Category: Pest Control Tips

A real Christmas tree really does bring the holiday spirit in to your home, but what else does it bring?

Christmas is here again, which means getting out all of your festive decorations and trimming the tree. The holiday season brings cheer, family time, gifts, and traditions. The one thing you hope it doesn’t bring is unwelcome insects and pests.

Bringing the Christmas tree into your home adds a wonderful scent, festive decor, and the holiday spirit. Along with all of these fantastic things, it’s also possible that insects and pests stow away on your tree and end up moving in. As soon as these creepy-crawly bugs come into your toasty warm home, they get the urge to start moving around and leave the tree for your living room.

If you are worried about what kind of pests might be hiding in your tree, you can take steps to prevent them from coming in. We’ve compiled some tips to protect your home from outside critters, or, if you need assistance from the experts, Environmental Pest Management can help take care of all of your pest prevention needs.

Take a look at these steps to keep your home insect-free during the holidays.

Which Bugs To Look For

Are you wondering which pests might be creeping around in your Christmas tree? Spiders, beetles, sawflies, aphids, and mites are some of the most common.

Praying Mantises might be fun to find when you’re exploring outside and come across one in nature, but discovering one in your home after they’ve leaped off your tree may not be as pleasant. Look for these large insects or their egg masses in your tree before bringing it inside.

Some people consider the praying mantis to be good luck, or to mean that angels are watching over you. Lucky you for finding it, but perhaps you can keep the blessing outside.

It may be harder to spot aphids on your tree. Unlike the praying mantis, they are tiny, only about ⅛” long. What do aphids look like? Depending on the variety, they can be brown, grey, white, green, or yellow. They are pear-shaped and can be with or without wings. Also unlike praying mantises, aphids are rarely alone. If you spot one, there are very likely others.

Spiders and mites can be hiding in your holiday tree. Mites look like small red or brown dots. If there are mites or aphids, the tree might also attract another unwelcome critter: spiders. To keep spiders away from your home after you bring your tree in, use the steps below or contact Environmental Pest Management to create a plan.

Also Read: Should Carpenter Ants Be On Your Radar This Spring?

Check Your Tree Out

When searching for the perfect tree, choose one that is a vibrant green and appears healthy. Avoid trees with brown branches. No one wants a half-dead tree in their home (which can be a fire hazard), but it could also be a sign of bug infestation.

Once you pick your tree, check under the branches and around the trunk, looking for evidence of pests. Egg sacs, webs, nests, and insects themselves might be a red flag that bugs are hiding out in your tree. Prune away any branches that show these signs.

Shake Your Tree!

If you purchase your tree from a Christmas Tree farm, odds are they have one of the mechanical shakers to shake all of the dead needles and bugs off of the trees. Don’t skip this helpful service!  Let them shake your Christmas tree free of any pests and brown needles.

If you don’t purchase your tree from a tree farm, you can do the shaking yourself by hand. Vigorously shake the tree before you bring it in the house. Shaking the tree will help loosen and remove any pests before it enters your home.

Also Read: Squirrels in Your Home Driving You Nuts This Winter?

Dust Your Tree

No one wants to spray nasty chemicals all over their natural and beautiful Christmas tree. A healthy alternative is to use diatomaceous earth to dust over your tree. This all-natural bug-repellent will effectively and safely keep bugs out of your tree. It won’t leave any scent behind, and it won’t make your tree flammable like aerosol spray repellents. Do this outside, of course.

Vacuum

Once you get your tree set up inside your house, vacuum around it to catch any bugs that might have survived the shaking and dusting. This process will get rid of any stragglers, and keep them from taking up residence in your home.

Preparation is Key

Winterizing your home against pests is an excellent start to keeping spiders and insects away before you even bring the tree home. Closing any gaps around doors or windows, repairing cracks, and treating shrubs and bushes in your yard near your house will prevent bugs from coming inside.

If you have already put the time in to guard against insects and pests and have taken the above precautions with your Christmas tree, you’re likely in good shape for a pest-free holiday. If you are still worrying about insects invading your holiday, consider consulting the experts at Environmental Pest Management.

