Carpenter Ants
Size: These are typically large ants up to 5/8-inch long. Carpenter ant queen are about 3/4-inch in length, while the males are smaller at 1/2-inch.
Color: Their color varies from black, brown & black, red & black, to light brown depending on the species.
The two most common pest species are black in color. These pests are most active at night-time and a homeowner may not know they're present until heavy damage has already been done. Damage from a carpenter ant may appear similiar to that of a termite. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not actually eat the wood. They instead excavate straw shaped, smooth chambers into wood that serve as nest sites. Each colony will have more than one nest site. And if thats not bad enough, each house may have more than one colony! Damp wood, as one might imagine, is easier to carve into and is prefered. This can also make a house more succeptable to wood-rot. By destroying the wood, the framing and integrety of the house can be comprimised. Contrary to popular belief, carpenter ants are still active in the winter. However, their activity is limited to warm areas surrounding the nest - i.e. your house.
Images of Carpenter Ants
| Mice
Mice can be destructive to your health and property and you may not even notice it. Believe it or not there's a perfectly good reason for that. All mice have very poor vision, so to dodge predetaors they've become more active at night than during the day. Due to their poor eye sight, mice travel along walls and use scents to communicate food, travel and gender to their fellow mouse. They're likely to set up shop inside the insulation in your basement or attic by making a nest out of various fragments of debris, thus destroying your insulation. They can cause fires by gnawing on electrical wiring. Like perhaps all mammals, mice are lazy. They do not travel far from nest to food. Food, of course, is an endless platter for them. They'll eat just about anything from paper to insects to garbage and everything inbetween. Due to the shy nature of the house mouse, their presence may go unnoticed for quite some time before they start popping up in places like your kitchen and bathrooms. Because of this, and the scent trails mice rely on, you should act quickly to eliminate the population. A female mouse will produce 8 litters a year, with each litter delivering 4-7 pups. In just two months, a pup will have matured into an adult and the process will start all over again.
| Bees/Wasps/Hornets
Bees & wasps are nuisance pests and a public health threat. If your like most homeowners, you're constantly battling these pests. Every year they'll create their nests on the eves of your house, underneath the siding, in the ground, on a tree nearby or inside your attic. We've even found wasps nests in barbaque grills, hot tubs, childrens' playsets and undearneath the lip of swimming pools. Generally the homeowner goes about irradicating these guys on their own, but the multitude of potential nesting sites makes it difficult for the untrained do-it-yourself exterminator. Nests grow fast and the end result is a surprise you don't want to experience. You can either wait until your have a problem or you can start a preventative service with us. Either way, we'll solve it. With the mild winter we're experiencing now, it makes alot of sense to start the spring season off right. Winter is a natural regulator of insect populations - cold, harsh winters kill off insects. This year, whats stopping our stinging enemies and their eight-legged meals? Just us.
Thats right, i said 8 legged meals. In all actuality, bees/wasps&hornets can be beneficial insects. We all know certain bee species fertilize plants, but certain wasps species help control populations of spiders and other insects. Have you ever noticed all the nests on buildings in the middle of open fields? Thats because the meals are easy pickins'. We don't want to irradicate all bees/wasps or hornets, we just want to keep you and your family safe.
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