Getting Rid of Minnesota Mice? 15 things you need to know.

November 25, 2022 by Pest & Critter Control Media

For Emergency Call Pest Control: (651) 646-6431

There’s no such thing as one mouse… if there’s one there’s usually dozens! Find out here, the why and how on getting rid of mice.

Mousey Mousey….

Ever hear this conversation at 11.30pm?

Night 1:

Honey! What’s that noise?

It sound like little feet in the attic!

Sounds like chewing to me!

I’ll get on it first thing in the morning….

Night 2, 1.30am:

Honey, wake up!! I hear those noises again! Did you look in the attic yesterday?

No, Honey, I didn’t.

Well, if you don’t, I’ll be living at the Sheraton tomorrow night!

FACTS IMPORTANT TO GETTING RID OF MICE

A mouse can live for about a year
Mice are rodents, all rodents must chew. Their teeth grow constantly and they must wear them down.
A female mouse can have 3-6 pups per litter, every 21 days after sexual maturity. Populations can explode.
Mice can squeeze through a hole as small as the circumference of a pencil.
Mice are almost blind – “Three blind mice, see how they run…”

THAT’S WHY YOU SEE THEM RUN ALONG WALLS.

Mice need to stay warm, that’ why you see their nests lined with chewed paper or cotton.
Mice urinate as they travel,leaving odor and pheromones in their trails for other mice to follow.
Mice can extract moisture from their food – they do not need water.
Mice are GREAT climbers, they can crawl up stucco and drain pipes.
Mice usually live within 10 feet of their nest (horizontal or vertical).

HOW DO I GET CONTROL OF THESE LITTLE CRITTERS?

11. Trapping: there are a variety of mouse traps on the market: Snap traps, glue boards and live traps.

Remember mice travel along a wall or surface, and they feel their way along with their friscae, or whiskers. So if you want to be getting rid of mice, set your traps perpendicular to the wall, trigger base against the wall. That way they snap against the wall; some mice will get smart and jump snap traps. If this is the case, set another trap 3″ from the first trap. Do the same thing with glueboards and live traps.

12. Sealing holes – exterior.

Products for sealing exterior holes include:

Foam – aerosol. This isn’t the greatest option because mice chew constantly.
Caulk – works well.
Steel wool – this is ok, but it rusts.
Copper mesh – this is great, and doesn’t rust.

13. Rodenticides. You need to be careful using these products; the rodenticide should be in tamper resistant stations, so that non-target animals will not consume them.

14. Find the entry area and home base. If you have one mouse you likely have a dozen. As mentioned, once they reach sexual maturity they can have a new litter every 21 days. They are also territorial so they may have set up shop in different areas of you home and you may not know it. Be sure to find all of their favorite haunts and eliminate them.

15. Call a professional pest control operator; they have the experience and do this kind of work every day. They know what to look for and how to eliminate these critters from your home.

Call Laughlin’s Control: (651) 646-6431

Do You Have Pests You Don’t Know About? What Do You Do?

June 8, 2022 by Laughlin's Pro's

You find a high quality pest control exterminator. That’s not always easy.

Just what is a Pest Control exterminator?

A Pest Control exterminator is trained in everything to safely eliminate pests and utilizes a variety of methods to prevent future infestations from occurring.

Independent exterminators can be found in most areas, but most homeowners hire pest and critter control extermination businesses to handle the task. While there are many workable do-it-yourself methods on the market, it’s often necessary to call in the experts.

Humans have been battling against pests since the dawn of civilization. Pest control was used mainly to protect crops in ancient civilizations, but organizations began offering a service to property owners and companies in the late 1800s. Since then, a range of pest control products and extermination techniques have been developed.

Tools of the trade
Today, exterminators have an army of potential choices for combating pests of all types. Various tools and methods work well against various pests, so it’s crucial for an exterminator to be highly trained to be skilled on every available techniques.

A few of the most popular pest elimination tools include:
Traps – Both kill and traps that are no-kill are used. Traps are mostly effective against small infestations and generally not created for removal of big population infestations. Variants include catch-and-release traps, spring-loaded traps (traditional mouse trap), sticky traps and electronic traps.

Spring-loaded, electronic and multi-catch traps are most commonly employed for rodents and snakes, while sticky traps work well against a variety of smaller pests. Visual traps that use light to attract pests are effective against many different types of insects as well.

