Ants
Ants are small insects that have adapted to living near people. These insects are social and excellent communicators; they work together as an effective team to ensure the success of their colony. In our region, Argentine ants and rover ants are regular visitors to our Thousand Oaks properties.
In our yards, most ants nest in the damp soil under logs, fallen trees, mulch, and rocks. When ants nest near our houses, food odors, moisture, and the promise of temperature-controlled shelter often lure them inside. Dealing with an ant infestation as quickly as possible is vital to preventing their numbers from getting out of hand.
Ant prevention tips: Avoid issues with these moisture-loving pests by repairing leaky spigots and hoses. Rake back mulch from your home’s foundation. It is also essential to remove as much access to food as possible. Keep lids on trash cans, keep outdoor eating areas clear of food debris, and pick up uneaten food. For exceptional ant control in Thousand Oaks, call now!
Cockroaches
Cockroaches are scavenging insects that have been around for millions of years. Their tenacity, adaptability, and ability to eat almost anything allow them to thrive anywhere. Unfortunately, our homes are places where these scavenging insects often wind up. Inside houses, cockroaches are more of a danger than an annoyance. They contaminate food, damage property, and spread parasites, allergens, bacteria, and human pathogens.
Some of the most common species of cockroaches to find their way into homes across the country and Thousand Oaks include:
- American cockroaches: These are large reddish-brown cockroaches with a yellowish figure-eight marking behind their head. They are one of the largest roaches to get into structures.
- German cockroaches: German cockroaches are small, fast-moving roaches adapted to living indoors with people. They are the most common cockroach to find inside homes and businesses.
- Oriental cockroaches: These cockroaches have extremely high moisture needs. They have a more beetle-like appearance and move much slower than other roaches.
When any cockroach finds its way into your home, removing them immediately is necessary. For cockroach control near you, call now.
Cockroach prevention tips: Avoid problems with cockroaches by making it as difficult as possible for them to get into your home. Repair defects in your home’s exterior and ensure door sweeps and weatherstripping are installed. Always inspect deliveries, secondhand items, and things like firewood or potted plants before bringing them items inside.
Spiders
Sharing our homes with any pest is unsettling, especially if that pest has many eyes, eight legs, and fangs. Spiders are household pests that no one is happy to find inside their Thousand Oaks homes. Spiders are arachnids, and the most common species in our region include:
Black widow spiders
Brown recluse spiders
House spiders
Wolf spiders
Spiders in Thousand Oaks won’t hesitate to take full advantage of indoor and outdoor spaces that offer them easy access to necessities.
The most likely reason that spiders have moved into your house is that there are insects inside that they want to hunt and eat. Common household pests like flies, cockroaches, and ants quickly attract the attention of hungry spiders. The more insect activity you have in or around your home, the more spiders will find their way to your property.
Spider prevention tips: To avoid problems with spiders, limiting insect activity on your property is critical. Keeping lids on trash cans, limiting outdoor light, and reducing excess moisture will make your property less attractive to insects. Regularly scheduling home pest control services is also crucial to avoiding issues with common household pests like insects and spiders.
Rats
Rats are rodents that have developed a close relationship with people. These pests usually live outside but will turn their attention to our homes when their outside environment no longer meets their needs. Temperature extremes, lack of food, and the presence of predators cause these pests to move indoors. Two types of rats that particularly like living near people are the slender, agile roof rat and the large, heavy-set Norway rat.
While rats may feel comfortable living with people, we do not enjoy sharing our homes with these beady-eyed creatures. Rats are both destructive and a health risk in the following ways:
Using their strong, sharp front incisors, rats chew on and damage trees, wires, drywall, furniture, and more.
As they travel throughout your home, they contaminate food and surfaces with their saliva, urine, and excrement.
Rats carry and spread disease-causing parasites, bacteria, and pathogens.
Rats are not just annoying. They are dangerous, and at any thought that they have found their way to your property, you need to take action.
Rat prevention tips: Cut overgrown vegetation away from your home that rats could hide within. Dense vegetation can also camouflage their movement to and from your home. Seal holes in your home’s exterior using strong materials like steel wool or metal flashing. Clean up yard debris to remove as many harborage sites as possible. Regularly harvest gardens and fruit trees and keep lids on trashcans to limit foraging sites.
Crickets
Crickets are scavenging insects that feed on decaying plants, fungi, and dead insects. These omnivores live outside in damp, dark areas, making our yard’s gardens, flowerbeds, and grassy areas a place these pests frequent. Crickets have high moisture needs, so particularly hot temperatures or drought conditions will cause these insects to migrate. When living near the perimeters of our homes, they often move indoors, seeking shelter in damp crawl spaces, basements, and utility rooms.
House crickets are the most common type of cricket to find their way into Thousand Oaks homes. These insects are usually yellowish-brown and have rounded heads, long, thin antennae, and wings bent at an angle. A cricket’s back legs are more robust than their other legs and provide them with the ability to jump. A notable feature of the house cricket is that the males make their telltale chirping sounds by rubbing their two front wings together.
Cricket prevention tips: Leave a barrier between any mulch and plants and your home’s foundation. Keep crickets from easily moving into your home by installing door sweeps and replacing worn weatherstripping or trim. Limit their hiding spots by keeping dark storage areas like basements free of debris and clutter. For exceptional cricket control in Thousand Oaks, call today.
Mosquitoes
The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is a mosquito that has a distinct appearance. Like other mosquitoes, they have a small body, long, thin legs, and a long extended mouthpart (proboscis). Their striking color combination is what sets them apart. They have white stripes that cover their black body and legs and a single white stripe that runs down their head and back.
The Asian tiger mosquito’s name is derived from the fact that it is covered in white stripes and because they are aggressive daytime bites. Many other mosquito species rest during the day and are active only at dusk and dawn, but there is no hiding from Asian tiger mosquitoes! Keeping mosquitoes away from your Thousand Oaks property is frustrating but necessary. Mosquitoes are biting disease-spreading pests.
Mosquito prevention tips: The most effective way to control mosquito numbers on your property is to limit breeding sites, found in standing water. Store containers that aren’t being used upside down. Don’t overwater gardens, and regularly empty out and fill pet water bowls and wading pools. Reduce their resting sites by cutting the grass short, pruning shrubs and bushes, and eliminating lawn clutter. Call today for local pest control in Thousand Oaks that you can count on to eliminate and control mosquitoes.
