Treating Rat & Mice Infestations In Oklahoma City with Pest Control OKC
Rodents are a serious problem in homes they infest. While some people enjoy having mice and rats as pets, having them show up to your home uninvited is a different story. Once they set up a nest in your house, they can make a mess of wires, chew through wood, and scratch up your furniture. Worse, they can transmit diseases like rabies and bubonic plague.
While rats and mice will usually try to stay out of sight during the day, you may spot them skulking around at night. These rodents will make burrows in your walls, attic, or basement, especially once it starts to get cold outside. While you may not see them, you can spot the signs if your house is occupied. They will scratch your furniture, leave gnawed up bits of plastic lying around, and use your floor as a restroom wherever they please.
Treating A Rodent Infestation
There are plenty of DIY solutions available to treat rodent infestations, but none are as safe and effective as calling the pros. Let’s break your DIY options down:
Snap Traps & Glue Traps
Snap traps and glue traps are the most traditional methods of DIY rodent exclusion on the market. Snap traps are what you are probably most familiar with, working by baiting the rodent with a piece of food that activates a trap that snaps down on them when they try to remove the bait, killing them in the process. Glue traps work in a similar method, but trap the rodent to the glue when they attempt to take the bait instead.
These traps will prevent the problem of a rodent hiding to die, but it takes expertise to place them effectively. A rat nest can have up to ten rats, while a single mouse nest can have up to two dozen. If there is plenty of food and space in your home, there may be multiple nests in your property, which means you’ll need a lot of traps to catch them all.
Live Traps
Unlike snap and glue traps, live traps work by baiting the rodent inside and capturing them inside a cage, after which they can be released into the wild. Live traps may seem like a humane alternative to traditional snap traps, but they aren’t always practical or compassionate. When it’s time to release the rodent, one of two things will happen. If you take them to a nearby park, they will likely make their way back to your home, where they know they can find food, water, and shelter.
You’ll need to travel at least three miles away to ensure it doesn’t return. Unfortunately, you’re removing it from its home. In an unfamiliar territory, it will either die of hunger or get killed by predators. In many instances, a quick death is more humane.
Live rodent removal also presents potential risk to you. Wherever you let the rodent out, you run the risk of being clawed or bitten. Rats and mice both carry rabies and other diseases, although rats are a much higher risk. Rats are also larger and more likely to attack you when frightened.
Poison
Rat poison works when the rodent ingests it, killing it in the process. Rat poison can be hazardous to your pets or children, and it’s not always practical. Worse, when it works, rodents have a habit of hiding before they die. As they start to decompose, your whole house will begin to stink, and it can take weeks before you either find the body or the smell goes away.
Why DIY Rodent Removal Fails
No matter what kind of trap you are using, you may not have any luck. Rats are exceptionally nimble and intelligent, and can often get to the bait without springing the trap. Meanwhile, they are leaving behind feces, urine, and greasy spots wherever they roam.
Suppose you do happen to be successful in ridding the rodent problem yourself. In that case, you are likely to have to deal with fleas, and the DIY approach can take many weeks of hard labor, including daily vacuuming until the problem goes away. Simply put, professional treatment is the safest and most effective way to eliminate a rodent infestation in your home.
Why Professional Treatment For Rodents In Oklahoma City Is Worth It
It doesn’t matter how many rodents you get rid of if you don’t seal off the entry points. A rat can squeeze its way through a hole that’s less than an inch wide, and expand smaller holes fairly quickly with its razor-sharp teeth. Mice need even less space to find their way inside. When you contact a professional exterminator, they can help you identify areas that pests can enter and advise you on how to seal your home. They will also identify signs of other pests, like roaches, that rats love to eat.
At Thunder Pest Control, when we treat your home for rodents, we will also inspect your home for a flea infestation, and treat it if necessary. Thunder Pest Control has over 25 years of experience in residential pest control in the Oklahoma City area. The sooner you treat a rodent infestation, the less damage they can do to your home. Contact us today to schedule an inspection, or learn more about our home pest control and commercial pest control services.
Is It Dangerous To Have Crickets In My Oklahoma City, OK Home?