Baited traps – this technique involves placing a “bait station” that permits a pest to enter and feed. The idea is that the pest will consume the poison which can work well on an ants that have colonized your home.

Poison Spray – Poisoned spray is great for situations in which pests are confined to a specific area. It is commonly utilized to exterminate insects.

Fumigation – Fumigation may be the procedure for sealing off a structure and filling it with poison gases or pesticides. This method can tackle big areas easily and quickly, if it’s feasible to seal off an entire house. It’s employed for everything from spiders to insects that are flying.

Hiring an exterminator
It is better to preemptively hire an exterminator for regular inspections than it is to wait until there is a problem. Unfortunately, pests don’t warn you when they are about to become an infestation, and that means you never know when you will require the help of a pest control exterminator.

Tips for hiring an exterminator:
The exterminator should be able to design a specific plan to identify the forms of pests that require management, the level of infestation, the removal method that is most beneficial and steps to lower the danger of future infestations.

A quality extermination business will have a track record that is strong. Check reviews on <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/pestandcrittercontrol/”>Facebook</a> and ask friends, family and loved ones for recommendations.

Green Eco friendly and extermination that is humane
Like many home owners, you may choose to hire an exterminator that is willing to use eco-friendly or eradication that is cruelty-free. Many exterminators are happy to offer these choices.

Some of the most typical green pest elimination methods include:
* No-kill traps – these kinds of traps confine bugs to tiny areas and allow them to be released back in the wild at the same time that is later.
* Diatomaceous Earth – Otherwise known as DE, this is a compound that is made up of algae skeletons. It kills insects by deteriorating their exoskeleton.
* Biological control agents – In some cases, predatory insects or those which can be parasitic such as nematodes and mites can be employed to eliminate pests.
* Additional methods – Sometimes, very measures that are simple help get pest infestations under control. Exclusion methods like screens and weatherstrips frequently work well to plug gaps where insects enter the house. Regular cleaning will help get rid of food sources that most problem insects seek. Habitat modification, which often involves the removal of weeds and plants from around the periphery of a property, will restrict insects also.

Minnesota Ant Invasion – How to stop it.

June 7, 2022 by Laughlin's Pro's

These little animals run our world and ruin our kitchens; an estimated 322 quadrillion and (That’s 322,000 trillion – as much mass as all the human beings on the planet) are on Earth turning over soil and preying on other insects daily. This is a great opportunity for myrmecologists (ant specialists) to drop a little ant science.

Ants communicate chemically with glands located in or near their anus, in addition to 30 additional glands scattered around their bodies.

In Welzel’s words: “Ants are basically a walking chemical factory. There’s just glands everywhere.” Rectal glands are used to lay odor trails to help nestmates find food; they also summon help when an ant is threatened. The poison glands of ants are also located in the rear, and make formic acid.

The outer surface of ants is covered with chemicals that let them identify friend from foe. All nest-mates have a similar chemical profile, and it’s pretty oily stuff they slather themselves in daily.

The hydrocarbon profile of ants is so colony specific, invaders have to mimic them to avoid annihilation. It is possible to fool ants — some predators mimic the “smell” of an alarm pheromones, with incredible precision, sowing panic and confusion. A few spiders seem to have figured out how to remain invisible to ants chemically.

Some insects, like aphids and caterpillars, provide sugary poop treats to avoid ant attack, and ants will protect and carry them from place to place in reward.

Almost every ant you’ve ever seen in your entire life is female. “Males just don’t even matter… They’re barely ever around. They’re only there for a particular season, and when they are around they don’t have the mandibles to actually do any work.”

Stupid Ways to Die if You’re an Ant

Some of the more entertaining discussions about how an ant might meet a gruesome end involved the parasitic fungus Ophiocordyceps, which grows inside ant bodies, turns them into zombies, and eventually sprouts out of their heads with lethal force. Some parasitic flies inject their eggs inside living ants. When ready to emerge, the maggots decapitate their ant hosts. A whole host of parasitic wasp species also lay eggs inside of ants with chest-burster results later on.

Ways to Eliminate Ants

How Do I control ants?
Treatment plans must consist of killing the whole colony. Simply spraying an ant using a normal ant spray, especially a toothpaste spray is only going to kill a few.

Ants may come in your home foraging for food or even to seek refuge. Knowing the behaviour of ants can aid you with using the advised pest control processes outlined here. They go through the smallest gaps, foraging for food or water. They’re in search of sweet established foods or protein/grease established foods. As soon as they locate a food supply, ants will likely leave a pheromone trail for other ants to follow along.

