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In this issue…
1. Pests as Asthma
Triggers
2. Mice
3.
Fall Weed Prevention and Houseplant Care
4.
Powderpost Beetles
5. Quick
Facts
…It's time to close up the house for winter. Make sure pests haven't gotten closed in too…
We all know that all sorts of things seem to be able to bring on an asthma attack. Dogs and cats cause asthma attacks in some people. Tobacco smoke, cold air, exercise and even laughing can cause attacks too.
Few people nowadays have not seen a television program about house dust mites. Newspapers are full of advertisements for things that are supposed to help you get rid of them and the nasty dust they leave all over your house. In fact, house dust mites and their droppings are the most important cause of asthma worldwide.
Then there's the unloved cockroach. It turns out that excrement and debris from decomposing cockroach bodies are of just the right size to be lifted into the air, breathed onto the bronchial tubes, and recognized by the immune system - in certain people - as a signal to make an allergic reaction. As you know, the allergic reaction in the bronchial tubes is asthma.
The most important allergen in inner-city homes comes from cockroaches. Specifically, if you are asthmatic anyway, and have the unfortunate problem of housing roaches, you're much more likely to have an asthmatic episode than if either of those situations did not exist.
And another pest, the rodent, has been found to cause an allergic reaction as well. The protein found in the droppings and urine of both rats and mice has recently been found to cause asthma symptoms. Similar to cockroaches, they are found in urban neighborhoods where food and water is accessible to them.
To minimize your chances for an asthmatic episode due to these culprits, especially as the weather turns colder and we close up the house for the winter, be sure to thoroughly clean the house and eliminate as much of the dust mite habitat as possible. Consult a trained professional, who can inspect your house for areas that allow roaches and/or rodents to enter your home and advise you on the best method of control.
Some rodents are destructive pests that can spread disease, contaminate food and destroy property. They vary in color and size by species. The most common rodents that live in close proximity to humans (called commensal rodents) in the United States are Norway rats, roof rats, house mice and deer mice.
Rodents are found throughout the world, wherever food and water sources exist and can be difficult to keep out of homes regardless of size or species. In fact, mice can squeeze through holes the size of a dime.
Droppings, fresh gnaw marks, and tracks indicate areas where mice are active. Mouse nests are made from fine shredded paper or other fibrous material, usually in sheltered locations. House mice have a characteristic musky odor that identifies their presence. Mice are active mostly at night, but they can be seen occasionally during daylight hours.
Mice have keen senses of taste, hearing, smell, and touch. They are excellent climbers and can run up any rough vertical surface. They will run horizontally along wire cables or ropes and can jump up to 12 inches from the floor onto a flat surface.
To devise the best control program for a particular situation, always begin by removing or limiting the mouse's food source and shelter whenever possible. Trapping works well when mice are not numerous, or it can be used as a follow-up measure following a baiting program. When considering a baiting program, decide if the presence of dead mice will cause an odor or sanitation problem. If so, trapping may be the best approach. Taking steps to exclude them so that the problem does not reoccur should follow removal of mice.
Because mice can survive in very small areas with limited amounts of food and shelter, their control can be very challenging, especially in and around older structures. Most buildings in which food is stored, handled, or used will support house mice if the mice are not excluded, no matter how good the sanitation. While good sanitation will seldom completely control mice, poor sanitation is sure to attract them and will permit them to thrive in greater numbers. Pay particular attention to eliminating places where mice can find shelter. If they have few places to hide, rest, or build nests and rear their young, they cannot survive in large numbers.
Trapping is an effective method for controlling small numbers of house mice. Although time-consuming, it is the preferred method in homes, garages, and other structures where only a few mice are present. Simple, inexpensive, wood-based snap traps are effective and can be purchased in our office. Traps can be baited with a variety of foods; peanut butter is the most popular because it is easy to use and very attractive to mice. Set the triggers lightly so the traps will spring easily.
Baits to control rodents are formulated with an attractant (generally food) and a rodenticide (toxin). If you have an extensive mouse problem or are opposed to taking care of the problem yourself, an experienced pest control technician is your best ally in the battle to keep mice from taking up residence inside your house.
