This Month's Topic!
Mosquitoes Fleas and ticks aren’t the only blood suckers after our best friends. Mosquitoes are making the news lately with new outbreaks of Dengue Fever in our area. While not so old reports of Yellow Fever, Malaria, and West Nile Virus (Encephalitis’ evil step sister) are still fresh in our memories. Although animals do contract some of the same illnesses as humans, Fido doesn’t care about any of that; he just doesn’t want to get heartworms from the little buggers. While not-so-old reports of Yellow Fever, Malaria, and West Nile Virus (Encephalitis’ evil step sister) are still fresh in our memories, mosquitoes are making the news lately with new outbreaks of Dengue Fever in our area. Although animals do contract some of the same illnesses as humans, Fido doesn’t care about any of that; he just doesn’t want to get heartworms from the little buggers. What to do? What is a pet owner to do? First thing is to break the cycle and stop raising mosquitoes in your yard. They require standing water to breed. Empty anything that holds water in your yard, such as: trash cans, buckets, wading pools, plant saucers, wheelbarrows, and such; rinse and refill bird baths and pet bowls often; get rid of old tires, bottles, jars and tin cans; repair leaky pipes and outside faucets; clean clogged gutters and make sure they are sloped for proper drainage; remove aerial ponds in plants that grow on trees – such as bromeliads; and fill holes in trees with sand or mortar. If the problem is a neighborhood issue, such as an abandoned pool or pond, call your County Mosquito Control. They will investigate and treat the problem in many cases. They may spray with insecticide, treat standing water with bactericide or insect growth regulating products, and may even stock pools and ponds with mosquito larva-eating fish. You can also use repellants, but be leery of most of the old wives tales that don’t work or are of minimal benefit. Save your money on electronic zappers and sonic repellers; they have not proven to be of benefit and can actually attract mosquitoes to your yard. It would take too many citronella candles to even think about it as a real solution. Off the shelf DEET-based repellants are effective, but always use them according to the label. Picaridin-based products are a safer substitute and are similarly effective. So what is the solution for Fido and the family? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of pesticide, but when that doesn’t work, you need to call a professional. And, if you are like many of my customers that desire a safer and more natural approach, then they call me. Michael Piacenza, Owner of Advantage Pest Control of Florida 727-322-3202 PestControlNaturally.com

This Months Topic! Good bugs, bad bugs. As we move into some of the hottest days of summer, the peek of the hurricane season: and almost every insect known to mankind is active, I thought I would talk about the pests that are really helpful or at least not harmful. Many of the common pests you see around your home are not only innocuous, but may be helpful to you. Some insects eat other pests that are harmful or destructive, while others pollinate plants and perform other positive functions in nature. The much maligned Earwig is a good example of a beneficial insect. Because of its ominous appearance and old wives tales of crawling into your ear, it has developed a bad name; literally. In actuality, it normally eats vegetable matter and other insects. One Earwig can eat hundreds of Chinch Bugs in a day, and we all know what damage Chinch Bugs can do to our St. Augustine lawns. All that being true, Earwigs reproduce at a very rapid rate if conditions are right, and can infest a home in large numbers. Although harmless, it’s disconcerting all the same. A fun little bug from our childhood is the friendly Pill Bug, commonly called the Roly-Poly. Actually this is a crustacean and more closely related to a shrimp or a crayfish than to an insect. A vegetarian and quite harmless,it can be a nuisance if it makes a home in your potted plants. Another creature that has relatives in the sea is the snail or slug. They are closely related to shellfish. Quite harmless, yet their slime trails can be unsightly. The giant African snail can grow a shell up to 5” across and has found a new home here in Florida – thanks to exotic pet owner that have released them into the environment. Exotic potted plants have brought us other types of pests; some beneficial, others not so. One that seems to be helpful and harmless, so far, is the tiny Potted Plant Snake. It eats eggs, larva, and tiny insects. Most people mistake them for a worm, until it moves, then it is quite obviously a snake. Sometimes it is our own government that brings in these non indigenous pests, to benefit agriculture. A good example is the Asian Lady Beatle, which looks very much like our old friend the Lady Bug. Both eat aphids and scale off our ornamental and agricultural plants in large numbers; one alone can eat over a thousand aphids in a day. “Great,” you say. Well yes; unless you are one of the unfortunate few to have your home colonized by these foreign visitors. It is not uncommon to have tens of thousands in a single house, and they are quite resourceful in defending themselves. They not only bite, they give off an odor to repel other pests. Many other bugs are actually our friends; the Boxelder Bug, most Centipedes, and others eat unwanted pests, yet even the friendly ones can become a nuisance in numbers. Call your county extension office or an eco-friendly pest control company before you act

Boxelder Bug Maligned Earwig Giant African Snail Asian Lady Beatle  Fun Facts! Did you Know? A pillbug goes by many names -– roly poly, wood louse, armadillo bug, potato bug – but whatever you call it, it's a fascinating creature.

 This Month's Topic!   Rodents

Are you hearing scratching and clawing sounds in the attic or walls?  Yep, you probably have rats.  They like to come into your home when the weather turns cool or when the rains start to fall heavily.

Some people panic when they find out they have rats, and others just fool themselves into thinking they are just “hearing things” or that the noise will just go away.  I’m here to tell you - rodents won’t go away on their own, and your attic is a perfect breeding environment.  After the rats get comfortable in your attic, they will soon find your pantry.  Then the nuisance becomes a health issue for you and your family.


What can you do?

You can call a professional animal/critter control company and the problem will soon be gone, along with many hundreds of dollars from your wallet.  You can buy glue traps, poison boxes, snap traps, gloves, masks, and all the other things you will need to tackle the problem and go after it yourself.  If you take the latter approach, start doing your research now, because you will need to get educated on rat habits, their likes and dislikes, and all the other precautions you will need to do a safe and effective rodent control job.

