General Pests & Insects Services
Wasps (Hornets & Yellow Jackets)
Bald-faced hornets eat nectar and fruit juices.
HABITAT: Bald-faced hornets house their colonies inside large nests that they build hanging from trees, bushes, vegetation and occasionally from buildings. A single mated queen starts a new nest each spring by laying eggs inside a small nest made from paper strips and loose bark. The workers then gradually expand the size of the nest until it is larger than a basketball by the end of the summer. The queen lives deep in the nest, so she is always protected.
IMPACT: Bald-faced hornets are aggressive and will attack anyone or anything that invades their space. They have smooth stingers, so they can sting over and over again. Their stings also carry venom that makes the stings hurt, itch or swell for about 24 hours. Humans are at the same risk of allergic reactions from a bald-faced hornet sting as with other hornet stings.
PREVENTION: Do not leave sweet drinks or meats out in the open. Call a pest management professional if you find hornets around your home or property Yellow jackets eat spiders and insects. They will also feed on human food, especially meats and sweets. Unlike bees, wasps do not make honey or store food.
HABITAT: Yellow jackets like to be where humans live. They usually build their nests underground, around garbage and in cool, dark spaces. They also build nests in trees, shrubs and in holes in walls. Most yellow jacket colonies only remain active for one year. Then the queen flies off to start a new colony. The remaining bees die in the fall and the nest is abandoned. Look for yellow jacket nests during the day, because you can see them flying in and out, but destroy nests at night, when they are dormant and all there.
IMPACT: Wasps help farmers by eating pests that can destroy crops. They are dangerous because they can sting multiple times, injecting venom into the host. For most people a yellow jacket sting just causes a welt and temporary pain, but their sting can cause allergic reactions to people sensitive to this venom.
PREVENTION: Do not leave sweet drinks or meats out in the open. Call a pest management professional if you find yellow jackets around your house or property.
Roaches
Cockroaches are always associated with filth. Why aren't our feelings about ants and spiders and beetles the same? Well, for one reason, cockroaches are known to carry Salmonella and E.coli bacterial pathogens and the other aforementioned little fellows don't. Put a cockroach under a magnifying glass and you'll see they are covered with hairs and spines. All these things hanging off their bodies pick up bad stuff as they make their way through drains and sewers. If they have just emerged from one of these sewer lines and have somehow found their way into a kitchen, you've got instant contamination. We often hear about outbreaks of food borne diseases and many such outbreaks can be traced back to cockroach infestations. The lowly cockroach also does a great job of irritating people with allergies. In fact, it is now commonly belived that people can have asthma from exposure to cockroaches. As cockroaches shed their outer skin during molting which occurs six to twelve times during their lifetime, the molted skin decomposes into tiny flakes. Air currents pick up the flakes and they float in the air around us. Eventually, with enough of these flakes in the air, we will breathe them into our lungs. Put enough cockroaches in a room and you'll have an appreciable amount of cockroach stuff floating in the air you are breathing. People with allergies are quickly affected. This is an especially well known problem in low income housing where incidences of childhood asthma cases far exceed other socio-economic neighborhoods. So, there is good reason to strive to live in a cockroach-free environment. Ignoring an existing cockroach population can bring exposure to unhealthy pathogens and potential respiratory problems.
Ticks
We all know that tick infestation may result in severe consequences, as these blood sucking arachnids are vectors of diseases like Lyme disease, Q fever, Colorado tick fever, tularemia, tick-borne relapsing fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and canine jaundice. These tiny parasites feed on the blood of mammals and birds, but may sometimes attack reptiles and amphibians too. They are usually found among tall grass and shrubs. As ticks lack the ability to fly, they just drop on the hosts when the latter pass through areas infected with ticks. Tick infestation is commonly found in dogs, especially those that wander outdoors for long periods. Even cats and humans can get infested with ticks. Even though ticks infestation of houses are not common, pets and other inhabitants may carry these parasites inside the house and lead to tick infestation of the interior. In case of such infestation, you have to urgently take sufficient measures to eliminate ticks from the house. This involves a multi-pronged strategy.
