Stephanie Larkin is a freelance writer who writes about large businesses for home owners such as Orkin and Terminix
HEADLINE
March 10th, 2010
Termites are every homeowner’s nightmare, but there’s another insect that should also strike terror into the heart of the homeowner. Carpenter ants cause millions of dollars a year in damage to houses throughout the country, but they’re not as well known as termites. If you live in an area that often has wet or damp conditions, or if there is a damp spot in your home, your house could be at risk from carpenter ants.
What Are Carpenter Ants?
Carpenter ants are insects that live in hives. Their life cycle is similar to that of any other type of ant – they have queens that lay eggs. When the eggs hatch, some of the ants will be drones, some will workers and some will be queens. What makes them a danger to your house?
Despite popular belief, carpenter ants do not eat wood, but the do tunnel through it. They move through wood and create tunnels and galleries in their search for food and to create nests. In the process, they weaken and eventually destroy the wood in which they are nesting. If that wood happens to be a part of your house, your house is being destroyed. It’s not unheard of for nests of carpenter ants to destroy structural support beams on which your house depends. The longer a carpenter ant colony remains in your house, the worse the damage they can do to your house.
How do you tell if you have carpenter ants in your house?
The most obvious signal that you have carpenter ants, of course, is seeing them, but it’s not always a reliable sign that you have nests of carpenter ants in your house. Since the damage to your house is caused in tunneling to build nests, your biggest concern is whether or not there is a nest in the house. Carpenter ants nest both inside and outside a house, and they’ll travel as much as 100 yards from their nest in their search for food. If you’re only seeing the occasional carpenter ant in your house, particularly if it’d during the late Spring or Summer, there’s a good chance that it’s just a worker wandering far from his nest.
On the other hand, if you’re seeing carpenter ants inside during the winter or early Spring, it’s an almost sure bet that you have at least one nest indoors. Carpenter ants typically go dormant during the winter. If the nest is indoors, it may be warm enough to wake up the ants, or prevent them from going into dormancy at all. Since ants are most active at night, it’s not uncommon for a homeowner to enter a room, turn on a light and see ants scurrying for cover. The most common places to find carpenter ants are places that are moist – cabinets, sinks, rolled up towels, tubs and areas around the toilets.
How to Keep Ants Out of Your House
Prevention is always better than trying to cure a problem that has set in. The best ways to keep carpenter ants from setting up shop in your house are:
-Eliminate high moisture conditions that attract them. That means fans in bathrooms, and dehumidifiers in rooms that have a high moisture quotient, especially in regions that are moist to begin with.
-Replace moisture-damaged and rotted wood before ants are attracted to it.
-If you store wood or lumber near the house or in a garage, be sure that you keep it dry.
-Stack firewood away from the house outside to prevent ants from migrating from the woodpile to the house.
-Remove tree stumps and roots.
-Keep trees and bushes near the house pruned and trimmed to eliminate ‘highways’ that invite carpenter ants into your home.
Where are they nesting?
Before you can eliminate a nest of carpenter ants, you have to find it. The easiest way to find the nest is to follow an ant home. One way to make it easier to follow the ants home is to give them food. They’re particularly fond of tuna packed in water. Set out little flakes of tuna, and then watch for ants. The tuna will actually make it easier for you to follow the ant back to its nest.
Controlling Carpenter Ants
While it’s possible for a homeowner to control carpenter ants on their own, it’s not an easy task. It’s better to contact a professional. A homeowner can still play a vital role in eliminating carpenter ants by providing as much information about the infestation as possible.
Filled Under: Conclusion
Flea Control
Anthony C asked:
Im getting a new puppy and I accidentally bought the one month flea control for dogs over 66lbs. I am getting a maltese/poodle puppy later today that is about 5 lbs. Is it ok if i only apply a little bit of the tube?
flea control
Im getting a new puppy and I accidentally bought the one month flea control for dogs over 66lbs. I am getting a maltese/poodle puppy later today that is about 5 lbs. Is it ok if i only apply a little bit of the tube?
flea control
Flea Control
Alex asked:
I put hartz flea control on my dog and she climbed onto the couch with me right after and now I have a huge stain on my favorite blanket. How can I get it out? The main active ingredient is phenothrin.
