Pests

Identification

Ants are usually 1/8” to ¼” long. They generally are brown or black in color and build their colonies in all types of soil and damp debris. They have a characteristic body shape of three segments with a “pinched neck” behind the head and a “pinched waist” in front of the abdomen. Their antennae are elbowed or Lshaped. Common ants include Argentine ants, Odorous House Ants and a few other species. You may occasionally see ants with wings. These: winged ants” are the “reproductives” (commonly called swarmer’s) of the colony that are responsible for producing offspring, organizing colony activity, and establishing new colonies. (NOTE: It may be difficult for the average home or business owner to distinguish between “winged ants” and “winged termites”.)

Detection

Ants typically gain our attention when they invade homes or businesses in search of food and water. They commonly gain entry to a home through openings around windows, doors, foundation vents, and cracks/crevices of all kinds and sizes.

Impact

Ants can be a nuisance to humans because they infest foods and possibly transmit disease after crawling over waste and refuse.

Prevention

Prevention can include several approaches. It helps to keep the outside areas near the home or business free of debris such as mulch and leaf litter. The interior of the home or business needs to be kept free or limited of food debris as to not attract the ants to the interior of home or business. Exclusion is also a good way to help control ants (if possible). This includes sealing cracks and crevices that lead into the home or business with a silicone or caulking material. A large, dispersed nest can be difficult to control so, if possible, control measures should be taken when nests are small. Ants are generally scavengers that feed on all sorts of food scraps such as proteins and carbohydrates which allow ants to be attracted to whatever food they find in our homes or businesses. Minimizing these food sources help to discourage ants from trying to enter one’s home or business.

Solution

A professional treatment applied to the interior and exterior of home or business is the best way to reduce and help prevent ants. These treatments are often applied in the form of baits, liquid residuals or moisture activated granules. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of ants with a guarantee. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your ant problems.

Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Bed bugs hide in and around beds and other furniture, allowing them to feed on people, usually while they sleep. They are also good at hiding in luggage and other personal belongings, and that’s how they typically find their way into a home. After being introduced into a home, they hide in the mattresses and box springs, headboard and railings, baseboards, night stands, electrical sockets and wall coverings. They can also be found in picture frames, behind wallpaper, and anywhere else near where people sleep. Although bed bugs are not known to carry diseases, bed bug bites can become itchy red welts, similar to mosquito bites.

Bed Bug Facts:

Lay 1-5 eggs in a day and up to 500 eggs in a lifetime
Live up to six months without eating a blood meal.
Withstand temperatures from nearly freezing to 122°F.

Treatments:

Treatments can vary depending on the size of the infestation, but most cases require an initial treatment with two fifteen day follow up treatments and a minimum of six monthly treatments. This process of treatment ensures that the infestation is completely resolved. Most treatments are made to box springs, mattresses, head boards, footboards, wall voids, electrical outlets, couches, nightstands, and dressers. Residual materials, aerosols materials designed to kill bed bug eggs on contact and insect growth regulators (help to minimize the adults from reproducing) help to achieve control in a safe and effective way.

Preparation:

Preparation is essential to any bed bug management program. Preparations include but are not limited to: Drying clothes in dryer for a minimum of 45 minutes (this heat will kill any adults bed bugs or bed bug eggs that may be present), removing sheets and bedding from mattress/box spring, make sure to set each along one wall. Remove all items from closets, night stands, dressers and place into plastic bags. Place plastic bags in areas that won’t conflict with the treatment such as a garage or bath tub areas. These preparation procedures will allow for the technician to inspect and treat any areas that may be conducive to a bed bug infestation. Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Identification:

The adult black widow female is usually jet black and nearly ½” in length. The underside has a red hourglass marking. The males are half the size of females and light brown with a yellow hourglass marking.

Detection:

This spider is usually found around shrubbery, in woodpiles, under boards, around brickwork, crawl spaces, and corners of garages and especially where brick and wood siding extends close to ground level.

Impact Black widow female spiders produce neurotoxic venom which affects the nervous system. Some of the symptoms involve a numbing pain in the affected area and cramps in one or several of the large muscle masses.

Prevention:

It is essential to gain control on black widows with a maintenance plan. Due to the severity of the bite, professional control measures are crucial.

Solution:

A professional treatment of the exterior/interior/garages and crawlspaces of the home or business is the best way to reduce black widow spiders in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of black widow spiders. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your spider problems.

Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Identification:

Carpenter Ants are large and black (sometimes reddish brown. They make their homes in wood. Foraging workers have rather large mandibles with which they can bite or give a strong pinch. Workers vary greatly in size from ¼” to ¾”.

Detection:

Carpenter ants are active foragers, traveling great distances in search of food or harborage. Even colonies established outdoors may send worker ants inside structures to feed on a variety of items. This ant species prefers areas in homes associated with wet or damp wood such as around water leaks or behind gutters. These ants do not eat wood they simply chew it up and spit it out. This is why a great deal of consumers finds “saw dust” particles close to the infested site.

Impact:

Carpenter ants excavate galleries in wood, preferring wood that is moist or unsound. They do not use wood for food, but their activities can weaken a structure, though not to the extent of termites. They can also contaminate food and their presence is unsightly.