Rely On The Experts

Christmas time should be about enjoying the decorations, loved ones, and excitement, not worrying about pests moving in with your Christmas tree. Following these steps to keep bugs off of your tree will help you enjoy the Christmas season without the mess and stress of invasive insects.

Worrying about pests in your home can be overwhelming. If you aren’t sure how to keep spiders away or prevent other insects from taking up residence in your home, don’t stress. Contact Environmental Pest Management, and we’ll be right out to provide a free inspection.

After inspecting your home, we’ll develop a customized plan for your home, based on your budget, needs, and unique pest issues. Our plans focus on non-chemical methods and the most environmentally safe products to keep your family safe. And if we find any critters mooching off your holiday decor, we’ll remove them right away.

You’ll appreciate the exceptional service, as well as a pest-free home!

Centipedes swarm in to homes during the winter months looking for warmer places to live.

Centipedes, you’ve seen them — their hundreds of legs wiggling as it winds its way along. While they may look like some creature from a science fiction movie, the most common centipede, also known as the “House Centipede,” actually have 30 legs or 15 sets of legs.

These creepy-crawly critters find their way into homes as the weather grows colder during the winter months. Our team of Certified Technicians at Environmental Pest Management can help eliminate any centipede infestation with a simple phone call.

Centipedes originally came from warmer, more humid, tropical environments in other parts of the world. When the weather starts turning cold, as it does in Minnesota in winter, they seek out warmer, more damp places inside homes, buildings, and other structures.

These critters are most likely found in darker places with higher levels of humidity, such as basements, garages, utility rooms, crawl spaces, under sinks, under floorboards, or inside walls where moisture may gather. Centipedes are invertebrate arthropods and nocturnal hunters. They use their keen sense of sight along with smell and vibration to detect their prey.

So what do centipedes like to eat? They eat other common household pests such as bed bugs, silverfish, termites, cockroaches, spiders, and other insects. While centipedes can be natural pest-removers, it can be a double-edged sword since centipedes in your house is usually a sign of other bug infestations.

1. Keep Your Home Pest-FreeSince the house centipede’s diet consists of the most common other household pests, your first line of defense against a centipede infestation is to keep your home free of other bugs. Your professionals at Environmental Pest Management have extensive experience helping homeowners, business owners, and apartment management companies throughout Minnesota live pest-free since 1986. Our success rate and track record speak for themselves.

In addition, it’s always helpful to take steps yourself to keep unwanted pest visits to a minimum between professional treatments. Several of the most important things you can do yourself include:

• Keeping your kitchen and dining room clean and free of food and drink spills.
• Keeping tabletops and counters clear of crumbs.
• Leaving foods left out on tables and counters for prolonged periods without being properly sealed.
• Not letting excess pet food and water sit out between feedings.
• Keeping trash cans, garbage, and compost buckets in the house covered.

2. Seal All Cracks in the Home

Centipedes are, like all critters, trying to find a warm place to live and hunt during the cold months of winter. They will exploit cracks in your home and foundation as a point of entry. You might be surprised where these long, slender creatures can squeeze through and get into your house or apartment.

Thoroughly inspecting your home, inside and out, is a practice that you should get in the habit of doing every fall before winter sets in. Knowing where cracks in houses and apartment buildings are commonly found can be most helpful in this process.

The Certified Technicians at Environmental Pest Management have seen it all over the years and can help walk you through the inspection process. That way, you don’t miss any of the hidden cracks that can allow these critters to breach your home.

Start on the outside of the house from the bottom at the foundation, up to the roof. Cracks can occur along concrete and wooden patios and porches and wherever the home has been extended or additions to the house have been connected to the original structure.

Cracks can also occur under the bottom story flooring and even under the roof in the attic. Properly reseal all cracks with the right materials. Again, it’s a good idea to re-check any sealing work that’s been done each year to make sure the job has remained intact.

Also Read: Proven Ways to Treat a Centipede Infestation

3. Make Sure Windows, Doorways, and Plumbing are Fitted Flush

Just like inspecting for cracks throughout your home, making sure that door sweeps, windows, and screens are in place and fit flush is essential in the fight to keep out centipedes and other pests.