Understanding their behaviour patterns as outlined above and below can allow you to attain the very best pest control.

To keep your ant problem in check, inspection is a significant initial step.

To discover ant nests, follow along their paths. Ants lay a chemical pheromone path as well as their established routes to and from your food supply so that other Ants can readily discover the food.

Within a home, inspect the rug edges, windows, doors, and all regions of the kitchen. The simplest way to discover a path to the nest would be to observe where ants proceed after reaching the food source. If you’re targeting Carpenter Ants, inspection at night is more effective because the bigger Carpenter Ant is nocturnal. It’s possible to place Carpenter Ants appearing from broken wood within the home, or foraging outdoors in woodpiles, rotted or water-damaged timber, and tree stumps.

Outside the home, scrutinize around foundation walls, vegetation, and mulch. Any vegetation found close to walls and patios might hide some Ant paths. Assess under any item that’s on the ground. Some ant nests are nicely concealed.

Eliminate the nest straight-up whenever possible or use lure or non-repellent insecticide around the outside of the home and on the ant paths.

There are two chief kinds of ant conditions generally encountered when you have an ant issue.

Ants that Reside Outdoors and forage inside
Ants that have a nest built in your home

Your pest control plan should be contingent on the sort of infestation and the sort of ant that’s responsible. Identifying which sant you’re dealing with is useful, but might be tough without a magnifying glass.

Ants that live outdoors and forage in the house.
Ants that reside outside will come in your house to hunt for food. Some species eventually live and nest within homes. Follow the steps below to help prevent either form of infestation from developing further:

Caulk and seal cracks and seams to get rid of passages to your house. Because Ants are really industrious in finding entrance points, so you might not have the capability to seal all of them.

Wash around entry points using a soap to eliminate the ant pheromone placed on their route, then squirt on a non-repellent residual insecticide across the perimeter and entrance points.

Ants that nest within your house.
Many ants do not simply enter your house foraging for food. Some ants will set-up a colony indoors.

Indoor colonization occurs year round. All these ants can infest food storage areas. Most ant pesticides are safe to use around pets and kids when you follow instructions. Ant baits arrive in implants, granules, or channels. The active ingredients in those baits might be sugar-based or even protein/grease-based, to lure an assortment of ant species and also fill their dietary needs.

Carpenter Ants are busy in theevening hours when foraging for food, both within the home and outdoors. By detecting carpenter ants at night, you have the ability to tell in which to product to use, spray or lure. Eliminating the nest itself is always the best solution for carpenter ant management. Until the whole nest is effectively handled, the colony might scatter and spread. Utilize a non-repellent insecticide to ensure complete ant colony removal.

Place Carpenter Ant Baits right on the Ant trails.
Utilize a non-repellent insecticide aerosol. Non-repellent aerosols are exceptional to repellent aerosols since the Ants don’t detect them and will not avoid being affected by them. A normal binder spray will kill the nesting ants Ants.

To Stop further Carpenter Ant Risks:

Trim all trees and shrubs so branches don’t touch the home.
Proper moisture problems like leaky roofs and pipes.
Paint or seal exposed hardwood structure before it will become moist.
Replace rotted, water-damaged, and formerly Ant-infested wooden areas of the construction.
Eliminate dead stumps around the land and store firewood from the floor and away from the construction.

We hope this helps. If you need further assistance call the number at the top of the page. Even during normal off hours if we don’t answer our goal is to get back to you within a half hour of when you leave your voicemail. Get rid of those ants.

In Summary: ANTS

If you want to know more about the amazing chemistry and behavior of ants, Journey to the Ants is a great book to start with, and there are some great videos explaining ant research and ant reproduction.

7 ways to get rid of fleas and ticks on your Minnesota property.

June 5, 2022 by Pest & Critter Control Media

It’s easy to bring fleas and ticks into your home when returning from hikes, walks and outdoor exercise, and far harder to eliminate them.

Not only are ticks unpleasant and painful, they spread disease and infection through their bites. Fleas are even more common – especially when you have a pet in the house – and can quickly become an out of control infestation.

By following the seven simple tips below you can reduce the number of bugs that make their way into your home, and also learn how to remove them quickly and efficiently.

While there are thirteen different known kinds of ticks in Minnesota, the primary kinds of ticks that you are likely to find are the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), the deer tick / blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), and the brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus).