Website content
I put hartz flea control on my dog and she climbed onto the couch with me right after and now I have a huge stain on my favorite blanket. How can I get it out? The main active ingredient is phenothrin.
Website content
Conclusion
There are many high quality air purifiers available today and you can easily find one to fit your style and budget. Some of the most popular models are made by Honeywell, Holmes, Whirlpool and Kenmoor, among many other well-known names as well. The price tags on these guys range from a few dollars on up to a few hundred bucks. One of the best places you can find prices as well as a various number of air purifiers is on eBay (only the best auction site ever). Listed here, I will tell you the top ten best air purifiers on the shelves today available to consumers as well as businesses. These air purifiers will include, home use, office use and car use as well as Ultra Violet, Ionic, Hepa, and much more. Pay attention, this is really valuable information!
1- IQ Air Health Pro Compact Air Purifier $250
This might be one of the smaller more compact systems available when it comes to allergy and asthma type systems, but it is still a high performance particle control systems. This is a terrific purifier for smaller houses and makes it more convenient for small apartments and offices as well. The Health Pro effectively removes every type of air pollutant with the same high efficient as the larger models. The Hepa filters are certified to remove 99.5% of all particulates!
2- BlueAir 501 $250
This is a great system for anyone that is living with allergies, asthma or other respiratory conditions, or for anyone that just wants clean and breathable air! The smaller 501 was rated 6th by Consumer Reports and has been a long time contender in air purifiers. The value in this system also adds to its quiet operation, low energy use, and steel construction that is easy to maintain. The filter needs to be replaced every 6 months.
3- Honeywell QuietClean HHT-215 Tower Air Purifier $120
The Honeywell provides extremely superior cleaning performance with very little maintenance and no replacement filter costs. Compared to Ionic purifiers it captures 12x more pollutants, plus its tested in laboratories to reduce airborne bacteria, viruses and fungus with UV lights. This system removes particles such as dust, pollen, smoke and mold spored. The Honeywell circulates your room 5x in one quiet hour. The filters can be removed and cleaned with water easily and quickly! It also features 3 speeds, is energy efficient, has a built in ionizer and it retails for almost $300. Find this one on eBay for the $120 price.
4- Auto Car Ionic Ionizer Air Purifier Fresh Cleaner R10 $10.00
Mini ionizer is perfect for auto use, simply plug the ionizer into your cars 12v cigarette lighter socket! The high output 12 volt DC negative generator helps remove dust, pollen, smoke, dander, mold spores and other allergens in your vehicle. This mini system freshens and purifies the air within your automobile or truck and ionizes the air using tiny negative ions. This item also will not interfere with radio reception or interfere with car electronics like other car ionizers may.
5- Sunbeam Portable Ultrasonic Pest Repeller And Air Ionizer $33.00
The SB600-2 ultrasonic pest repeller and built in ionizer eliminates pests by emitting waved of ultrasonic signals that pests hate! This item is however, safe to use around birds, dogs, cats and reptiles. Warning do not use around domesticated pets such as rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils or other rodent type pets! The compact system is great for home or office use, simply plug the system into a standardized electrical outlet.
In order to find any and all of these systems simply search on places like Google, eBay or Amazon. Personally I love shopping on eBay more than anywhere else because you can almost always guarantee you will find a better price than you would in a regular brand name store. All of the products listed below are prices found on eBay rather than brand name stores, so I recommend on you doing the same! Notice just because an item is cheaper and available on eBay doesn’t mean its worth less, or a piece of junk. In most cases even if the item is “used” it’s in really great shape!
This author is a HUGE fan of Home Air Purifier
News
ABC Pest Control – Tampa Bay’s Preferred Pest Control Company Servicing Residential & Commercial Properties. ABC Pest Control & Bay News 9 are proud to bring you the Beach Forecast with Klystron 9.
Prevention
We have all heard the phrase that somebody needs to “build a better mousetrap”, but what does that really mean? Does it mean that there is something wrong with the mousetraps that are available today, or does it mean something else? The truth is, the most common type of mousetrap that is used today has been around for over 100 years. The spring-loaded bar mousetrap was the brilliant invention of William C. Hooker of Abingdon Illinois in 1894. Very few changes have been made to this design over the years. There are other types of mouse traps available, but this is still the most common.
