We often think of winter as the biggest time of the year to worry about pests entering our homes. After all, as the weather gets colder, insects and other small animals will seek out the warmth of your house to get out of the harsh elements. However, pest infestations in the spring pose an equally large problem for your home as they do in winter.

As the weather gets warmer, insects and rodents get more active. They also start looking for easy access to food and water. That spells trouble for your home! What can you do to keep pests out of your house this spring? Just follow these simple tips.

Seal Up Cracks and Gaps

Insects and small rodents have very little trouble finding and getting through even the smallest cracks and gaps in your walls, under doors, and around windows. Take a walk around the outside of your home and check for any places where you have holes or cracks in your walls. Seal these up tight, and you’ll lose less cold air this summer, saving you on your energy bills and keeping pests out, too.

While you’re at it, make sure that all of your windows are properly caulked and sealed. If you’re going to be opening windows to let fresh air in this spring, make sure to buy screens that fit snuggly in your window frames and that have a mesh of at least 200 holes per square inch. This will keep out even the tiniest ants and other insects.

Create an Unwelcoming Perimeter

In addition to making it harder for pests to get into your home, you can also make your home less attractive to them. Insects are attracted to pine straw, leafy bushes, and some types of wood chips, so avoid using or planting these around the base of your house. Instead, use a bug repellant ground covering to keep pests out.

You could lay down gravel, which is not especially attractive to bugs, but you could also actively repel them. For example, both cedar and cypress work wonderfully as natural bug repellents. Their wood also resists decay better than some other mulches, and they have a scent that’s pleasant to humans but also repellent to mosquitoes, ants, roaches, and other vermin.

Light Up the Night Around Doors and Windows

If you’re having trouble with flying insects getting into your home through doors and windows, especially at night, your solution may be lighting. Instead of traditional lighting around your doors and windows, which will often attract moths and other nocturnal insects, use lights that are tinted yellow, pink, or orange. These not only create a beautiful glow, but they’re also not as attractive to bugs as regular mercury vapor lights. You might also want to consider halogen lights or high-pressure sodium vapor lights if the problem persists.

Clean and Maintain Your Drains

The drains in your sinks and tubs have a tendency to collect moisture and debris, creating a breeding ground for gunk that’s really attractive to bugs and other pests. Insects are especially good at getting into houses through drains and pipes, too, so clean and maintain yours regularly to avoid this problem.

Seal Up Stored Foods

Finally, if you open a box of pasta or cereal, don’t expect its cardboard box to do much against mice, cockroaches, and other pests. They’ll smell your unsecured food from a surprising distance, and it will lead them into your home. Investing in sealable plastic containers and using them for all of your leftover foods is a great way to keep bugs and other pests out of your home this spring. If you think you may already have a bug problem, call the professionals at Dugas Pest Control to make that issue go away for good. Here’s looking forward to Spring!

No matter what kind of business you run – whether you have a restaurant or retail store, or you manage an office or other business – you can benefit greatly from commercial pest control services.

Why? Perhaps you recall the problems you’ve had in the past with pest infestations in your home. Now imagine dealing with them at work.

While you might be able to handle a small ant invasion or an issue with cockroaches at home by cleaning up clutter, setting traps, and spraying around the house, you’re not going to have that luxury at your business. If you’re running a restaurant, you’ll especially need to address these issues quickly, as any kind of problem with pest control can actually result in your business shutting down temporarily or permanently.

However, restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, and other food vendors aren’t the only businesses that absolutely must seek the aid of a commercial pest control service. If you have a pest control problem in your retail shop, your customers aren’t going to want to visit and give you their business because they’ll feel like they’re walking into a dirty environment with potential health hazards.

Likewise, if you manage an office, you can’t expose your employees and clients to pest problems without some pretty negative repercussions. Now, let’s discuss just a few of the benefits available to you with a commercial pest control service.