The approach we take with our customers is that of a team.  First, we educate the customer on ways to make their home less desirable to the rodent – like removing food sources and cleaning up clutter areas that the rats like to hide in.  Then we find the points of entry and seal them.  After that, the nasty work begins – catching the rats. During the rat-catching process, we like to find out how much the customer is willing to do on their own – like emptying and resetting traps.  This can save the customer a lot of money, because we don’t have to make daily trips back out to check the traps.

Once we are confident that we have the entire infestation out of the home and have sealed up the last entry point, we then place a bait station outside.  This keeps the neighborhood population under control going forward.  These bait stations are designed to be safe for children, pets, and wildlife; they are sealed and are filled with an anticoagulant bait (a blood thinner, similar to what a doctor would give a heart patient).

This team approach can save the customer a lot of money and also gives the customer the satisfaction that they personally participated in the solution – even if that only consisted of calling us, and doing some much- needed spring cleaning.
 
Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Do your part to keep pests out with caulking, weather stripping, and expanding foams. Don’t leave pet food out, put snug lids on trash cans, keep cooking areas clean, etc.  Always tackle developing problems before they get out of control, and use a pest control company that employs safer and more natural practices.
 

Visit us at  PestControlNaturally .com Visit us at PestControlNaturally.com Fun Facts!!!! Did you Know? A rat can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter! And a mouse can fit through a hole the size of a dime!

Subterranean Termites   If you live in the Tampa Bay area and own a home, there are certain aspects of Mother Nature that are especially troubling. Lightning. Hurricanes. Subterranean Termites. The first two you really can’t do much about other than be aware of the weather and keep insurance premiums up-to-date. The last one – subterranean termites – causes more damage than the other two combined, and most insurance policies are not going to help pay for the damage if you get infested. What can be done  Prevention and maintenance are so vitally important in minimizing your risks as a homeowner. What can you do to protect your home? Subterranean Termites require moisture, unlike Drywood Termites (these are the ones you see houses tented for). So repair any leaks, make sure that water drains away from your foundation, install and maintain clean gutters, remove soil up against siding and stucco, and get an annual inspection and/or install a professional monitoring system. Above all, get an exterminator at first sign of mud tunnels or swarming. The swarming season is weather dependent, but is normally from late winter thru early spring. There are two main extermination approaches. Historically, a chemical vapor barrier was created around the house by pouring or injecting gaseous and toxic chemicals around the foundation. This necessitates the digging of a trench where possible and drilling holes in driveways, sidewalks, and pool decks. This chemical envelope around your home must not be disturbed, per the manufacturer. Planting new bushes or even sprinkling too close to the house can nullify many warranties. Then there is the Advantage way: Using environmentally safe bait stations, treated with growth hormones or agents that affect the digestion system of termites, to kill the entire colony. We then return frequently to monitor and refill or replace the stations. What's New at  Advantage Pest Control:    Our New Logo.This was chosen by you, our customers and Newsletter subscribers, thank you for taking our survey that we sent out. From: The Advantage Pest Control team.                            A Very Happy and Prosperous 2015 From Advantage Pest Control

The picture above is termite destruction, which dosn't take long once they start. This was from a job we were called out to last year 2014. Fun Facts! Did you know? The protein content of termites is higher than beef!!!!  Please visit our website at www.pestcontrolnaturally.com Share Tweet Forward Michael and Buddy (the famous termite-snffing and detecting hound) keeping you termite-free naturally.

Residential Pest Control

Florida provides an ideal breeding ground for ants, roaches, rats, fleas and many other nuisance pests.
ADVANTAGE PEST CONTROL With one goal of eliminating problematic pests before they appear, We offer a variety of service plans at fair prices to fit every homes needs.
We are people and pet friendly, a low toxicity solution to pest control.
we treat the outside of your home to build a protective barrier that keeps bugs in their natural habitat, and you in your bug free home.

ADVANTAGE PEST CONTROL FL. will tailor a pest control plan to meet the unique needs of your home. An application of pesticide is not always the answer. The safety of your family and pets is important to you and to us.

Each of our highly skilled technicians are professionally background checked and trained in the latest application methods, proper equipment use and maintenance, and will answer any questions you may have about the materials being used to treat the areas around and inside your home.

All plans come with our service warranty;
if you have a problem between scheduled service appointments, we will return at no additional cost to you.

Don't wait for them to get established in your home call
 your Clearwater - St.Petersburg pest Control today.

Ants will follow each other in a trail, using the scent of pheromones to accomplish this. You can follow the ant trail to find out where they are coming from and where they are going. These paths are what you will want to treat. The worker ants are the ones you will see most often. These workers will bring food back to the colony. They cannot actually eat the food themselves. Both the workers and the queen will eat a liquid by-product that the larvae produce when the food is fed to them. Baits are the most effective and safest way to kill ants but before you buy bait, you will want to see what the ants are eating. Most ants will eat sugar or protein based foods. Leave a little food out for the ants, sugar and protein based, so you can find out what they are eating. Once you know what your ants are eating, you can buy bait with the proper protein or sugar base. The worker ants will carry the bait back to the colony for the larvae. When the workers and the queen eat the by-product of the larvae, you will be reaching all stages of the ant at once. NiBan is bait that is mixed with Boric Acid. Boric Acid is about as safe as it gets. It has only half the toxicity of table salt. If you have very tiny ants you will want liquid bait. The liquid bait will consist of a simply syrup such as Taro with Boric Acid dissolved into it. You can use this the same way you would use granules.