The spring-loaded bar mouse trap is a very simple and ingenious design. Typically, this trap is a small rectangle of wood with a metal hinge of sorts affixed to it. One end of the hinge acts as a trigger. If the trigger is tripped, the other side of the hinge will snap shut violently, trapping the mouse in its clutches. So why would a mouse approach such a contraption? Typically, if you are going to use this type of trap, you would affix some type of food that is known to attract mice to the trigger. In cartoons, this is usually a hunk of cheese, but in practice crunchy peanut butter is usually a more popular choice. When the mouse goes to eat the food, he will set off the trap.
There are other types of mouse trap that are on the market today as well. Some people prefer glue sheets and other form of live catching traps over the traditional traps which are generally lethal. A glue sheet is similar to flypaper, in that it is a sheet of thick paper or plastic that is coated with extremely sticky glue. Food is placed onto the sheet, which draws out the mouse. When the mouse runs onto the sheet to eat the food, their feet become stuck and you are able to safely remove them from your home. Other live catch traps attempt to catch the mouse without harming it. The mouse then needs to be released outside, far away from the home. One of the newest kinds of mouse traps on the market is the electronic mouse trap. This trap has certain advantages over other types in that it is much safer for people and a single trap can be used to catch and kill many mice.
No matter what type of mouse trap you intend to use, the fact remains that as long as there are mice entering people’s homes, there are going to be people inventing newer types of traps. Some of them will be better, some of them will be different, but all of them have the common goal of ridding your home of mice.
Follow this link Mouse Trap for more info.
The Author is the founder of http://www.RodentAway.com
News
Terrier breeds have been considered as one of the more popular dog breeds in the entire world. Known for their sense of activity, strength, and distinguished appearance, they have found their way to being a popular choice of pet among dog owners. This breed’s name originated from Middle French, which in turn was derived from the Latin terra, meaning earth. Most of these breeds originated in the British Isles, as British and Irish dog breeders developed them as hunting dogs. They were initially used to control the number of pests that destroy crops in farms, such as rabbits, foxes, and rats. Terriers of the larger variety were also used to for hunting badgers. Also, a number of terriers, such as the Kerry Blue Terrier and Airedale were used in water, as tacklers of otters and river rats. Terriers as pets began in the 1800s, when dog shows gained popularity and a number of terriers were refined.
Terrier breeds share a genetic code with the mastiff breed, with Pomeranians, among others. Currently, their appearance that denotes strength and demeanor that suggests gentleness and loyalty have made them a hit among pet owners. They can be small and smooth coated with light bodies, like the English Toy terrier that usually weighs 2.5 kilograms. Some breeds are also built and rough coated, like Airedale Terriers that can weigh up to more than 32 kilograms.
Most Terrier breeds today are bred as family pets and companion dogs. Being loyal, smart, and affectionate are just some of their noted traits. There are a number of terriers that require firm training, while most of them can be trained easily.
Looking for more information on Breeds
of Terriers?? Visit www.dogbreedhub.com today to learn everything there is to know!
Flea Control
KadisMom asked:
What is an inexpensive flea control product for dogs? I have used Frontline before but it is SO expensive. Any ideas?
Caffeinated Content
What is an inexpensive flea control product for dogs? I have used Frontline before but it is SO expensive. Any ideas?
Caffeinated Content
Flea Control
Deborah Gewock asked:
Does your dog have a flea problem? You have probably been to the pet store to find a product that will rid your pet of those pesky little varmints. Were you surprised at the toxic ingredients they contained? These commercial treatments can be worse on your pets than the fleas themselves. For the safety of your pet, “go natural”.
Most dogs will suffer with fleas at some point in their life. They can get fleas out in the yard, at a doggie park, from other animals and numerous other ways. It is an awful sight to watch your pet go crazy with the scratching and feeling helpless that you cannot help ease his misery without the use of toxic products. There is also the possibility of him being allergic to the fleas.
