3 steps to controlling bed bugs

Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs have nothing to do with personal hygiene. Even if you maintain perfectly clean bedding habits, you can still have bed bugs living and breeding in your sheets, clothes, dressers and even the walls of your house!

Many people are unaware that bed bugs can survive in furniture, clothing, carpets and other household places, so it is important to learn how to correctly identify an infestation and get control of a bed bug problem. Additionally, bed bugs are prolific bugs and are able to spread quickly, so identifying them quickly is the key to removing them from your home.

As bed bugs primary food source are people, let’s find out how to correctly identify bed bugs and look at the best ways to remove them from your home before you become their next meal.

 

Step 1: Identify bed bugs food sources

Bed bugs are tiny, microscopic bugs which make them very difficult to see or detect with the naked eye. However, you can look for signs of their existence in your environment by checking bedding and pajamas for specs of blood or bumps on your body.

Occasionally, you might have an allergic reaction to the bed bugs and may notice small bumps or bites on your body which may include a mild irritation. If you notice blood, or bites, on your body or bedding you should immediately contact a pest control professional such as Dugas Pest Control to confirm and eradicate the bed bug problem before they populate inside your home and become out of control. Spotting or specs of blood is the number one sign you have bed bugs in your home.

 

Step 2: Listen to family members

If you are concerned you have bed bugs living in your home – listening to family members might be able to help you identify the location of the bed bugs. If complaints of bites or discomfort while sleeping come from certain bedrooms or after spending time in areas of the house commonly frequented, check family members and the immediate area for signs of bed bugs existence.

You can do this by routinely monitoring laundry for specs of blood or checking younger children who may have small bumps or bites on their body or pajamas. By listening to offhand comments you might be able to catch the first sign of an infestation and be able to remove the bed bugs before any damage is done.

 

Step 3: Call Dugas Pest Control for an assessment

If you do suspect you have bed bugs – the first step is to bag any clothes or bedding which you suspect may be contaminated to prevent the bed bugs from traveling and contaminating other parts of your home.

Your second step is to skip the “DIY” bed bug control products and call Dugas Pest Control. We will be able to tell you immediately if you have a bed bug infestation and how best to deal with the bed bugs once they arrive.

If you are concerned you have bed bugs it is urgent that you call as soon as possible because of the bed bugs rapid reproduction cycle. By calling immediately you can help prevent further contamination.

Top 10 reasons to get rid of mosquitoes using the Coastal Mosquito System

We might joke about mosquitoes being the state bird of Louisiana, but if you have a mosquito problem around your home or business it is no laughing matter.  Mosquitoes not only annoy us, but also spread potentially serious diseases even here locally in the Baton Rouge / southern Louisiana area.

If you have grown tired of poor results from mosquito control products that are “do it yourself” or purchased from a big box store, we’d like to suggest you take a closer look at the CoastalMister System™.  In fact, we even came up with a “Top 10” list of reasons this product beats any you’ve seen before.

 Top 10 Reasons to Consider the CoastalMister™ System for Mosquito Control:

  1. Health: Mosquito-borne diseases like Malaria, Yellow Fever, West Nile Virus, Gengue, and Encephalitis all pose a serious health threat. Protect you and your family against the risk today.
  2. Safety: Pyrethrum is a natural insecticide extracted from Chrysanthemum flowers; it is EPA registered, and leaves no residue. We are Eco-friendly and safe to the environment.
  3. Effective: The system kills mosquitoes, flies, and gnats. It works and it works well.
  4. Comfort: Your family, clients, and workers can once again enjoy the outdoors.
  5. Adaptability: The system can be designed to fit the needs of the most unique landscapes and outdoor areas.
  6. Convenience: The system has four operation modes giving you total control or hands-free operation. With four speeds; Automatic, manual, remote control and timer (optional).
  7. Low Cost: Pyrethrum concentrates are highly diluted and will provide months of protection.
  8. Guaranteed: Your satisfaction is guaranteed with a one year warranty.
  9. Experienced technical support: Available for installation and maintenance support.
  10. Customized: The CoastalMister System™ option gives you the flexibility to choose according to your needs and budget. Our skilled technicians are ready to help you better protect your home or business.

So why not try it today? We provide pest control services for communities in the following parishes: East Baton Rouge, St. Landry, Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, West Baton Rouge, St. Helena, Livingston, Ascension, St. James, St. John, St. Charles, Assumption, Iberville, Jefferson, Lafourche and Tangipahoa and hope to serve in neighboring areas soon.

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us online or give us a call today to schedule your free inspection and estimate.

Serious health issues that come from mosquitoes

While mosquitoes may merely seem like an inconvenience to some outdoorsy types, they are actually a major source of serious diseases worldwide.  Here are a few facts you may not know about mosquito-spread illness:

  • It is estimated that mosquitoes transmit deadly diseases to more than 70 million people every year!
  • Worldwide, malaria is a leading cause of premature mortality, particularly in children under the age of five, with around 5.3 million deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
  • The viral diseases Yellow Fever and Dengue Fever are transmitted mostly by the Aedesaegypti mosquitoes.
  • Other viral diseases such as the Epidemic Polyarthritis, Rift Valley Fever, Ross River Fever, St. Louis Encephalitis, West Nile Virus (WNV), Japanese Encephalitis, La Crosse Encephalitis.
  • Several other encephalitis type diseases are carried by several additional types of different mosquitoes too.

Health threats in the United States

Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE) occur widely within the United States. Together they contribute disease to humans, horses, and even some bird species. Because of the high mortality rate, EEE and WEE are regarded as two of the most serious mosquito-borne diseases in the United States. Symptoms range from mild flu-like illness to Encephalitis, coma and unfortunately, death. West Nile virus was introduced into the United States in 1999. As quickly as 2003 it had spread to almost every state with over 3,000 cases reported in 2006 alone.

Mosquito Control Recommendation

While the facts are considerably downbeat, there are preventative and treatable options available on the market to help eliminate these pests and help curb the spread of diseases – and the one we prefer at Dugas Pest Control is the Coastal Mister system.

CoastalMister™ is an Outdoor Solutions, Inc. product and service dedicated to the prevention and relief of Malaria. With years of expert research and development by experienced scientists, chemists, and tntomologists, Dugas Pest Control is proud to offer the current Version IV to the CoastalMister System™. This system is an automatic, reliable mosquito control alternative with advanced misting light sensor patent-pending Dusk-Dawn technology.

Coastal Mister offers not only the top of the line mosquito control, but also reliable customer support and service.

Dugas Pest attending PESTWORLD 2011

The team at Dugas Pest Control is really excited about heading to New Orleans in a couple of weeks.  We are closing the office on Thursday, Oct 20 so that we can ALL attend the largest gathering of pest management professionals in the world!

PESTWORLD 2011 is the National Pest Management Association’s annual exhibition and convention.  We are so lucky to have it in our own backyard this year!

Our president, Laura Simpson is the president-elect of NPMA so we will get to see her in action as well.  We will visit the exhibit hall to see tons of vendors and products specific to the pest industry as well as attend educational sessions on all kinds of topics.

Of course the purpose of this adventure is to further the education and knowledge of our team so that we can continue to give YOU the best service as well as the latest cutting edge technology and products.

We will tell you more later!

Tanger Mall Fit for Families 5k

Dugas Pest Control has just signed up to partner with one of our customers, Tanger Outlet Mall to help sponsor their Fit for Families 5K Run.  The proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society in our area.

We had so much fun at our Carwash for the Cure last year, we wanted to participate in something even bigger and better.  Hope you can come join us for a fun morning of fitness!