Pests can damage your property and pose health risks. They may also spread disease and spoil food. Signs of infestation include rodent droppings and gnawed materials in your home or fly specks around trash cans, sink drains, or high shelves.

Monitoring pest populations helps determine whether control is needed. Control strategies include prevention, suppression, or eradication. Contact Abbotsford Pest Control now!

Insects, with more than 1.5 million described species, are the most abundant animals on Earth. They form the biological foundation of terrestrial ecosystems, converting decaying organic matter into nutrient-rich soil and providing a major food source for other organisms. In addition, insects pollinate plants, decompose waste, cycle nutrients, and maintain soil structure and fertility. They also control populations of parasites, disease pathogens, and predators.

Many insect species are considered pests because of their crop damage or as carriers of plant diseases and viruses. Others, like bees, butterflies, and flies, are important for crop pollination. Insect pollinators are responsible for one-third of the world’s fruit and vegetable production.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices aim to maximize beneficial insect populations, reduce the use of chemical pesticides and ensure sustainable crop production. A good IPM program is based on thorough site and crop evaluation, proper timing of planting and crop protection products, and careful selection and release of beneficial insects.

Insects have complex life cycles that require a great deal of energy. They must feed on the right food at the right time, grow, mature, reproduce and eventually die. For this reason, it is important to carefully monitor the population of insects in a garden or field and act swiftly when pest numbers are high.

It is also important to know that some insect pests, such as western flower thrips in impatiens or peach x-disease and tomato spotted wilt virus in tomatoes, transmit diseases that can wipe out entire crop populations. Therefore, it is essential to constantly monitor and control pests that transmit diseases.

The best way to identify a pest is with a magnifying lens. Examine the undersides of leaves, inside developing fruit, and along stems for signs of feeding. Also note symptomatic damage, such as holes in leaves or fruits and twisted or deformed fruit. It is recommended to examine plants at least twice a week throughout the season, looking for insect excrement and damage. Observing changes from week to week is very helpful in determining if pest populations are increasing or decreasing in abundance.

Rodents

Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia and class Mammalia, making up about 40% of all mammalian species. They can be found worldwide and in a variety of habitats, from forests to deserts. Rodents are a common problem for both homes and businesses. They can cause structural damage, contaminate food products, transmit diseases and gnaw through wires.

Rodents enter homes and businesses to find shelter, water and food. They can chew through electrical wiring, tin and other materials, creating expensive problems for owners. Rodents also carry fleas, ticks and other pests that can transmit diseases to pets and people.

Rodents can squeeze through tight spaces, so it is important to inspect and repair your home’s foundation, vents and pipes. You can use caulking, steel wool and other materials to seal the areas that rodents could fit through. Focus on low level gaps first and then work your way up, double checking places like chimneys and vents. Also, maintain a clean yard by removing debris, overgrown bushes and branches. This can prevent rodents from gaining access to your home or business.

Keeping food and garbage tightly sealed is another key to eliminating rodents. Store food inside of metal cans or jars, rather than plastic bags and cardboard boxes. Remove piles of paper, magazines and other clutter that could shelter a rodent. Remove bird feeders and other food sources from your yard to discourage feeding rodents. Clean up and discard litter promptly, as rodent droppings often serve as a signal for other animals to come and eat.

While many people take do-it-yourself approaches to controlling rodents, it is essential to work with a professional pest control company when dealing with a serious infestation. The trained eyes of a professional can be very useful in finding the best bait and trap placement for the most effective results.

Rodents can reproduce quickly, so constant monitoring and prevention are necessary. A combination of preventative measures, sanitation and exclusion are the best way to eliminate a rodent infestation. Rodenticides should be used as a last resort, and always as a part of an integrated pest management plan.

Weeds

Weeds are plants growing where they are not wanted, often competing with crop plants for water, sunlight and nutrients. They can lower crop yields, displace native species and harm natural ecosystems. They can also harbor insect pests, serve as host plants for plant diseases, and be poisonous to humans or livestock.

There are several types of weeds, including annuals and perennials, grasses, legumes and shrubs. They are classified based on habitat, morphology, and physiology. Weeds are further divided into groups based on their life cycle and reproduction methods. The complete removal of a weed from an area is called eradication. There are various control methods for weeds, some of which can be quite labor intensive.

The goal of weed management is to prevent the emergence of unwanted plants and reduce competition between crop and weeds. This is achieved through cultural and chemical methods, with integrated pest management being the preferred approach. Crop rotation, reduced use of chemical herbicides and management of weeds in noncrop areas all help to achieve this.

Weed scouting is done throughout the season to evaluate the effectiveness of controls already in place and to assess weed-crop competition for resources. This includes checking for signs of disease, injury, and other factors that can lower production or damage crops. It also involves checking for the presence of insect pests, nematodes, and other pathogens that can be carried from weeds to crop plants or that harbor in weeds.

Integrated weed control includes the use of tillage, cultivation, mulching and other physical means to reduce the number of weed seeds in the soil and their ability to germinate. This is supplemented with the use of chemical herbicides, if necessary.

Whenever possible, chemical products should be used only as needed and with the minimum of environmental impact. Spot application instead of spraying a whole field helps to minimize toxic exposure, and less-toxic products and methods that have no chemical components are becoming available for use in gardens and farms. In addition, the use of biological controls – such as beneficial insects that prey on problem pests and grazing by sheep and goats that consume some weeds that cattle ignore – can be effective alternatives to chemicals.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are a major challenge to pest control. Nocturnal and wingless, they are tiny (about the size of an apple seed) and reddish-brown in color. Their small size makes them difficult to see without close inspection, particularly after feeding (which causes them to swell and become more elongated). During the day, they hide in hard-to-reach places such as seams of mattresses and inside cracks and crevices.

They can be transported to dwellings on clothing, footwear and other belongings. They can also be carried by service providers such as health care workers, firefighters, police officers and others who must enter infested dwellings to provide services. Like fleas, they bite people while they sleep, causing them to be scratchy and itchy. Reactions to bites vary from no reaction at all to a mild itch, to a red spot on the skin or a rash.

Often, beds and furniture must be disassembled to expose hidden areas for inspection and treatment. A vacuum cleaner with a nozzle attachment can help, but the pests are very elusive and will often hide during the treatment process. Infestations that are not treated quickly will usually spread to other bedrooms and living areas.

Most experts recommend a combination of methods including mattress and box spring encasement, the use of certified bed bug covers for pillows and mattresses, washing and drying all bedding and linens in hot water and the application of insecticides formulated as liquid sprays, aerosols or dusts. Insecticides dispensed as baits are generally ineffective. Bleach, alcohol and cigarette lighters should never be used for bed bug control as they are dangerous to occupants.

Apartment buildings are particularly vulnerable to infestations as the pests easily move between units. Regular, building-wide inspections are necessary to identify and address them before they spread. Occupants can be helpful in identifying infestations by regularly checking their own rooms and reporting suspected problems to the management company. They can also take precautions such as removing shoes upon entering the home, changing clothes outside of the bedroom before putting them on and washing suitcases in hot water or placing them in a dryer after returning from an infested site.