Pest control involves eliminating or reducing the numbers of organisms that cause damage or nuisance. This may be accomplished through exclusion, repulsion, physical removal or chemicals including pesticides.
Worker’s Compensation Insurance, Commercial Auto Insurance and Professional Liability Insurance will be required to get started. Also, you will need to purchase pesticides and supplies like traps and bait stations. Contact High Rock Pest Control now!
Prevention is the most cost-effective means of controlling pest problems, as it avoids expensive damage and full exterminations. It also improves the quality of living environments by eliminating nuisance conditions such as rodent droppings that can spread diseases like hantavirus and leptospirosis, or cockroaches that can cause respiratory problems. Prevention techniques can be as simple as keeping garbage in tightly-closed containers and disposing of them regularly, sealing gaps around the outside of structures, and fitting doors and windows with door sweeps and screens.
Pests need three things to thrive: food, water and shelter. Unsanitary conditions supply all three and can lead to infestations. Preventative measures that eliminate the sources of food, water and shelter can drastically reduce pest populations.
Strict sanitation standards are the most effective method of preventative pest control. Food waste and crumbs can attract pests, so keeping kitchen counters clean and storing food in airtight containers is essential. Garbage should be kept tightly closed and disposed of on a regular basis to reduce pest-attracting decomposing matter. Cockroaches are attracted to odors and are most likely to infest houses with moist, dark areas, so reducing moisture levels by fixing leaky plumbing, ventilating crawl spaces, and using dehumidifiers can significantly reduce their numbers.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a comprehensive approach to managing pests in the home and commercial settings. It relies on a combination of control methods, such as traps, baits, physical barriers and plant protection products, to manage pests without the use of harmful chemicals. IPM programs can be used in homes, schools, businesses, and agriculture as well as in natural or wildland environments.
Eradication is rarely the goal in outdoor pest situations. Usually, the objective is to reduce pests to a level where they no longer pose unacceptable harm – for example, by reducing gypsy moth or Mediterranean fruit fly infestations in orchards. In enclosed indoor areas, however, eradication is often the goal, such as in hospitals and food processing facilities where these pests cannot be tolerated. Pesticides that are not contained in baits or traps should be applied sparingly and with great care, as they can be hazardous to humans and pets.
Suppression
The goal of suppression is to reduce pest populations to a level that does not damage the crop. This can be accomplished with a variety of tactics, including using resistant varieties, natural enemies (predators, parasites and pathogens), chemicals that disrupt the pest’s reproductive system and pheromones that affect other members of its species. Biological control is one of the most important tools for managing pests in organic production systems.
Prevention includes tactics such as using pest-free seeds or transplants, avoiding disease-prone cultivars, limiting field use to prevent carryover of pests and diseases between fields or operations, scheduling irrigation to avoid conditions favorable for pest growth, cleaning tillage and harvesting equipment between fields or operations, and improving storage practices. Sanitation also plays a role in pest control, including the use of pest-free feed for animals and the proper design of food-handling areas. It is important to remember that many pests are not really a threat until they reach damaging population levels. The economic threshold level, or ETL, is a term used to describe the point at which the cost of controlling the pest population begins to outweigh the benefit of doing so.
Natural enemies are organisms that naturally limit the numbers of pests through predation, herbivory or parasitism. These organisms include predatory birds, amphibians, fish, mammals and insects. Occasionally, even plant pathogens may suppress pests. Unfortunately, pesticides can destroy these natural enemies, allowing a pest population to explode and cause damage. Fortunately, natural enemies can often be reintroduced to an area to restore these natural controls and keep pests at lower populations.
Some biological control agents can feed on several different types of pests, but others are effective against only one or two species. For example, the predatory mite Amblysieus swirskii can feed on thrips, whiteflies and broad mites, while the pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki can kill caterpillars, cabbage maggots and grubs.
Augmentative biological control involves releasing more natural enemies than would normally occur in an area, either by breeding them in insectaries and then introducing them en masse or by reintroducing existing ones that have been killed by pesticides. This technique is usually only practiced in greenhouses, nurseries and some fruit and vegetable fields.
Eradication
Pest control can be accomplished using a variety of methods. Some methods are more effective for different types of pests – for example, trapping is better for cockroaches than baiting is. Most pest control companies use a combination of methods when they treat for an infestation. You can also help by eliminating food, water and shelter sources for pests. Store food in tightly sealed containers and remove garbage regularly. Repair leaky plumbing and don’t leave standing water around the house. Clutter provides places for pests to breed and hide. Keep indoor spaces as clean as possible and remove weeds, vines and other plants from around buildings.
When prevention and suppression fail to control a pest problem, eradication may be necessary. Eradication can be accomplished through chemical, mechanical or biological controls. Chemical controls kill the pests directly or make the environment unsuitable for them, such as by steam sterilization of soil or by applying a barrier that prevents the pests from getting where they want to go. Mechanical controls include rodent traps and other devices, and physical controls such as mulches and barriers. Biological control uses natural enemies of the pest, such as parasites or predators. This approach usually takes longer than the other two, since there is a time lag between the influx of natural controls and their impact on the population of the pest.
If you decide to use chemicals, ask your pest control company to apply them with care. Some products are more toxic to humans than others and should be used only when absolutely necessary. If you must use a pesticide, always read and follow the label instructions and safety warnings. For example, some pesticides are not suitable for use in homes, and you should avoid them if possible. Consider using baits and crack and crevice treatments, which are less likely to be toxic to people and pets than sprays.
Maintaining a pest-free environment is particularly important for libraries and other institutions that hold research collections. Cockroaches and mice spread diseases, damage books and manuscripts, and contaminate food. Additionally, their droppings can trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions in some people.
Monitoring
Pest control programs usually begin with monitoring to determine whether or not a pest is present and how many there are. This step is important to determining whether control measures are necessary and what those methods should be. Monitoring also helps determine the effectiveness of a management strategy.
Monitoring involves checking fields, landscapes, forests and buildings for pests to determine whether they are present, how many there are and what damage they have caused. This process may involve scouting, searching, trapping, or counting. It is often combined with a survey of the habitat to identify any factors that could be contributing to the presence of the pest.
Once a pest is detected, the aim of suppression is to reduce the population to an acceptable level. This is often achieved with the use of chemical pesticides. However, it is important to remember that pesticides may not be effective if the pests are resistant or have developed tolerance to the chemicals. In these cases, it may be necessary to try a different approach.
In the case of a commercial pest problem, business owners should have a pest control plan in place to protect their property and employees. Failure to do so could result in costly health and safety penalties. This is especially true of businesses that are legally required to comply with certain environmental legislation.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a term used to describe a set of strategies that can be used to manage pests in urban, agricultural, and wildland or natural areas. IPM programs take into account the actions of all organisms in an area, including both pests and beneficial species. This information is used to create a balance between the needs of the ecosystem and those of people.
IPM programs focus on prevention, suppression and eradication of pests, but they can also include biological and mechanical controls. Biological controls involve using other living things to reduce the numbers of unwanted insects, such as introducing a natural predator or parasite into an environment. This can be particularly effective in reducing or eliminating diseases that are harmful to plants and animals. Mechanical and physical controls include traps, screens, barriers and other devices that kill or block pests from entering an area. These techniques are often necessary in hygienic environments such as food preparation facilities.