Generally, we don’t think of crickets as more than a minor nuisance with their chirping, but they can be dangerous and destructive in your Oklahoma City home. The house cricket is a common species you might encounter. This species, like others, has six legs, antenna, and wings, although they rarely fly. House crickets are yellowish-brown, have three dark bands on their head, and are 3/4th to 7/8th of an inch.
Although we might consider crickets as a pest, they are a delicacy and can even be eaten covered in chocolate in other places. And for some, it can be seen as lucky if you have a singing cricket in your home. But because you are reading this, chances are you see crickets as a problem. As an Oklahoma City resident, you should understand house crickets and how they can affect you, and why they are attracted to your property in the first place. Read on to learn more about crickets and how Thunder Pest Control can assist.
Dangers Of Crickets
You are not alone if you don’t think crickets are a problem. But as stated previously, they can be destructive and dangerous, which should cause concern for Oklahoma City residents.
Here are four reasons why you should be warier of this pest:
- Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings together. And although most people don’t think too much about this sound, crickets can easily keep people up at night. This can cause them to lose sleep, which can lead to other health problems.
- Crickets rarely bite, but if they do, they are not able to break through the skin. Even though this is the case, a cricket bite can still transfer E. coli and salmonella.
- Cricket waste can cause rashes and painful sores if you encounter it.
- Crickets can damage your belongings as they eat materials such as linen, cotton, silk, and wool. Items they can ruin are clothing, furniture, and plants.
No one wants to deal with any of the problems listed above. And now that you know what crickets can do on your property, you can see why it is important to try and prevent them from coming into your home.
Attracting Crickets
Although a few crickets in your yard might be annoying, they aren’t such a big deal; you still need to be mindful of the possibility they can get into your home. To keep this from happening, you want to reduce and eliminate the factors that attract them. These factors include:
- Reduce moisture on your property by keeping gutters clean and fixing any leaks.
- Remove dead trees, stumps, and other debris.
- Cut back all excess foliage, including grass.
- Keep woodpiles secure.
- Use a barrier between your foundation and any mulch or soil.
- Seal potential entry points like cracks in the foundation and damaged screens. It would be best if you also used vent covers and door sweeps.
Implementing these tips can help keep crickets from populating your property and getting into your home. However, prevention is not always 100%, which is why you may need to consider help from experts.
Professional Cricket Pest Control OKC
For more advice and assistance with crickets in Oklahoma City, contact the professionals at Thunder Pest Control. With 50 years of combined experience, we guarantee results. Our services are efficient and cutting-edge, allowing our experts to provide only the best services.
Don’t wait; contact us at Thunder Pest Control today for a free quote and to get started with home pest control services to keep your Oklahoma City property protected against all pests, including crickets.
How To Keep Ticks Away From Your Oklahoma City, OK Property?
If you live in the Oklahoma City area, you are probably aware of ticks and the problems they cause for people. However, if you don’t know about ticks, you should because they can cause serious health concerns. Ticks are arachnids and have eight legs, oval-shaped bodies, are wingless, and do not have an antenna.
There are three tick species common to the area. These species are:
- American Dog Tick: Brown with light gray markings are 3/16th to 5/8th of an inch in size depending on if they have eaten or not
- Blacklegged Tick: Also known as a deer tick, is orange-brown with dark legs and is 1/8th of an inch
- Lone Star Tick: Reddish brown but become gray after a meal. Females are 1/6th to 1/4th of an inch and ½ an inch after a meal, while males are smaller.
Ticks are known to spread Lyme disease; Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and ehrlichiosis. Diseases like Lyme disease need to be taken care of early, or they can cause life-long complications. Not only are people susceptible to the diseases transmitted by ticks, but pets are as well. And tick saliva can cause allergic reactions for some people.
Ticks are external pests that require a host to survive. Because they don’t fly or jump, they climb up vegetation such as tall grasses and bushes, waiting for a host to walk by. Once a host brushes against the vegetation, they will grab ahold.
Where Do Ticks Live?
Rarely do ticks cause problems in homes like other pests, as most species can’t breed inside. Most species need moist soil to begin their life cycle. An exception to this need is dog ticks, which can breed inside. Ticks are most often found in:
- Grass next to ponds
- Tall grass along roadways and fence lines
- Edges of wooded trails
Ticks are found in areas where there are high populations of wildlife. To deter ticks from your Oklahoma City property, you also need to prevent other pests and wildlife.