They are commonly found in longer grasses, in woodlands and on trails, and even the tidiest back yard is not immune to them. Dogs and cats can pick them up while playing outside, irrespective of their breed or coat type, so some kind of tick preventative on your furry friends is important.

The size and color of the tick can vary, depending on whether or not they are engorged with blood, and on the species, but hatchlings can be as small as under 1mm, while adults can be the size of a sunflower seed, growing to half an inch long if engorged.

There are four phases in a tick’s lifecycle: egg, larval, nymphal and adult. They suck blood during all stages, emitting and transmitting pathogens, living beings that cause illnesses in the host. It is important to identify and remove ticks as soon as possible, as infections can result from a bite, and also transmit Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis in both animals and humans. These are the most common tick-borne diseases in Minnesota, with 1,200-1,400 reported Lyme cases each year, and 600-700 cases of human anaplasmosis being seen.

If you find yourself with a tick invasion in your house, look to repairing any cracks that come inside from the outside, and also keep the area outside tidy and the grass cut.

A more likely source of ticks in the home is pets coming indoors with ticks on them. The ticks may not necessarily be attached, but may be making their way through the fur and can fall off inside as the pet makes its way through the house.

Check your pet before he or she goes back in the house after exercise; problem areas will be armpits, inside of the rear legs, inside ears, bellies and around the eyes. These are all places where the fur is less dense, making it easier for the ticks to attach.

Remove ticks found on people and animals immediately, being careful to remove the head. Clean the area well with antiseptic or alcohol to reduce the risk of infection. Do not crush the body of the tick, but grasp carefully with tweezers around the head, and twist counter-clockwise to remove. To avoid spreading bacteria, it is important not to squeeze the body of the tick. Wash hands thoroughly before and after removal.

There are many other folk remedies touted on the internet for removal of ticks from yourself or your pets, including covering in vaseline, using alcohol, nail polish remover or burning matches, but these are not recommended by the health department and should be avoided for safety.

Should Lyme disease be suspected, often characterized by a red ‘bullseye’ around the wound, retain the removed tick for medical inspection and testing. Symptoms of Lyme disease include severe fatigue, fevers and muscle aches.

Removing ticks promptly is crucial to the prevention of Lyme disease; it is necessary for them to remain attached for 24-48 hours in order to transmit the bacteria. However, there is evidence to suggest that human anaplasmosis is transmitted more quickly; in around 12-24 hours. Symptoms are similar to Lyme, including fevers, headaches, muscle aches and chills and shaking.

In pets, and Lyme is significantly more common in dogs than cats, symptoms include lameness and swollen joints, fever, lymph node enlargement, reduced appetite and lethargy.

Where you are not able to remove the tick safely or if you leave the head embedded, seek medical or veterinary attention.

Fleas can be found in all areas of Minnesota. Indications include itching and redness of affected areas. For fleas on dogs, veterinarians will be able to prescribe chemicals to kill and repel them, and some can also be purchased over the counter in pet stores.

Fleas also carry disease, including plague, cat scratch fever and flea tapeworm. It is very easy for fleas to hide in carpets, rugs and soft furnishings, in areas that don’t get cleaned very often even in the cleanest of houses, and breed indiscriminately.

For more widespread infestations in homes and buildings, it may be necessary to call a pest control company to spray and treat the affected area.

Fleas and ticks are both parasitic in nature, sucking the blood of their hosts and transmitting disease and infection through the bite.

The following advice can make your home less welcoming to fleas and ticks:

Investigate Your Yard.

The main line of safeguard is shielding your property from bugs and ticks setting up housekeeping anywhere you or your pets frequent.

Keep bushes and trees trimmed back, and the grass cut.

Discourage wildlife and other pets from coming into your yard and bringing pests with them. Keep your pets’ food inside to discourage visitors such as opossums, raccoons and non-domesticated cats.

Monthly pet treatments – spot on

Use spot on treatments and preventatives on your cats and dogs.

When returning to the home after a walk, brush your pet outside before going indoors to remove any ticks they may have picked up outside, and check the high-risk areas of your pet visually and by feel. The tiny ticks are the hardest to detect, and may not be found with just a cursory glance.

Shearing long haired pets during spring and summer will make it easier to spot any fleas or ticks they may pick up.

Pet treatments – collars

Flea and tick collars are available in long lasting formulations for both cats and dogs. While a little more expensive than the spot on treatments, they are said to be very effective in preventing bugs from taking up residence on your pet.