Responsible pet owners are learning that natural home treatments are best for their pets’ health. Commercial products can put your pet at risk for short and long-term side effects. These harmful remedies can also affect your children. Picture your child playing with her puppy and then putting her hands near her eyes or mouth. Nothing good can come of that! I would bet that your home contains some natural foods that will solve your flea problem without the risk to your dog or child.
There are numerous all-natural flea remedies, but the most popular is garlic. Just put a little bit of garlic in your pets food. Fleas will be repelled by the taste and smell of the garlic and will quickly leave your dog in search of another home. It is highly recommended that you thoroughly cook the garlic before giving it to your dog, as it can be toxic to some animals.
For more severe cases of fleas, you will want to give your dog a mixture of garlic (cooked) and brewers yeast. This can be purchased in a health food store, but better yet, mix it up yourself and put some in your dogs food.
Enjoy your dog or cat and treat them well. They can have a happy and healthy life with your help.
Create a video blog
Does your dog have a flea problem? You have probably been to the pet store to find a product that will rid your pet of those pesky little varmints. Were you surprised at the toxic ingredients they contained? These commercial treatments can be worse on your pets than the fleas themselves. For the safety of your pet, “go natural”.
Most dogs will suffer with fleas at some point in their life. They can get fleas out in the yard, at a doggie park, from other animals and numerous other ways. It is an awful sight to watch your pet go crazy with the scratching and feeling helpless that you cannot help ease his misery without the use of toxic products. There is also the possibility of him being allergic to the fleas.
Responsible pet owners are learning that natural home treatments are best for their pets’ health. Commercial products can put your pet at risk for short and long-term side effects. These harmful remedies can also affect your children. Picture your child playing with her puppy and then putting her hands near her eyes or mouth. Nothing good can come of that! I would bet that your home contains some natural foods that will solve your flea problem without the risk to your dog or child.
There are numerous all-natural flea remedies, but the most popular is garlic. Just put a little bit of garlic in your pets food. Fleas will be repelled by the taste and smell of the garlic and will quickly leave your dog in search of another home. It is highly recommended that you thoroughly cook the garlic before giving it to your dog, as it can be toxic to some animals.
For more severe cases of fleas, you will want to give your dog a mixture of garlic (cooked) and brewers yeast. This can be purchased in a health food store, but better yet, mix it up yourself and put some in your dogs food.
Enjoy your dog or cat and treat them well. They can have a happy and healthy life with your help.
Create a video blog
Flea Control
David McMahon asked:
It may be the worst thing that can happen to a dog owner: coming home and finding your “best friend” suddenly dead-when the dog had seemed completely healthy. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened to me one October afternoon, when I came home to find one of my German Shepherds dead on the floor. What could it be? A stroke? A heart attack? After getting over my complete state of shock-the dog was not “aged” and seemed completely healthy-I began digging for answers.
It turned out that the cause of death was an event called “stomach torsion” that comes about from “bloat”. This is a serious issue in pet dog health, its the second leading cause of death for large dogs. But at the time, I didn’t know very much about it.
Becoming educated on this issue could mean the difference between death and several extra years of life for your dog.
OK-so what is it? Let’s try and describe it in laymen’s terms. Bloat is basically a condition where a lot of gas or fluid gets trapped in the dogs stomach. This really isn’t all that different from what might happen to you if you drank too much root beer on a full stomach, but in dogs, and in particular large dogs, this is a serious problem. This is because the stomach isn’t as well set in the body cavity as ours is, a dogs stomach is kind of hanging loose if you will. When it becomes over-engorged with fluid or gas, it can twist around.
When it does, the result is a medical emergency. The blood supply to many vital organs gets cut off when this happens, and the dog goes into shock. Death will result if surgery is not performed. A symptom that this is happening is that the dog will be throwing up clear liquid or attempting to throw up.
One tragic aspect of this condition is that onset can happen rapidly, and so you may become aware of it when its too late. That’s what happened in my case, my dog was fine when I left the house. I was gone for a few hours, and when I got back she was dead. Its a sad state of affairs but the progression from bloat to stomach torsion to death can happen in as little as an hour.