4. Eliminate Damp or Wet Areas Inside the Home

Check dark and seldom-used spaces inside your home and garage to make sure leaks, condensation, and moisture haven’t had a chance to seep in and build-up. Centipedes thrive in dark, damp spots where they’re free to live and hunt without being bothered by humans and other predators.

Some of these spaces can include sheds attached to the home, basements, boiler rooms, and water heater closets, as well as under kitchen, bathroom, and utility room sinks. Check behind washers and dryers in the laundry room as well as crawl spaces behind walls, and the attic.

Have T.A.P. Insulation Professionally Installed In Your HomeT.A.P. Insulation, or Thermal Acoustic Pest control insulation, is an environmentally friendly and permanent solution to pest control. This proprietary insulation is made from recycled paper and acts as both a sound barrier and insulator that can reduce heating and cooling costs in the home up to 30 percent.

Also Read: Natural Bug Repellents For Bug-Free BBQs

Best of all, T.A.P. Insulation is easily installed over your home’s existing insulation and kills centipedes and other pests while remaining harmless to humans. Call your local T.A.P. Insulation provider today at 952.432.2221 to learn more about this amazingly useful product today.

5. Check Potential Hiding Places That You Bring into the Home

Another way centipedes can end up in the home is by hitching a ride on stuff that you bring in from outdoors. Some of the things to double-check when bringing in the house include firewood, used furniture, Christmas trees, boxes from a storage unit, as well as camping equipment that you’ve used outdoors.

Call us at 952.432.2221 or contact Environmental Pest Management online today to keep your home pest and centipede-free!

Mice, rats, chipmunks, and squirrels invading your home?

As winter approaches, you begin taking the necessary steps to protect your home. Cold weather, rain, and snow can bring several threats to your house and yard. Between freezing hoses and water lines, drafty windows and doors, and protecting against potential flooding, you have a lot to accomplish as winter sets in.

Aside from the necessary tasks to protect your home against the severe weather winter brings, have you taken time to guard your home against rodents? Rodents are often looking for a warm place to hang out for the winter, and your house may be the one they are looking for!

The winter weather can drive unwanted pests into your home as they look for a reprieve from the harsh elements. House mice, rats, and other rodents can enter your home and get cozy, much to your dismay.

Taking care to winterize your home against rodents can help keep them outside where they belong. If you are looking for some ideas beyond this list, contact Environmental Pest Management to inquire about their services.

Protect Your Home

There are several ways to guard your home against unwanted pests, such as house mice and rats. Being proactive can help prevent rat nests, infestations, or even the occasional visitor passing through. No one wants to see mice scurrying through their living room, hear gnawing sounds coming from their walls, or find droppings in their cabinets and drawers. Follow these simple steps to prevent rodents in your home this winter.

Keep a Clean House

While rodents can enter even the cleanest of homes, if you keep your house clean, they will be less likely to come in and stay. Package all of your food in sealable containers to keep food sources unavailable for your unwanted guests.

Clean up food-related messes right away to avoid leaving crumbs and scraps for rodents to find — even under your stove or your refrigerator. Keeping your house free from messes, especially food-related messes, will keep rodents at bay.

Also Read: 3 Proven Ways to Get Rid of Mice Fast

Seal the Entrances

Ensuring your doors and windows are sealed will keep your home warmer and also prevent rodents from being able to enter. Aside from doors and windows, check your home for any cracks in the walls, floors, or siding. If you can identify and repair them, you will be ready when winter sets in.

Eliminate Water Sources

Rodents need water to survive, and without it, your home won’t be as comfortable to them. If you have any leaks in your home, be sure to repair them.

Check your home for leaking pipes, roof, or gutters. Fixing these areas will reduce standing water in, or around, your home that could be a source of water for these critters.

Insulate Your Home with T.A.P.

If you are looking for another way to prevent unwanted pests this winter, T.A.P. Pest Control Insulation is an effective and environmentally conscientious way to do so. Not only is this insulation thermally and acoustically superior to other types of insulation, but it also provides a long-term approach to preventing unwanted insects and rodents.

T.A.P. Pest Control Insulation is blown on top of existing insulation in your home, filling in empty spaces. Made from recycled paper, it will help keep your home warmer or cooler as the season dictates. This environmentally-friendly product is an efficient way to prevent pests and insulate your home at the same time.