Pet treatments – pills

If you prefer, there are flea and tick treatments for both cats and dogs in pill form. Many also prevent heartworms, so can be a one-stop-shop for a healthier pet.

Keep Your Home Clean.

Vacuum frequently and in all the corners and under furniture to remove bugs. Change out your vacuum bag or empty the canister frequently – and do it outside – to prevent the bugs from returning to the house and eggs from hatching inside your vacuum cleaner.

Wash pets’ bedding frequently and consider spraying with some kind of flea and tick repellent. If you prefer to stay away from chemical use in your house, there are several kinds of essential oils that are very effective in the fight against fleas and ticks. Once again, be careful when using essential oils around cats as they are extremely sensitive to them.

Lavender, lemon, citronella, bergamot, cedarwood, peppermint, geranium, sweet orange and rosemary are all good for repelling fleas and ticks, and a mild solution can be made up in a spray bottle, mixed with purified water, for use on pet bedding. Alternatively, there are several commercially available herbal based flea and tick sprays and shampoos.

Use repellant

Both Diatomaceous Earth and Borax are effective repellants; Borax can be toxic to children and animals, however, so should be used with care. When sprinkled around problem areas in the home they can repel and eliminate fleas and ticks.

Using repellent on yourself when outside will also help to prevent fleas and ticks from hitching a ride inside. Products containing DEET or permethrin are excellent repellents, but it’s important to be cautious when using them around animals. Permethrin in particular is highly toxic to cats.

Only use permethrin on your clothing, do not apply directly to skin. Wearing long sleeves and tucking pants into socks can help create a tick barrier.

Treat infestations promptly.

If you suspect a flea or tick infestation in your house, move quickly to treat with bug bombs followed by extensive vacuuming, or call in an exterminator. An infestation will never resolve itself, and can become out of control in a very short space of time.

Fleas in particular have a long life cycle, and eggs can remain dormant for some time. It may be necessary to have repeat treatments to kill adults and then further treatment after eggs have hatched, so if you choose to tackle the situation yourself, remember to plan for ongoing treatments.

A hands-on approach to both prevention and cure is obviously the best way to handle any kind of bugs, inside or outside of the home. By making your home less inviting to them and removing their opportunities to reproduce, you’re less likely to encounter problems. Repellants and bug bombs are your next line of defense, and you know what they say: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

One or two fleas may not seem like a big deal, but remember that fleas are like cockroaches: if you can see a few of them, there’s sure to be millions you can’t see. And when these bugs have the potential to bring illness to hosts, both human and pet, it’s crucial to act immediately. With these seven tips in mind, you’ve got a handle on keeping them out, getting rid of them and making sure your family stays healthy and bug-free.

NO LONGER OFFERED Minnesota Squirrel Removal Methods For 2018 – 5 Tips

February 7, 2018 by Pest & Critter Control Media

Hearing a telltale scratching in your attic? Here is a standard squirrel removal method.

For Emergency Call Pest Control: (651) 646-6431

One of the most common pest problems are squirrels that have chewed their way into homes. The method to remove those squirrels is fairly simple, provided you don’t mind working on a ladder. These critters are very persistent so therefore you need to put on your best game face. They normally find their way inside homes via a tree that is overhanging the house, across power wires or possibly by just crawling up the stucco.

Attics, basements and sheds are all attractive areas for squirrels to build their nests, so they must be carefully sealed to prevent the rodents from finding their way in.

When a squirrel takes up residence in a home, they can present a serious fire hazard as they like to chew on exposed cables and electrical insulation, which can cause a short and therefore a fire. Persistent noise, unpleasant smells and eventual structural damage can also result from having an unwelcome resident. Don’t ignore a squirrel nest in your home!

These 5 tips can help you remove these critters:

Locate where they have breached your home.
Set traps near this point.
Traps these squirrels with trap baited with Peanut Butter.
Relocate these squirrels at least 15 miles from your residence – also check with Department of Natural Resources regarding transporting these animals, and where they can be released. There may be laws and regulations applicable to your town or state.
After you think all squirrels have been removed, paper test the hole to make sure nothing is entering or exiting the hole. At this point you are ready to seal the hole and get on with life – minus your non-paying tenants!

Hope this Laughlin’s Pest and Critter Control squirrel removal method helps you to a safer and cleaner home.
Minneapolis, Maplewood and Metro Area’s best Exterminators

Call Pest Control: (651) 646-6431