Removing Ticks in House:
As mentioned above, pets who have the habit of wandering among grass and shrubs may carry ticks to the house. This may result in tick infestation of the house. If the conditions are favorable for them, ticks may reproduce and spread. So, it is very necessary to control the spread of these parasites inside the house. In order to get rid of house ticks, you have to adopt a strategy that includes steps for their elimination as well as preventive measures, so as to avoid re-infestation. It involves use of chemicals like spray for ticks in house and other insecticides. Even preventive measures without the use of chemicals are required in this task.
Flies
Flies entering your home: Flies will venture into buildings for food and this not only causes a nuisance issue, but poses a threat to your health as well. The best way forward is to stop flies from entering a building, not repelling them, but killing the flies.
Remove flies that venture near your bins: Flies obviously are attracted to food sources, which means your compost and refuse bins are hunting grounds for flies. Making sure the lids are firmly in place is good practice, but also killing the flies instead of just deterring the flies is important.
Don't give the flies a second chance to cause problems and also by removing flies you are addressing the breeding problem. Stop flies from breeding: Flies will lay eggs in grass cuttings, rotting vegetation and manure amongst many other locations.
So by keeping a well maintained local surrounding you are going some way to address the issue. By also killing flies you are contributing to reducing their population. Each female fly can lay thousands of eggs. Seeing as flies go from hatching to maturity within a couple of weeks or sooner, you need to tackle this problem, which will help you get rid of flies. Protect your health: Flies not only are major nuisances that can spoil a relaxing moment, but also they are a serious threat to your health.
Not only will they cause distress during the summer to you, others and animals, but also the harmful bacteria and diseases they carry pose a problem. So by getting rid of flies, rather than simply repelling them is helping to protect your health
Spiders
It is enough to make many shudder in horror house spiders found perched high in corners, hiding in the bathtub or crawling across surfaces in their home! In a world where arachnophobia is a common condition, encountering spiders in any environment can be creepy, but in your own home, the feeling is intensified many fold. Regardless of their beneficial aspects, most people just cannot fathom living life side by side with arachnids. Rather than go through the house stomping upon the spiders and sweeping away their webs, a few preventative measures can be undertaken to avoid their presence in the home.
Ants
Ants are problematic to both homeowners and pest management professionals because of their ability to travel and make their homes within wall voids. Controlling ants in and around structures need not be difficult. We can help assist you in identifying ants and understanding their individual biology and behavior. This information will also help you save time while searching for ant trails and save money by having them removed all together. There are five basic elements to an effective ant program that will help make control simpler and more successful.
Thorough Inspection
Indoor treatment 3. Outdoor treatment
Perimeter application
Implementation of a maintenance program.
Fleas
Not only are fleas pesky to your pet, but they can invade your home and torment human hosts with annoying bites. Getting rid of fleas requires diligence, patience and time--generally several weeks. Fleas love warm and humid conditions and they are therefore not only a seasonal problem in some parts of the country but a problem all year around. Ridding a home of fleas can be a frustrating and costly endeavor. Unlike some pests encountered around the home, fleas cause discomfort and irritation to both pets and people. Fleas account for more than half of all dermatological conditions requiring veterinary assistance, and even a single flea bite to a hypersensitive animal or person may cause intense itching and irritation. For successful flea control, the home, pet and oftentimes, the yard must be treated. Yet the manner in which these treatments are performed can greatly influence the results.
Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are small insects that are usually active at night when people are sleeping. Adult bed bugs have flat, brown oval bodies and are about the size of an apple seed. Bed bug infestations are increasingly common, but there are steps that can be taken to prevent bed bugs from infesting your home. When bed bugs are present, they can be safely controlled. Raven Termite and Pest Control will help you learn more about how they thrive, how to recognize and inspect for their presence, steps to take to prevent them from infesting your home, how to safely rid your home of bed bugs if they do occur.
Bees
Bees are highly adaptable insects found in almost every part of the world. While bees are only really active for about two months of the year, they can be nuisances when they make their home too close to yours. Bees are an important part of nature through their role as plant pollinators. However, these stinging insects can pose a threat to people if they build a colony too close to a building. Although beekeepers find bees valuable, having bees nesting in your home or on your property makes bees a big problem. Bees can build large nests or hives made of wax combs quickly after entering your home. To ensure the proper removal as well as the safety of the bees please do not hesitate to contact us.