If you find yourself hosting some unwanted guests in the form of ants, especially the common sugar ant, or in the industry known as The Odorous House Ant, then you may want to know how to evict them once and for all. First thing’s first. Don’t panic. Ants can definitely a problem, but they don’t need to stress you out. The worst thing you can do is spray in and around your home with bug spray! This never ends well and is never a cheap solution. You’re going to learn how to deal with them by following these easy steps. Also, don’t hesitate to call your local Pest Management Professional, like Capitol Pest. We are happy to help with your ant issue and we would love to be your resource for all your pest problems.

Step 1: Defensive measure. Block their entryways

Start simple with a good defense. Ants are pretty smart when it comes to getting into your house. Check for cracks in your foundation or broken or loose seals on your windows and doors. Ants can feel the warm or cold air, depending on the time of year, seeping out of your house through those cracks. If you identify a troublesome seal, replace it to save money and exclude those critters. Calk gaps in tile and grout. This will slow down the scouts from finding their way in. Also look for shrubs and tree branches touching the walls and roof, prune them back at least once a year.

Step 2: Defensive measure. Remove food supply access

Chances are you won’t be able to eliminate all their entrances to your home so the next step is to reduce the reason for ants being there in the first place: food and water. Do a deep clean around the active area (usually kitchen pantry) for any crumbs or food matter that may be on the ground or on a shelf. This will eliminate their odor trails and clear their food source. It’s probably time for a good deep clean of your kitchen anyway, so win win. Fix leaking faucets to eliminate water sources. Water is the #1 reason ants invade in the winter.  

Make sure that any cooking and baking supplies, especially sugar, are locked in an airtight container. Clearing out any food bits and sealing off desirable food staples can get them moving out of your house as well. Done right, the ants should be looking for dinner somewhere else within a few days or less.

Step 3: Offensive measure. Lay out ant bait

If the ants are still invading your living space, then it’s time to go on the offensive. In your new clean kitchen, lay out ant bait stations in the corners and near areas you’ve noticed ants, this should intercept them before they find your people food. If you can see where they are coming from on the outside, then you might want to put some bait down there as well. Give them several opportunities to get the bait. Liquid baits tend to work the best as the foragers can feed on them easier than the dry granular baits. If a bait doesn’t seem to be their favorite you may want to try a few different kinds as ants can be finicky eaters. If you see the ants swarm your bait and ask for seconds, don’t let them run out of THAT bait.

After bait treatment, wait about three weeks before declaring absolute victory. The queen may have been going into overdrive to produce more workers after the first wave was wiped out by the bait. It can take a few weeks for her to fully recover her losses to the colony and your ant problem may rear its ugly head again. If possible, scour the area surrounding your house for colony activity, including new starter colonies. If a queen is distressed, she may send out other queens to start their own colonies which could lead to an even bigger invasion down the road.

Note that we never mentioned spraying. Don’t give in to what may sound like the easy way and spray your ants. They are in it for the long haul and if you want the victory stay in it too!

Step 4: Offensive measure. Call in a professional

If your ant problem persists, then it’s time to call in the experts. Your local pest management professional (PMP) will be happy to help you out with your ant problem. A good PMP will look in places like around your landscaping, garden shed or hot tub in order to discover evidence of other ant access that you didn’t know about. Give us a call today at Capitol Pest if you’re just looking for expert advice from a local professional or to set up an appointment. Good luck and happy hunting out there!

The post Dealing With Ants in Your House appeared first on Capitol Pest.

While seeing a line of these tiny guys leading out of your pantry is not a pleasant surprise to get with your morning coffee, there are plenty of ways to solve your ant problems. The first step is to identify HOW exactly they got into your house in the first place. The most common ant found in Idaho is called the “odorous ant” and is also known as the “sugar ant, stink ant, and coconut ant (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapinoma_sessile).” These little brown ants love sugar, soda, and anything sweet. Here’s how they will typically get into your house to chow down on your pantry:

From Above

Ants are nothing if not strong and fast. It’s estimated that they can lift over 3,000 times their body weight, which makes them great climbers. Ants will typically get into your house through the roof. Ants, especially the Idahoan sugar ant, can build their colonies in and around trees. Look around your house to see if you have any branches touching your roof or outside wall. If you do, then that could be a perfect way for ants to get a foothold in your abode.