Also Read: The Best Ways to Get Rid of Mice this Spring

Insulating with T.A.P. is a great way to prevent house mice, rats, and countless other insects and pests. The environmentally-safe, EPA-registered insulation will give you peace of mind knowing it is a safe pest-control option.

Know The Signs

If perhaps you got a late start winterizing your home and you are worried about rodents, look for signs they may be inside your home. Have you seen mouse droppings or gnaw marks in your home? Odor, footprints, and damaged items can also be signs that rodents are using your house as their home.

If house mice are living inside, or you discover a rat nest, don’t panic. You can take steps to remove them from your home, and still winterize to prevent further invasion.

Traps and Baits

Traps or bait can be an effective way to eliminate rodents from your home. However, when using these products, safety is a vital consideration. If you have kids or pets, be very cautious about where you place traps, and whether or not you want to use poison of any type.

Keeping household members and pets safe while catching these unwanted pests is a priority, so ensure that the traps are out of reach of children or pets, and safely contain the bait in a bait station.

Call the Professionals

If winterizing your house seems like a daunting task, or you’re already dealing with mice in your home, it may be time to consult the professionals. Environmental Pest Management will create a personalized plan for your home that’s safe, effective, and environmentally conscientious.

Also Read: What’s The Best Method of Pest Control for Apartments?

Environmental Pest Management will focus on the outside of your home and how to prevent pests from entering. They will also create a safe plan for the interior of your home regarding proper placement of traps and how to monitor them.

T.A.P. Pest Control Insulation is also one of their specialties. Not only will they install the insulation, but they can also remove any soiled or damaged insulation. They will then sanitize your attic before laying the new T.A.P. insulation for you.

Stop worrying about how you’ll handle any unwanted pests this winter, and contact Environmental Pest Management for a free inspection today. They will assess your home and put together the right plan for you, always with safety and environmentally friendly practices in mind.

You’ll love the peace of mind that comes with their services, and appreciate their commitment to the environment.

How can you tell which creepy-crawly critters are going to help your garden or hurt it?

Most gardeners think about how to keep bugs away from their vegetables and flowers. But there are bugs that you want in your garden. These “good guy” bugs help control common pests to let your garden thrive.

Beneficial bugs are the first line of defense for organic pest control in your garden. An unsuccessful garden is sometimes due to pesticides, which destroy useful bugs in the process.

At Environmental Pest Management, knowing about beneficial bugs and helping our clients attract them to their gardens is part of our holistic services. Let’s learn about five of these garden good guys that you want to keep around.

Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly to My Home

Ladybugs, also known as ladybirds or lady beetles, are a well-known beneficial insect. Many people consider them good luck. Ladybugs are especially known for eating aphids, which every gardener detests.

One adult ladybug will eat an estimated 50 aphids per day and 5,000 aphids in its lifetime! If you have enough food supply, ladybugs will decide to stick around for a while and lay eggs, tiny yellow clusters found on the underside of leaves. These eggs will hatch within a week, and after another 3-5 weeks, become adults who will happily munch on your aphids, mealybugs, and mites all through the growing season.

Most people recognize the red ladybug with black spots, but there are other varieties. They can also be black with two red spots, white with brown spots, or pink with black spots.

You can purchase adult live ladybugs and put them in your garden. You can also intersperse plants with your flowers and crops to attract them naturally. Dill, fennel, yarrow, coreopsis, marigold, and Basket of Gold are all plants that ladybugs love.

Also Read: The Best Ways to Get Rid of Mice this Spring

It Only Comes Out at Night …it’s a Slug-eater!

If you’ve ever turned over a rotting log and seen shiny black bugs skitter away, you probably encountered a ground beetle. These unassuming insects are one of your garden’s best friends. They’re voracious predators and can help you get rid of some of the worst plant-destroying problems.

Ground beetles are nocturnal and prefer to hide. You may never see them unless you uncover one of their hideaways, but if they’re in your garden, your plants will appreciate it. They’re about ¾ inch or more and usually black or dark brown with long legs.

But don’t be alarmed. These guys are your garden buddies. They cannot fly or climb. Ground beetles root around in leaf litter, compost, and at the bases of plants to hunt insect eggs, larvae, cutworms, slugs, cabbage maggots, Colorado potato beetles, corn earworms, snails, and other pests that can live in your soil. These pests can cut down saplings and new growth, eat bulbs before they can grow, or eat flower buds.