Our do-it-yourself section is now available online in our 'products' section for fly, rodent and miscellaneous control.
Fall Weed Prevention and Houseplant Care
Fall is not only a great time to fertilize your lawn; it is also a great time to kill those persistent weed troubles.
Most lawns have undergone severe stress during the particularly hot summer months of July and August. Stressed lawns give weeds an opportunity to grow due to less competition with turf grass. To ensure a weed-free turf, you must make sure weed survival and persistence doesn't overshadow your lawn this fall. Weeds will start to store food for the winter in their root systems for next spring and are therefore more vulnerable to weed prevention techniques. During the fall, weeds are easier to kill with weed killers (herbicides) because weeds are rapidly taking in nutrients before winter.
Fall is the best time to get control of crabgrass, creeping charlie, clover, thistle, dandelions, chickweed, and some other broadleaf weeds as well. These weeds can take more than one application of a weed killer for the lawn, because they are harder to kill.
This is also the time of year when we bring our houseplants back inside after a summer outside. Those houseplants you've kept outside all summer may be harboring unwanted guests.
When bringing plants inside for the winter, it's important to check them for insects and other pests. Even one or two insects can be the start of an infestation. Pests to look for include aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, white flies and scale.
With a small infestation, you may be able to wipe off the pests with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. Rinsing the plant under a gentle stream of water for a few minutes can wash away insects and eggs. Keep checking the plant for a recurring infestation during the next couple of weeks.
It's also important to gently dig around the roots and look for pests in the soil, such as sow bugs, millipedes and slugs. You can remove most of these by hand or rinse off the soil with a garden hose and repot the plant in new soil.
Powderpost beetles (ppb) can cause more confusion than any other structure-infesting pest. Homeowners often receive conflicting opinions as to whether the "damage" they are seeing are indeed ppb. Mistakes also are made in determining if the infestation is active and if so, how it should be managed. Incorrect information results in unnecessary treatment and expense, or a failure to protect the your property.
Powderpost beetle is a term used to describe several species of small (1/8-3/4 inches long), wood-boring insects that reduce wood to a fine, flour-like powder. The larvae cause damage, since they create narrow, meandering tunnels in wood as they feed. Infestations are discovered after noticing small, round "shotholes" in the wood surface. These are exit holes where adult beetles have chewed out of the wood after completing their development. Newly emerged adults mate and lay eggs on or below the surface of bare (unfinished) wood. The eggs hatch into tiny larvae which bore into the wood, emerging as adults 1-5 years later, usually during April - July. Homeowners are more likely to see damage than the beetles, themselves, because the adults are short-lived and are active mainly at night.
The key to avoiding serious problems from powderpost beetles is early detection. As noted earlier, homeowners are much more likely to see damage than the beetles themselves. Since tunneling and development of the larvae takes place entirely below the wood surface, the only signs of infestation are the emergence holes made by the adults and the powder-like frass sifting from the holes.
Infestations of ppb sometimes die out on their own accord. Therefore, it is important to be able to determine whether the infestation is active or inactive. Active infestations will usually have powder the color of fresh-cut wood sifting from the exit holes. In contrast to old, abandoned holes, new holes will not have taken on the weathered appearance of the surrounding wood. Powder streaming from recently opened holes may accumulate in small piles beneath the exit holes. If these piles of powder are covered over with a film of dust or debris, the damage is old. Careful observation may be required to distinguish new powder from frass, which has been dislodged from old larval galleries by vibrations.
One final means of confirming that an infestation is active is to mark or seal any existing exit holes, sweep or vacuum up all powder, and recheck the wood for new holes and powder at a later date. Since most ppb emergence occurs from April-July, it might be worthwhile to wait until the following spring/summer to determine if new holes and fresh powder are present (this is especially true when attempting to make a determination during the fall or winter).
There are 3 basic means of eradicating an active infestation of powderpost beetles:
Wood Replacement
Surface Treatments
Fumigation
While wood replacement will be sufficient for a localized infestation, anything more widespread will require either a surface treatment or whole-house fumigation. Either of these treatments is best left to an experienced professional. Since it will undoubtedly be quite an expense, you'll want to be sure the job is done right.
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