Also, look for power/utility lines that may lead into your house from the street. Many older houses will have a power line going directly from the pole in the street to their roof. An ant colony at the base of that pole can easily make their way up and over to your roof by following the line. Take a walk around the perimeter of your house and take note of what is touching your house.

From Below

Ants are attracted to heat and moisture and especially when they find both in one place. Check the seals around your outside doors, especially the bottom plates. If they are torn or misaligned, they could be seeping warm air outside. If a scouting ant discovers this, they may bring backup to forage for food in your house, especially during the colder months.

Check your garage as well. Ants are oftentimes found inhabiting cracks in driveways, which puts your garage front and center. They can easily slip under a poorly sealed garage door. Make sure every window and door to the outside of your house is properly sealed in order to prevent an ant infestation.

Pro Tips:

1. When it’s time to replace the seal on your garage door, look for the name of the manufacturer on the door itself and not on the remote or motor unit.
2. Take a three inch cutting of the garage door seal to your neighborhood hardware store so they can match it to your particular door.
3. When replacing the seal, make sure you cut it about six inches longer than your actual door. This will help keep it in place during extreme temperature variations.

Remember, your local pest control company should be your first call if you discover ants or other unwanted critters in your home. Give them a call first before you spend your hard earned money on store bought remedies. Oftentimes, a pest control professional will be able to give you a free consultation or even help you solve the problem right there over the phone. At Capitol Pest, we are happy to give you friendly, free advice right over the phone. Call today!

The post Ants in your house? A guide to finding where they came from. appeared first on Capitol Pest.

The amazing thing about Bedbugs is that they are great hitchhikers and they travel well.  They can even travel up to 100 feet in one night by themselves.  They are amazing hiders.  Because they are flat they can squeeze into nightstand drawers, behind electrical outlets and between the seams of fabrics.  Even more remarkable they can go long periods of time without eating, about 10 months.  Cockroaches can only go 30 days without food.  Best part for us is that Bedbugs have not been recorded as carrying diseases transmittable to humans.

Bedbugs populations have been increasing substantially.  According to the National Pest Management Associations 2015 Bugs Without Borders Survey, “Nearly all (99.6 Percent) pest professionals have treated bed bugs in the past year, unchanged from 2013, but higher compared to five, 10 and 15 years ago.”  We have been seen a substantial increase in BedBug infestations.

What we have found in treating BedBug infestations, is that the psychological impact is much worse then the physical impact for the person with the infestation.  It is our goal to walk people through the treatment process, share our knowledge of BedBug behavior and assure them that we can solve their BedBug infestation, with kindness and respect.

The post BedBugs – What They Look like<BR>Their Habits & Our Thoughts appeared first on Capitol Pest.

The post We live on planet earth, <BR>and so do the Elm Seed Bugs. appeared first on Capitol Pest.

That being said, spiders are not to be feared

. In Idaho, we really do not have a major infestation of spiders. I have never seen a spider larger than a car annnnnd according to the CDC – zero deaths have occurred in the United States from Spider Bites between the years 1999 and 2013. (CDC, 2015) In my review of the statistics, my findings are that you would win the lottery far before you would die of a spider bite.
In conclusion, I still do not want them in my house. They don’t pay rent or do the dishes – so they gotta go. Our Spring Summer Fall Program will give you year around protection from spiders, earwigs, mice, and much more! Give us a call to get you on the schedule today!
Tell Bob, when you call, that this is the best article you have ever read, and I will make sure you receive 10% off of your annual pest control service!

The post Spiders – <BR>They will not eat <BR>your arms and legs off. appeared first on Capitol Pest.

Get Rid Of German Roaches Naturally!
I thought I would share a frugal and safe, natural home remedy
for getting rid of German Roaches.
No one wants roaches, no one wants to say they have roaches.
But, from time to time we may have to deal with this issue.

In some cases,
a roach infestation will have nothing to do with
your cleanliness, or any doing of your own.
We live on planet earth, so do the roaches.

A few years back we had a MAJOR infestation of German Roaches for a few years.
First of all we had no idea where they came from and they spread so quickly.
We had a regular exterminator that came out on scheduled visits,
so I was surprised to see anything.
He asked me if there was anything new in the house, I said no,
and then I remember a family member had asked us to store a stove for them in our garage.
Well, thee was the culprit.

He told us that German roaches in particular like the taste of electricity –
it tastes sweet.
So, that’s why you see them in electronic stores and pawn shops, according to him.