How Do You Deter Ticks?
Unfortunately, ticks thrive in warm weather with high humidity, abundant vegetation, and wildlife, all of which Oklahoma provides. But implementing certain practices around your Oklahoma City property can help keep ticks from becoming a problem for you. These practices include:
- Cutting back wooded areas along your property perimeter
- Keeping your grass cut short
- Removing grass and leaf piles
- Keeping your yard clear of debris
- Using wood chips or gravel as a barrier between your yard and any wooded areas. This barrier should be at least 3 feet wide.
Besides your yard, you also need to take precautions when out in nature. These precautions should include:
- Wearing tick repellent
- Wearing long sleeves and tucking your pants into your socks
- Inspecting yourself, pets, and kids for ticks
- Staying on the center of walking trails
- Getting your pet on a year-round preventative with the assistance of your veterinarian
- Vacuuming around your pets bedding and cleaning the bedding regularly
If you have high populations of ticks on your property and have difficulty reducing them with the tips listed above, you should contact the experts for assistance.
Whom Do I Call About Ticks?
Contact the professionals at Thunder Pest Control for more advice or assistance with ticks on your Oklahoma City property. With over 50 years of combined pest control experience, we provide our customers with the best home pest control and commercial pest control treatments and customer service. Don’t wait; contact the experts at Thunder Pest Control for help with ticks or any other pests you might be dealing with.
Are Mosquitoes In Oklahoma City Dangerous?
While mosquitoes may not be your favorite pest, they are one of the most fascinating. With close to 3,500 species in the world, the name mosquito actually means “little fly,” even though they can only fly for short distances at a time. Not to mention, every mosquito that you’ve ever been bitten by has been female – females need human blood to develop their eggs, so they’re the only mosquitoes that are hankering to take a bite out of you.
Still, as fascinating as mosquitoes may be, they’re also considered the deadliest animal in the world – and the mosquitoes in Oklahoma are no exception. Here’s what you need to know about the dangers surrounding mosquitoes, what may attract them to your property, and what to do if too many mosquitoes are hanging around.
Why Are Mosquitoes So Dangerous For Oklahoma City Residents?
What makes mosquitoes so dangerous are the mosquito-borne diseases that some of them carry, such as:
- Zika Virus: Symptoms of the Zika virus include fever, rash, joint pain, and headaches, although not every adult may show symptoms if they’re infected. However, when pregnant women get infected with Zika, their baby is at increased risk of certain birth defects.
- Dengue Fever: When you’re bitten by a mosquito with Dengue fever, you’re likely to experience a high fever, severe joint and muscle pain, vomiting, and nausea. This disease is especially serious for anyone that already has a weakened immune system.
- Malaria: Malaria is less common for mosquitoes to carry in the United States, but it has similar symptoms to Dengue fever.
- West Nile Virus: While some people with West Nile virus may only experience mild, flu-like symptoms, others can become seriously ill and deal with swelling of the spinal cord or brain.
What Attracts Mosquitoes To Your Oklahoma City Property?
Mosquitoes may seem like a constant during the summertime, but they don’t have to be – certain things may attract these pests to your property, including:
Flowering plants in your garden can attract these bugs. Mosquitoes feed on nectar, so you may want to keep your garden planted a significant distance away from your home.
Tall grass and weeds provide mosquitoes with shelter, so it’s a good idea to regularly cut your lawn and maintain landscaping.
Standing water is where mosquitoes like to breed, so if you’ve got areas in your yard that frequently become puddles, birdbaths, or other spots with excess moisture, you’ll want to get rid of them.
How To Effectively Control Mosquitoes Around Your Oklahoma City Property
Even with reducing the attractions that bring mosquitoes in, these bugs may still decide they’d like to spend the summer on your property. At that point, it may be time to call in the professionals, like those of us at Thunder Pest Control.
We’ve been handling mosquito issues for Oklahoma residents for over two decades, and our certified technicians won’t just treat your property – they’ll also help identify problem areas that could be luring these pests in.
If you’d like to learn more about our mosquito control program or you’d like to contact us for a free quote, call us today at Thunder Pest Control to find out how we can help you eliminate mosquitoes from your Oklahoma City property.
