Winter pests can be held at bay with prevention, professional help

By Brad D. Bates
C & G Staff Writer

While most holiday houseguests are welcome and add to residents’ enjoyment of the season, some can have quite the opposite effect.

As temperatures decline along with outdoor food sources, such pests as mice, rats and insects look to invade homes for warmth and food.

“In the fall, when the season starts to change, spiders, ants and all manner of pests want in,” American Pest Control Technical Director William “Doc” Pickhardt said.

“All those ants and spiders, who may have been living under a paver outside, once the ground freezes, they look for somewhere warm, and once they get in, they don’t go dormant.”

Pickhardt said that a homeowner’s first defense against such pests is to seal any access points to the house.

“The fundamental for rodent control is ‘seal up,’” Pickhardt said. “(Use) caulk or any material to seal any entrance on the exterior of the building.

“In the case of mice, if they don’t enter around a pipe, they enter through the garage,” Pickhardt added. “They chew through the rubber door sweep in the corner of a garage door and then enter the attic where they spend 90 percent of their time.”

The cost of seal-up services can vary based on a home’s age, location and construction.

“It depends on the kind of environment on the outside of the home, whether a place is better for rodents, or if it’s in a city,” Pickhardt said.

“Brick homes can be done in an hour, and older homes can be quite substantial. But once it’s done, it’s done.”

While a seal-up can keep pests out, Pickhardt said it could be equally important to have a professional check the house for a current infestation.

“Most of the time, a mouse problem isn’t known until it’s an infestation because they nest in the insulation of the attic,” Pickhardt said.

“Homeowners don’t realize they have an infestation until there is a large enough population to come down looking for food,” Pickhardt added. “Then you see droppings, and that’s usually when the homeowner … screams and calls a professional.”

Pickhardt said that calling a professional ahead of time can help keep costs low — whether it’s for preventive measures or to clear up an infestation — before the homeowner is emotional about the problem.

“Get professional help and make sure you get a good company out there and not a high-pressure salesman, who will sell you a bill of goods,” Pickhardt said.

“Most professional firms will offer a seal-up service and offer a free inspection,” Pickhardt added.

While a seal-up and inspection can keep some critters at bay, others can literally enter the home on residents’ coattails.

“It hitchhikes and can be picked up any number of ways,” Pronto Pest Control President Stephen Alcalca said of bedbugs.

“We see them a lot in apartments, hotels, schools, hospitals and nurseries.”

Alcalca said that bedbug infestation has been on a steady rise in places such as doctor’s offices or five-star hotels, and one of the few precautions homeowners can make is to be vigilant at home and away.

“If you think you see something, ask about it and call a professional,” Alcalca said. “It’s hard to prevent because they’re everywhere. When you come home look at your bags, check clothing and shoes, and if anything looks like a bedbug, call a professional.

“Look around beds, box springs and mattresses — check the folds and tucks underneath,” Alcalca added. “Check sofa and chairs at the folds and tucks underneath.”

Signs of bedbugs are bloodspots on bedding, fecal matter and cast-off skins, but bites are often the surest sign of an infestation in the winter.

“The bites look like mosquito bites with redness and itching,” Alcalca said. “And if you get those bites now, they’re not mosquitoes because there are none of those around now.”

Alcalca advises utilizing a company that employs dogs, for which his company charges $200 to inspect a 2,000-square-foot home, or some form of scent detection as they can find bedbugs and eggs with a higher success rate.

“Human inspection is only 40 percent accurate,” Alcalca said. “Dogs are much better at finding bugs or viable eggs. The bugs hide their eggs in places like recesses for screws on a bunk bed that we wouldn’t see unless we took the bed apart.”

If bugs are found, there are four basic ways professional exterminators terminate them — chemical spray, isolated steam, freezing or thermal remediation, which involves raising the temperature of the entire home.

“It ranges in price, with chemicals as the cheapest and thermal remediation the most expensive,” Alcalca said of the cost for treatment. “The thing with the chemicals is that, chemicals that the public can buy, some bugs have already developed an immunity.”

But regardless of the manner in which a homeowner chooses to exterminate the problem, Alcalca said it’s imperative for them to choose a company that guarantees results.

“The most important thing is you get somebody that will get rid of them,” Alcalca said. “I charge $700 for a home that is 2,000 square feet or less, and that is to get rid of them.

“When you hire a company, make sure (the fee) is to get rid of them, not a number of visits. You have to get rid of all of them, or you have to start all over.”

American Pest Control can be reached at (248) 379-1865.

Pronto Pest Control can be reached at (855) 438-7436.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1029.