Prevention:

Professional perimeter/interior treatments with residual materials and carpenter ant specific baits are effective in reducing carpenter ant infestations. However, the key to the control of carpenter ants is to find and professionally treat the main colony and as many satellite colonies as possible. As a homeowner you should: *Correct any moisture problems *Seal as many cracks and crevices as possible *Remove dead stumps around your home *Re-locate woodpiles and wood debris away from the home

Solution:

A professional treatment is the best way to reduce carpenter ants in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of carpenter ants. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your ant problems. Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Identification:

Centipedes are usually brownish, flattened, and elongated animals that have many body segments. One pair of legs is attached to most of these body segments. They range in length from one to six inches and can run very rapidly.

Detection:

Centipedes do not damage food supplies or household furnishings. Since they eat insects, spiders, and other arthropods, they are considered beneficial. However, most people don’t like it when they enter indoors.

Impact:

They can infest homes and homeowners do not desire this. They are both unsightly and a nuisance indoors. Centipedes may bite and they have venom glands. Their bites are usually not serious: however, an antiseptic should be used on the wound and a physician consulted if the skin is punctured.

Prevention:

Indoors, a large infestation is often associated with moisture, such as around a leaky pipe. These conditions should be corrected as soon as possible to limit future infestations. Outdoors, potential harborages should be removed, such as boards, grass clippings, boxes, etc. A professional perimeter treatment will help to reduce Centipede numbers.

Solution:

A professional treatment is the best way to reduce centipedes in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of centipedes. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your centipede problems. Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Identification:

Adults are a medium brown and are about ½-5/8” long. German Cockroaches have two dark stripes on their pronotum (head region), which distinguishes them from other Cockroaches. Immature German cockroaches resemble adults except they are smaller, nearly black in color, and have a single light stripe down the middle of the back.

Detection:

German cockroaches are usually found near sources of moisture usually in the kitchens and bathrooms. Look for them in cracks, crevices, and voids around and under cabinets, appliances, behind pictures and molding and in other dark, undisturbed areas. German cockroaches found throughout a building away from food sources are usually considered a heavy infestation, or if they are seen in the home in broad daylight.

Impact:

German roaches pose a major health problem because of the disease they carry, including different forms of gastroenteritis such as food poisoning and dysentery, allergens, as well as other disease-producing protozoa and bacteria.

Prevention:

Sanitation is tremendously important to controlling German cockroaches due to the fact that these roaches need food, water and harborage to survive. If one can limit the food/water then a professional pest control expert can effectively treat the cracks and crevices with baits and or residual materials to gain the upper hand on these very hearty insects. No home is immune from their presence. In addition, make sure any products (especially boxes or paper products) brought into the home are free of roaches. They are considered to be hitchhikers and that is how they travel form home to home.

Solution:

A professional treatment is the best way to reduce German cockroaches in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of cockroaches. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your cockroach problems. Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Identification:

Earwigs are brownish to black in color, narrow-bodied, elongated and somewhat flattened insects. Their body length ranges from ¼” to 1”. The key characteristics for distinguishing an Earwig from other insects are their forceps-like cerci or appendage on the rear on the abdomen. The cerci are used to capture prey and for defense. They are commonly referred to as pincher bugs.

Detection:

These insects cause problems in new homes where land has been cleared. They sometimes build up in large numbers and invade homes during certain times of the year. They often congregate next to foundations around the exterior perimeter. Active at night, they may often be seen around lights or around windows and damp dark places.

Impact:

Although they feed on dead animal and plant material, they invade homes during the summer months, especially in times of drought or excessive rain. Their presence is both a nuisance and unsightly.

Prevention:

To help prevent Earwigs:Physical removal by a vacuum is a good method to reduce numbers of Earwigs. Remove areas in which they can harbor. These include areas such as mulch, ornamental rocks, patio stones, picnic furniture, etc. Close up cracks and crevices (exclusion) around the perimeter of the home and around drainage pipe areas. Professional residual power spray treatment around the perimeter of the home will reduce Earwig populations.

Solution:

A professional treatment is the best way to reduce Earwigs in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers professional treatment for the reduction of earwigs. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your earwig problems. Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!

Mice are small and slender with a body size ranging from 2-3.5”. The tail is about 3-4” long. The snout is pointed and the ears are large, some hairy. The tail in uniformly dark and the fur light brown or gray, and smooth.Detection:

A mouse infestation can be detected by the presence of:

live or dead rodents
gnawing sounds
droppings
damage to food or food packaging
rodent odors *greasy rub marks

Impact:

Historically, rodents have been the cause of many severe outbreaks of diseases. Because of modern sanitation, antibiotics, and rodent pest management programs, rodents aren’t a threat as they once were. Mice are associated with several diseases and are medically important pests. Their droppings can contaminate food, and their gnawing habits create unsightly damage. They are not only a nuisance: larger infestation may create rodent odors.

Prevention:

Exclusion and sanitation are effective rodent control measures. Mice can fit through a hole the size of a dime or larger. Mice have a flexible ribcages so if they can get their head through an opening then they will be able to get the whole body into the home or business. Exclusion involves elimination of dead spaces, cracks and crevices, and other openings so mice will not be able to enter the home. Sanitation involves eliminating food sources such as poorly stored or spilled food, pet food and birdseeds. Rodent-proof storage containers are effective. Harborage can be reduced by eliminating clutter in attics, closets and garages.

Solution:

A professional treatment is the best way to reduce mice in a given area. High Country Pest Control offers a professional treatment for the reduction of mice. Our technicians are thoroughly trained to address your mouse problems.

Don’t waste time and money on over-the-counter remedies or unprofessional service. Call High Country Pest Control for reliable pest control service and a free phone quote today!!