Be sure not to use pesticides in your garden if you want to nurture an environment for ground beetles. They are very sensitive to them, and even residual amounts in the soil will harm them. Make sure you use natural lawn care and natural garden products.

If you have mulch, compost, or piles of pulled weeds, you very likely already have some ground beetles. They enjoy these moist environments. You can also put down some paver stones, flat rocks, or boards to give a place for them to hide during the day.

Ground beetles also are drawn to amaranthus, clover, and evening primrose.

Lacewings Grace Your Garden While Their Young Prey on Pests

Lacewings get their name because of their four, large, membranous, veined wings that have a pattern that resembles lace. Adult lacewings are graceful and ethereal, dancing from flower to flower. It may be hard to imagine that in their larval stage they are fierce predators who eat common garden pests.

Lacewings are most effective at organic pest control during their larval stage when they are predatory and hungry. If you look at a lacewing larva up close, you’ll see it looks like a tiny, ½” alligator. And they’re just as predatory as an alligator, but they go after your garden pests.

Lacewings help control aphids, mites, mealybugs, thrips, and whiteflies. Lacewing larvae have such a voracious appetite that they are sometimes known as “aphid lions,” but they will happily eat other bugs and insect larvae.

You can import lacewing eggs or larvae into your garden, or you can also encourage an environment for lacewings to live and breed.

Adult lacewings are attracted to a variety of herbs, such as coriander, and dill, and other plants such as angelica and sweet alyssum. Adult lacewings like flowering plants, which provide pollen and nectar for them to eat. Lacewings are better at preventing pest problems vs. attempting to control an infestation, but they are an important part of your organic pest control strategy.

Also Read: How to Get Rid of Moles and Voles

Arrrr … the Minute Pirate Bug Has Come to the Rescue

The Minute Pirate Bug is officially known as Orius, but who can resist imagining a pirate bug making your garden pests walk the plank?

Orius bugs have a long rostrum like a pirate sword they use to lance their prey and drain the fluids quickly and efficiently. Minute Pirate Bugs especially like thrips, pests that ruin your onions, flowers, and other vegetables. They also eat aphids, spider mites, and caterpillars.

By inter-planting perennials such as Shasta daisies and black-eyed Susans, or annuals such as cosmos and sunflowers, you’ll be on your way to attracting these beneficial bugs to your garden. They also like fennel, spearmint, and caraway.

Watch that Soldier Beetle Go

Soldier beetles are also known as leatherwings and take their nickname from the brightly colored patterns on their wings that some say resemble uniforms. They look very similar to fireflies or lightning bugs but do not produce light.

These good guy bugs are harmless to people and do not damage plants. Adult females lay egg clusters in the soil, and the bristly larvae are born hungry. They will eat aphids, caterpillars, insect eggs, and other soft-bodied insects.

You can make your garden hospitable to these garden friends by planting marigolds, zinnia, goldenrod, and linden trees.

Experts in Organic Pest Control and Natural Lawn Care

Environmental Pest Management is your friend when it comes to organic pest control. We’ll never recommend the use of pesticides inside your home that could harm beneficial bugs in your yard. Our experts in home pest removal and prevention are happy to keep these “good guys” in the garden, where they belong, and out of your home. Click here to chat with our team at Environmental Pest Management today.

Do You Have Carpenter Ants?

Do you think you might have carpenter ants? Do you know what they are and what they do? Why are they so bad? Many people are dealing with carpenter ants and don’t even know it. If you have them, you want to know how to get rid of carpenter ants.

What are Carpenter Ants?

Carpenter ants are often mistaken or confused with termites. Like termites, carpenter ants burrow through wood causing damage to structures. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood; they nest in the wood.

These pests are most noticeable in spring, and they prefer damp and decaying wood that is easy to excavate and burrow through. Because carpenter ants prefer rotting wood, they rarely damage stable structures as the wood is too firm.

Still, carpenter ants are terrible for your home, and you will want to get rid of them as soon as you realize they are present.

What Damage Can Carpenter Ants Do?

