Pest Library
What You Should Know About Pests In Memphis, TN
Pests can create various problems when they find their way into our yards or homes. Identifying unwanted intruders can go a long way in ridding them from your property as quickly as possible. Use our pest guide to learn about pests, where they like to live, what they want, and pest control in Memphis, TN.
Ants
No one wants to discover ants trailing over their home’s surfaces or that their nests have taken over their yards. Ants are regular visitors to our indoor and outdoor spaces as our properties offer these insects easy access to food, water, and shelter. Preventing problems with ants can be quite tricky because of their ability to work as a team and maintain large colonies with multiple nesting sites. Don’t underestimate an ant’s ability to drive you mad!
Many different types of ants find their way to our properties in our region. The most common include acrobat ants, Argentine ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, and pharaoh ants. Some, like carpenter ants, are destructive, some, like pharaoh ants, are health risks, and others are just a plain nuisance. No matter the species or issues they cause, ants do not belong sharing our indoor or outdoor spaces.
Ants are one of the most challenging pests to keep away from our homes. Use these prevention tips to help avoid problems with these common household pests.
- Keep lids on trash cans and recycling bins.
- Keep indoor and outdoor kitchen areas clean and free of food debris and sticky spills.
- Regularly harvest garden areas.
- Pick up uneaten pet food.
- Maintain a barrier between any mulch or soil and your foundation.
- Use caulk or another sealant to repair cracks in the foundation and around windows or doors.
The best way to prevent problems with ants is to partner with an experienced professional and implement ongoing pest control services. Call Chief Termite & Pest Control, Inc. today for more information!
Cockroaches
Tennessee is home to various cockroaches; our warm temperatures and high humidity levels allow these insects to thrive outside and inside our homes and businesses. American cockroaches, brown-banded cockroaches, German cockroaches, Oriental cockroaches, and Smokey brown cockroaches can become a problem in any structure where food is prepared or stored. Our homes, restaurants, grocery stores, schools, and dormitories are just some examples of places we regularly discover cockroaches.
No species of cockroach should be welcome inside your Memphis, TN home. Cockroaches are prolific breeders, destructive, produce unpleasant odors, and pose a significant health risk. These scavengers live in unsanitary places and feed on decaying organic matter, which puts them in constant contact with bacteria, human pathogens, and parasites. In our homes, they contaminate food and surfaces with things that can make us ill. In addition, their shed skins and excrement will put many allergens into the air that can trigger breathing difficulties and skin rashes; in some, they can trigger asthma attacks.
Here are some of our most helpful cockroach prevention tips:
- Before bringing them into your home, always inspect flower pots, boxes, deliveries, and secondhand items for cockroaches.
- Regularly inspect your home’s exterior, sealing any defects that you may come across that cockroaches could use as entry points.
- Maintain a clean kitchen, regularly washing dishes, wiping counters, and storing your family’s food properly.
- Remove clutter in and around your home where cockroaches can hide and camouflage their presence.
To maintain a cockroach-free property, call us now for cockroach treatment solutions in Memphis!
Rodents
When rodents like mice and rats find their way onto our Memphis, TN properties, they can quickly take over and cause significant problems. Rodents are destructive to our structures and personal property. They contaminate food and spread dangerous pathogens and parasites that can make people ill. Though mice and rats are technically wild animals and can survive without the help of people, they have learned to live near people because our properties offer them food and shelter.
Knowing some of the most common signs of a rodent infestation is essential in order to remove them from your home or business as quickly as possible. Rodents are prey animals and naturally shy and reclusive, so they do their best to stay out of sight. You are more likely to spot their signs before the actual rodent intruders. Signs of a potential rodent infestation include finding rodent droppings on floors or in cabinets or drawers, noticing an unpleasant odor, finding gnaw marks on cabinets, boxes, and food containers, or hearing scratching or running sounds behind walls.
Use these prevention tips to avoid problems with destructive rodents:
- Use silicone caulk or metal flashing to seal gaps, cracks, and other defects in your home’s exterior.
- Place mesh caps on chimneys and drains entering your home.
- Cut back shrubs, bushes, and other landscaping away from your home’s exterior.
- Remove yard debris that can provide rodents with hiding spots.
- Store outdoor trash cans away from your home’s exterior and ensure they have tight-fitting lids.