Inspection and Evaluation

You may think that you know where all of the ants are coming from or where all of the mice have nested, but these pests are very resourceful and often hide in places you’d never expect. When you call for commercial pest control help, an expert will come to your site and do a thorough inspection. They’ll be able to tell you if you have an infestation, what’s going on with it, and give a clear evaluation of the situation.

With this evaluation, they’ll be able to tell you exactly what kind of treatments your site needs to get rid of your pest control problem. They’ll also go over any changes you need to make to your environment to keep this problem from occurring again in the future. Once you’ve agreed upon a plan of action, they will most likely need to schedule an appointment with you to perform the actual task of eradicating your infestation.

Education and Eradication

When your pest control experts come back to take care of the problem, they’ll also educate you and your employees on the conditions that lead to infestations and how to avoid them. They’ll perform the treatments you’ve agreed to, and they’ll eradicate the problem. You’ll be left pest-free, and you and your employees will know what policies and measures you should implement to keep the same thing from happening again in the future. If you follow your pest control service technicians’ advice moving forward, you are very likely never going to have another pest control problem again. Most infestations, after all, can be avoided with preventive treatments and maintenance, as well as good hygiene practices on the premises.

Follow-Up and Guaranteed Quality Assurance

If you had a severe infestation when you first called, your pest control experts will most likely want to schedule one more follow-up visit. This will include further inspection to ensure that your infestation has truly been eradicated, and that you’re not going to face the same problem again in just a few weeks or months.

A quality pest control service will guarantee their work. If you have a problem shortly after you’ve gotten their help, they shouldn’t have any issue coming back to your site and taking care of the problem for you. That’s the beauty of working with a quality commercial pest control service like Dugas Pest Control; we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on our work. Call us today to schedule a free estimate, and never worry about bugs at work again!

Chagas disease, which is also known as American Trypanosomiasis, is an infectious disease that is transmitted by kissing bugs, who despite their shared need for a blood meal are not associated with the more well-known bedbug. This disease is common in Latin America, and is caused by the protozoa Trypanosomacruzi. While not a common occurrence, the illness has shown up in the United States, and most instances were traced to Latin American immigrants.

How It’s Spread

Those infected with Chagas disease carry the protozoa in their bloodstream, which means anyone who comes in contact with their blood has a much higher risk of contracting the illness. There is also a strain of the disease found in animals, including squirrels, rodents, armadillos, raccoons, opossums, and even dogs and other domestic animals. However, people are not at risk for contracting Chagas from pets. Instead, it is transmitted to humans by coming in contact with the feces of the kissing bug.

Chagas Cases

In 2006, the sixth human case to be found in the United States, and the first in Louisiana, was discovered by a resident who contacted a pest control specialist due to an infestation of bugs. Once the bugs were identified as being kissing bugs, the resident contacted an expert on the disease. After researching the problem and subsequent testing, one of the two people living in the home tested positive for Chagas antibodies. The insects found in the home were tested, where it was determined that many of them carried the Trypanosomacruzi protozoa.

This initial report of the disease was not considered a major health threat due to the rural location, and the home. The home did not have air conditioning, and provided numerous open points that allowed the bugs to enter the home. It was determined that this was not a threat, as it was contained only to the area of the home and another building that was in close proximity.

Another case of a person having the Chagas antibodies was reported in Louisiana in 2011. In this case, the home did not have multiple entry points for kissing bugs, and there were air conditioning and heating systems that were working properly in the home. Additionally, this person was not exposed to the disease due to travels out of the country, although there was a history of camping.

Special Considerations

While both of these cases were reported, they were not actual manifestations of the disease. Both people had Chagas antibodies, which meant that they had been exposed to the disease, but had not contracted it. In fact, the Department of Health and Hospitals has not had any reports of domestically transmitted Chagas disease with manifestations in ten years.

Blood Screening

Due to the endemic nature of the disease, new screening programs that test donated blood for Chagas are being used more frequently. While there have been some individuals identified as having serological evidence for domestic exposure, it is not taken as a threat of an outbreak in the US. Officials believe that the cases are only being discovered due to the screenings being done, rather than to an actual problem.

