another Hive

Construct a screen cone and place over the main access point to the hive; seal off all other exits. Bees will fly out the small hole in the cone but will not be able to get back in as they will try to come in at the base. Hire a bee wrangler to bring a new queen to the hive; the trapped bees will be attracted to the new queen and will leave. The remaining bees and old queen will relocate as a result of the weakening of the hive population from this method.

3.    Hire a Professional Pest Control Expert

If the hive is large and situated inside the structure of your house, your best option is the hire a professional to remove the hive. Killing bees is not hard to do, but removing a hive can be, and if you don’t get the hive and all the dead bees completely removed they will create a bad odor in your house and damage and stain the walls.

If you have bees in or near your home, don’t wait until the hive grows and becomes established. Visit this website to learn more about bee removal in Cary.

Skunk Damage

Most people can recognize a skunk on sight. These little weasels are often sweet natured, but the powerful scent they leave behind when they’re scared usually strikes fear into most hearts. If you notice a strong odor coming from your yard, chances are that it’s a skunk.

Skunks aren’t just stinky, though. They can wreak all kinds of havoc on your house and home. To begin with, their burrowing habits can frequently cause problems with their human neighbors. Skunks often dig holes in lawns as they search for the insect grubs they like to eat. They’ve been known to disturb the garbage receptacles that most of us leave outside. Skunks can also burrow into porches or other foundation openings. They can disturb beehives, which can then leave you with a whole host of other problems. While they don’t climb fences, skunks will in fact kill poultry from time to time. If you keep chickens, you’ll want to make sure and protect them from their skunk predators. Skunks also like to eat those eggs. Last but definitely not least, skunks are known to damage crops of all kinds, but especially corn.

Skunks are also one of the primary carriers of rabies in the United States. In some areas, like the Midwest, skunks are the number one leading carrier of rabies. A rabid skunk can cause serious trouble, from acting aggressively towards you or your family, to possibly infecting any pets you might have. Rabies is not something to be taken lightly. If a skunk approaches you without any hesitating, be wary: that aggression might indicate that the skunk is carrying rabies.

So how can you tell if you have a skunk on your property? Most of the time, that strong odor will be a dead giveaway. Other signs to watch for: the three- to four-inch cone-shaped holes that skunks leave in lawns as they dig for food. You can also check for garden and lawn damage that occurs low down, at a skunk’s height, such as on the lower ears of corn stalks. This kind of damage doesn’t always mean that you have a skunk in residence, though. Sometimes, those skunks are just passing through. The best way to verify that you have a skunk problem is to trust your nose.

So what’s the next step? Fortunately, if you do have a skunk, you won’t be alone with the problem. The best way to deal with a skunk is to call in a trained professional.

To learn more about skunk control in San Francisco, check out the following website.

What To Do After You’ve Gotten Rid of Bedbugs

A bedbug infestation is like a nightmare. It feels too horrible to be true, and it seems to go on forever. Most bedbug infestations need to be treated with chemical treatments. Those chemical treatments tend to be very effective, but even after you’ve completed one, you should still follow a few steps to ensure that your bedbugs don’t come back.

First, if you haven’t already, you’ll need to thoroughly clean all clothing, bedding, linens, towels, curtains, etc. Wash in hot water and dry on the highest setting. Don’t forget about smaller items like shoes, stuffed animals, scarves, and gloves. If you can’t put those items in the washing machine, just make sure to put them in the dryer for at least 30 minutes on high.

Next, vacuum thoroughly all throughout your house. When you’re finished, take the vacuum bag out to the garbage right away.

Scrub your mattress with a stiff brush. You might want to consult a professional about getting a new mattress, in case the one you have has been infested.

Check cracks in plaster and wallpaper; these are spots where bedbugs like to hide. Make sure to repair any cracks you find.

To learn more about bedbug treatment in San Francisco, visit the following website.

Dealing With a Wasp Infestation

Wasps are normally not aggressive, but if you have a wasp nest and a wasp infestation, they can become dangerous. When wasps work together to protect their nest, they can overwhelm even individuals who aren’t allergic. What sort of signs can you watch out for when it comes to wasp infestations?

The most apparent sign of a wasp infestation is the wasp nest and the individual wasps. Different types of wasps will build different types of nests, but generally a wasp nest is made up of chewed wood. The nest starts out rather small, but as the summer progresses and more wasps are born the nest gets larger and larger. Experts suggest that in the spring a wasp nest may be the size of a golf ball or walnut, but by midsummer it can be as large as or larger than a basketball.

In order to take care of a wasp infestation, you have to find the nest. Often a wasp will build its nest outdoors because they are predatory creatures. You should look under roof eaves, on walls, in bushes, behind shutters and, for some wasps, in the ground. Wasps may even decide to build their nest in your attic, walls or in a storage building or shed.

Finding a wasp nest gets easier, and more dangerous, as the summer progresses. It gets easier because there are more wasps that have to come and go from the nest. You have a better chance of watching them and figuring out where they are going to and coming from. It gets more dangerous because there are more wasps to protect the nest. If you get stung by 30 or more wasps, it can be deadly.

It is important to note that you should not follow wasps back to their nests. If you get too close to their nest, they may feel like they are being attacked. Wasps are not aggressive, but if they feel threatened they will attack.

Often dealing with a wasp nest needs the hand of a professional, but some homeowners try to deal with the situation on their own. However, if you notice that wasps are entering your attic, a wall or any other enclosed space, make sure to call a professional for that situation no matter what. A high population of wasps in your house can be quite dangerous and needs to be handled by a professional.

Whether you think you have an infestation or you know you have an infestation, it may be better to just call a professional right away. For wasp and bee removal in Garner, make it easy and safe for yourself by calling in professionals today - http://www.trianglewildliferemoval.com/wasps-bees-stinging-insects