Carpenter ants can cause a significant amount of damage before you even realize you have them. Thankfully, they usually do not damage solid, sturdy wood because they prefer damp or decaying wood.

Outdoor storage, sheds, wood piles, or rotted trees, or firewood piles are all desirable locations for carpenter ants. If left unchecked, they will overtake many of these locations and cause them to be structurally unsound.

Also Read: 5 Ways to Keep Your Home Centipede Free Through the Winter Months!

What are Some Natural Ways to Get of Carpenter Ants?

Once you have confirmed you have them, you will want to know how to get rid carpenter ants effectively and safely. Before you buy a large bottle of pesticide that is dangerous to you, your family, your animals, and your home, know there are some environmentally friendly ways to attack these pests.

To be precise in your treatment, look for signs pointing to their nest. Carpenter ants will leave a trail of sawdust leading you directly to their nest. Once you know their home base, it is easier to remove them from your home.

Once you have found their nest, you will know where to focus your treatment. Here are several natural, home-remedies to try.

Sugar and Boric Acid Water

In this method, you will combine ten parts sugar water with one part boric acid and add this solution to the food you will use as bait for the carpenter ants. The ants will be attracted to the sugar water, and the boric acid will kill the ants and their nest. However, this method generally takes some time and multiple attempts.

Boric Acid Spray

A more direct attack method would be to spray boric acid directly on the nest, or areas near the nest where you have seen the carpenter ants moving. This method is useful but does require great caution. Avoid spraying boric acid where children or pets play, or near any wiring.

Diatomaceous Earth

DE is highly effective and safer than boric acid. DE is a soft, sedimentary rock collected from a fossilized plant that is similar to algae. You can purchase food-grade diatomaceous earth because it is safe for children and pets to be around it, and it works because the ants cannot digest the dust. Dusting the nest with DE or injecting it into the nest will kill the colony. However, it might take several attempts to ensure the ants are entirely gone.

Vinegar

Most people have vinegar in their kitchen and have no clue it is an effective weapon to get rid of carpenter ants. Mix equal amounts of vinegar and water and add peppermint essential oil to a spray bottle. If you want a stronger solution, you can add pepper, garlic, or cinnamon. Spray the nest and their trails, and you will immediately see the ants reaction to the spray. This method will undoubtedly take many doses if it ever completely gets rid of them.

Also Read: The Best Ways to Get Rid of Mice this Spring

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

It is important to remember the best defense is a good offense, meaning the best way to get rid of carpenter ants is to keep them from nesting in or around your home in the first place. It is wise to focus on maintaining your house and all the structures around it.

Be sure there is no place for moisture to build up and create damp wood for carpenter ants to make their nest. If you already have damage to any part of your home that might be an inviting place for ants, repair it now.

When it comes to your yard and areas surrounding your house, make sure there are no rotting stumps or damaged trees that might attract carpenter ants. If you have a wood pile, be sure it is not touching your house, store it raised off the ground, and take extra measures to keep it dry.

If any branches touch your house, cut them back immediately. Maintaining pest control in your yard and landscaped areas help prevent carpenter ants as well as other pests. Seasonally spraying your yard is a great start.

What if I Can’t Get Rid of My Carpenter Ants?

Don’t worry! It is very common to have pesky ants that you cannot get rid of by yourself. It may seem like no matter what you do, they keep coming back. If you are having this problem and you don’t know how to get rid of carpenter ants, call the experts at Environmental Pest Management; they know how to get it of carpenter ants and make sure they stay gone.

Also Read: Ant Control

Environmental Pest Management is committed to solving your pest problems in an environmentally friendly and safe way, making sure they stay solved, and making sure you can afford it. They began in 1986 and have since been dedicated to using environmentally friendly products and use non-chemical products whenever they can.

Environmental Pest Management also prides themselves on their ability to find the best solution to the particular environment they are in. Whether fighting pests in homes, hospitals, or anywhere in between, great care is taken to ensure they use the best method. Call them today if you have carpenter ants and want to make sure they are taken care of correctly.

With some planning and awareness, you can be successful in your fight to get rid of carpenter ants from your home. With the right tools and knowledge, you can prevent a carpenter ant infestation, or treat one if they invade your home.