These screenings are being used more frequently due to the growing number of immigrants from countries where the disease is prevalent. The increase in the number of immigrants, many of whom donate blood or organs, do have the potential to threaten the blood supply in America. However, with the growing, widespread use of screening, any potential problems will be caught and addressed before it can become an issue.

While Chagas disease is prevalent in Latin America, there are rarely any cases reported in the US that occur in those that have not been out of the country. As long as screenings continue, they will ensure that Chagas disease does not become a major issue in the United States.

If you feel your home may be hosting kissing bugs, or any other insect, let the pest professionals at Dugas Pest Control assist you in removing these nuisances. Call us today at (888) 606-9282 to schedule an inspection or get a free estimate.

If you live in Louisiana, you know that winter can be the biggest pest season of the year, if you’re not careful. While you aren’t as likely to get eaten alive by mosquitoes when you step out the front door, as the weather gets colder, ants, roaches, mice, snakes, and other pests seek out warm places to weather the winter.

And when it comes to warm places, nothing is warmer or more attractive to these pests than your house. Fortunately, though, pest-proofing your home for the winter is not as difficult as you might think. Though your house is very attractive to them, if they can’t get in and don’t have anywhere to hide, they’ll stay out.

Create a Barrier

You might not be able to dig a moat around your house, but you can create a mulch barrier. Most insects are repelled by cedar and cypress mulches, making them the perfect choice to line your foundation.

Inspect and Seal Off Entry Points

Even with a good mulch barrier, though, if there are easy access points, pests will find their way inside. If you have cracks or holes in your foundations, pipes, or drains, pests will get inside. These entry points give them easy access to your home. So, before you get any unwelcome guests this winter, do a physical inspection of the outside of your home, and make sure that all entry points are sealed off.

While you’re doing your inspection, check for any gaps around pipes or utilities, and check your flues and eaves, as well. You want to ensure that your home is sealed off from any easy access by any of the pests in your yard. Don’t leave anything open. You’d be surprised at the tiny holes mice can fit through.

Replace Aging Weather Stripping

Check the weather stripping around your windows. Ants and cockroaches can get into the smallest cracks in old stripping, but they won’t be able to find their way through new stripping. Plus, this step will better insulate your house for the winter, so you’ll save on your utilities bills, as well!

Install Door Sweeps on Outside Doors

Speaking of improving insulation, you can go a step further and keep even more pests out if you install door sweeps on the bottoms of all of your outside doors. These will keep heat in and ants and other pests out.

Eliminate Food Supplies and Hiding Places

If you already have pests coming in, and you’re trying to get rid of them, you should also store all of your food in sealed containers. Don’t leave unwashed dishes out after you cook, and do sweep, mop, and/or vacuum your floors regularly.

The cleaner the environment, the fewer food sources the pests will have and the less attractive your home will be, no matter how warm it is. Keep in mind, as you do this, that cockroaches can feed on the glue, binding, and paper in old books, newspapers, and magazines. So, if you have any piles of clutter, including old papers and books, you should go ahead and clean those up to eliminate hiding places and food sources at the same time.

Speaking of hiding places, if you have a wood-burning stove, you should keep your firewood covered and store it at least 20 feet away from the house. If you can, keep it off the ground, as well. This will help keep pests out of it, and it’ll help you avoid carrying them into your home when you pull logs for the fire.

Follow these tips, and you should have a pest-free winter. And, of course, if you still can’t get rid of them, don’t hesitate to call a qualified pest control service. Here in Louisiana, we have some pretty stubborn pests, and sometimes you need to call the professionals. Dugas Pest Control has over 50 years experience as an industry leader in providing pest control services for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings in the Greater Baton Rouge area and most of south Louisiana. Have questions about the services offered at Dugas Pest Control? Call today!