Roaches do not go into electronics because they like the taste of electricity.
If 110 will make me think twice – 110 will kill a roach.
The facts are this – electrical appliances are generally warm and dark
this creates the perfect hiding spot.
Stoves, microwaves & toasters have a positive food source,
making these places even more attractive.

The issue is the stove that she was storing for a family member ran out of food.
Looking for a new food source the roaches came into her home.
Yes it is that simple, and of no doing of her own.
Well, I paid him a lot of money and he was never able to get rid of them,
I paid another exterminator even more money to get rid of them.
Nothing worked, I paid a lot of money for bombs
and set them off repeatedly in every part of the house including the attic – nothing worked!
I even searched the local flea market
for some sort of chalk that was supposed to kill them when they crossed it,
I marked up everything in the house, but it didn’t work either.
We moved and they followed… It was terrible.

This is so very common.
Exterminators who have not been trained,
who have been given poor or false information,
and have a lack of experience
will not be able to successfully eliminate a roach population.

“We moved and they followed”
yes it was terrible… are you kidding me …
at that point even I would have used a gallon of gasoline and a road flare.

No, I would not have used gasoline or a road flare
nor do I promote the use of this tactic…

So, one day I happened upon a “recipe” that promised to rid us of them,
so I thought why not – I have tried everything!
So, I mixed up Peanut Butter, Sugar, and Baking Soda in a large bowl –
cause I needed a lot!
I the placed a teaspoon in several plastic baggies
and placed them opened in drawers and cabinets all over the house.
In less than 1 week they were gone! I mean not a one!
I left the big bowl full of the leftover concoction out overnight, too.
I was shocked to say the least!
We had spent over a thousand dollars
and more than a year battling these things
and all the while the answer was in my pantry!
From my understanding the peanut butter and sugar draw them
and the baking soda kills them.
You can make the same mixture with honey instead of sugar
and with boric acid instead of baking soda, if you like.
The Dollar Stores sell a large bottle of powdered Boric Acid for just $1.
I use that outside around doors and windows to keep them out.

Bravo.
Peanut butter is a great fat and protein that roaches will eat.
Honey is also attractive – instant energy.
As a team here at Capitol Pest, we discussed baking soda.
We are not sure exactly why baking soda would work or works.
Our theory is that either the ph in the roach changes dramatically
or the baking soda reacts in the stomach
the same way it would if you mixed baking soda and vinegar,
in both events resulting in death of the roach.
We have never tried or are going to try the baking soda approach.
It worked for this blogger – I would definitely give it a try.
Boric acid works. We in the pest control industry use Boric acid all of the time.
It is low in toxicity to humans and pets, it does not break down quickly,
it is a natural mined mineral, and it just plain works.
If you decide to use this method,
understand that it will not get rid of all of the roaches.
It will get rid of only the roaches that eat it.

Recipe:
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup baking soda or you can use boric acid
1 cup sugar or you can use honey
enough water to make a thick paste
Mix all ingredients together
– See more at: http://www.babyboomerrants.com/get-rid-german-roaches-naturally/#sthash.clVLVVAE.dpuf
http://www.babyboomerrants.com/get-rid-german-roaches-naturally/

If you decide to use this method,
understand that it will not get rid of all of the roaches.
It will get rid of ONLY the roaches that eat it.
it will slow down the population, but the eggs will hatch out in a few days or weeks,
leaving you frustrated at best.
Why use a knowledgeable pest control company?
Because we have products that go beyond killing the roaches that ingest boric acid.
One of our products that will eliminate the population via ingestion
has a very high transfer rate.
This means that one roach will walk through this product
and carry it off everywhere they go, sharing the product with all of his roach friends.
Another one of the products we use has an “insect growth regulator.”
This product will stop the roach from maturing further.
We like to refer to it as birth control for roaches.
Vacuum, my team always goes into a roach treatment with a HEPPA vacuum.
“A roach that is not there is a roach I don’t have to worry about killing” (Bug-man Bob)
This three-pronged method is very effective at solving roach issues.

Moral of the story – Roaches are gross.

Hire an exterminator, a knowledgeable one.

Go to the better business bureau, Angies List, or your local BNI group for referrals and references, and interview the company you intend on hiring.  Do not just give someone your money because you can no longer tolerate your pest issue.
Home remedies sometimes work, try it. However, before you get into a large infestation, call a professional. Treatment will be less expensive the smaller the infestation is.

The post German Cockroaches – Some home remedies work… Well Sort Of. appeared first on Capitol Pest.