- Regularly harvest gardens and fruit trees.
Contact us today for rodent control for your Memphis, TN, home, or business.
Spiders
Spiders are eight-legged, wingless creatures we would rather not discover crawling throughout or building webs in our Memphis homes. Though they provide natural pest control, they quickly become unwanted guests when they take over our properties in large numbers. Spiders live wherever their insect prey does, so if spiders have taken over your yard or home, it is because there is an overall pest problem on your property that you need to address.
Most of the spiders in our region, including large wolf spiders, are harmless to people. However, our area is also home to dangerous spiders, like the brown recluse and black widow. If bitten by a dangerous spider, their venom is potent enough to cause serious health problems, and symptoms should be managed by a medical professional. Keeping spiders and their insect prey at bay is essential to your family’s health and maintaining a home where you and your family feel safe and secure.
Reduce the number of spiders you are likely to spot in your home with the help of the following prevention tips.
- Make sure screens in windows and doors are intact and secure.
- Use caulk to fill in cracks in exterior walls and your home’s foundation.
- Install door sweeps.
- Knock down any webs you find in or around your home.
- Regularly vacuum and dust your home to dislodge hiding spiders and insect prey.
Implementing a home pest control service is the best way to reduce spider numbers. Call now!
Stinging Insects
Stinging insects come in various colors, sizes, shapes, and temperaments. Depending on their specific species, they will also have different nesting and feeding habits. What all stinging insects have in common is the stinger that extends from their hind end. They use their stingers to defend themselves from threats and, in predatory species, paralyze their insect prey. Unfortunately, their stingers aren’t just a problem for their insect prey but people. Their stings are painful, and the venom they inject can trigger severe allergic reactions.
If you share your property with stinging insects, the most likely culprits are hornets, yellow jackets, and wasps. Stopping stinging insects from choosing our yards or homes to nest in is difficult because our properties offer many nesting and foraging sites. Some of the most common areas we discover stinging insect nests include house eaves, decks, playhouses, wall voids, woodpiles, tree limbs, chimneys, planters, outdoor storage containers, and outbuildings like garages and sheds. Large numbers of stinging insects swarming your property are not only unpleasant but dangerous, and you should contact a professional to remove their nests.
Preventing problems with stinging insects is difficult as our yards provide them with their basic needs. Taking away food, water, and shelter sources is vital in order to limit their numbers. Remove areas of standing water, limit flowering vegetation, keep lids on trash cans and recycling bins, and maintain your lawn. Keep tree branches and shrubs cut back away from your home’s exterior, porches, and decks. For professional stinging insect control in Memphis, TN, call today.
Termites
Termites are small, sneaky, wood-eating insects that can move in and out of our Memphis structures without our knowing for years. Subterranean termites are the most common type of termite in the area. They nest underground and move through the soil or mud tubes they create. These termites have high moisture needs, so excess moisture in and around your home will attract their attention. As they move around, they will enter structures through small cracks in the foundation or pieces of wood, making direct contact with the ground.
Once inside, termites will make a bee-line for structural wood behind walls and under floors (preferring wood damaged by water). Typically, signs of their damage, not the termites themselves, alert homeowners to a problem. Common symptoms of termite problems include bubbling or discolored paint, spongy floors, clicking sounds behind walls, and windows or doors no longer opening or closing. Termite damage doesn’t happen overnight, but an untreated infestation will cause costly and extensive damage. As a group, termites cause more than five billion dollars in damage to structures and prevention costs across the United States each year!
Pair our professional termite control with the following prevention tips to avoid problems with destructive termites.
- Repair roof damage that can allow rainwater to seep into your home.
- Fix gaps that have developed around windows and doors.
- Remove and replace structural wood in your home that becomes damaged by water.
- Quickly repair leaky pipes, sinks, or tubs.
- Ensure gutters are working to direct water away from the exterior of your home.
- Create a crushed-stone barrier between soil or mulch and your foundation.
When it comes to termites, prevention is key. Call today to learn about our termite control options!
Since 1960 Chief Termite & Pest Control, Inc. has been guarding residential and commercial properties in Shelby, Tipton, and Fayette Counties against unwanted pests. If you are tired of sharing your property with insects, spiders, and rodents, we can help. Trust our quality services to remove unwanted pests from your property and our ongoing services to stop their return!