We can’t be with our dogs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but what we can do is take steps to reduce the risk of it happening. Here are a few things you can do:
Break up your dogs feedings. The less food a dog takes in when it eats the lower the risk. A dog that eats just once a day has a higher risk than a dog that has its meals split into two or three portions a day. Watch out for dry food. Dogs that eat all dry food have a higher risk. Consider feeding canned food, or mixing dry and canned together. When you do this substitute a can of moist dog food for a cup of dry food. This helps because dry food tends to expand when liquified in the stomach adding stress to the stomach.
Feed using raised bowls. There is a bit of controversey about this one, but feeding using raised bowls may help reduce the risk. This is because some dogs gulp down air when they eat, and its believed by some that bowls raised off the floor cut down on the amount of air gulped in. This in turn cuts the risk of bloat happening. Raised pet bowls are available for sale on the internet. Watch out for diarrhea. If a dog has chronic diarrhea, it may increase the risk. Make sure to get diarrhea treated. Never exercise right after feeding. Let the dogs stomach “settle” for an hour or two before going out for exercise. Avoid feeding immediately after exercise. After a long walk, a dog probably wants to drink lots of water. Doing that and then eating can be a fatal recipie. Don’t feed late at night.
Before this happens I had no idea what a serious problem this was in pet dog health. Interestingly, it often takes dogs in their prime: most victims are aged between 4 and 7 years of age. But dogs of any age can get it, and although males have a higher risk, female dogs die from it as well.
In the end we can’t prevent every bad event from happening. But at least taking these steps will put your mind at rest since you’ll know you were aware, and took responsible steps to control the risk.
More information on pet dog health: click here
Caffeinated Content
It may be the worst thing that can happen to a dog owner: coming home and finding your “best friend” suddenly dead-when the dog had seemed completely healthy. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened to me one October afternoon, when I came home to find one of my German Shepherds dead on the floor. What could it be? A stroke? A heart attack? After getting over my complete state of shock-the dog was not “aged” and seemed completely healthy-I began digging for answers.
It turned out that the cause of death was an event called “stomach torsion” that comes about from “bloat”. This is a serious issue in pet dog health, its the second leading cause of death for large dogs. But at the time, I didn’t know very much about it.
Becoming educated on this issue could mean the difference between death and several extra years of life for your dog.
OK-so what is it? Let’s try and describe it in laymen’s terms. Bloat is basically a condition where a lot of gas or fluid gets trapped in the dogs stomach. This really isn’t all that different from what might happen to you if you drank too much root beer on a full stomach, but in dogs, and in particular large dogs, this is a serious problem. This is because the stomach isn’t as well set in the body cavity as ours is, a dogs stomach is kind of hanging loose if you will. When it becomes over-engorged with fluid or gas, it can twist around.
When it does, the result is a medical emergency. The blood supply to many vital organs gets cut off when this happens, and the dog goes into shock. Death will result if surgery is not performed. A symptom that this is happening is that the dog will be throwing up clear liquid or attempting to throw up.
One tragic aspect of this condition is that onset can happen rapidly, and so you may become aware of it when its too late. That’s what happened in my case, my dog was fine when I left the house. I was gone for a few hours, and when I got back she was dead. Its a sad state of affairs but the progression from bloat to stomach torsion to death can happen in as little as an hour.
We can’t be with our dogs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but what we can do is take steps to reduce the risk of it happening. Here are a few things you can do:
Break up your dogs feedings. The less food a dog takes in when it eats the lower the risk. A dog that eats just once a day has a higher risk than a dog that has its meals split into two or three portions a day. Watch out for dry food. Dogs that eat all dry food have a higher risk. Consider feeding canned food, or mixing dry and canned together. When you do this substitute a can of moist dog food for a cup of dry food. This helps because dry food tends to expand when liquified in the stomach adding stress to the stomach.
Feed using raised bowls. There is a bit of controversey about this one, but feeding using raised bowls may help reduce the risk. This is because some dogs gulp down air when they eat, and its believed by some that bowls raised off the floor cut down on the amount of air gulped in. This in turn cuts the risk of bloat happening. Raised pet bowls are available for sale on the internet. Watch out for diarrhea. If a dog has chronic diarrhea, it may increase the risk. Make sure to get diarrhea treated. Never exercise right after feeding. Let the dogs stomach “settle” for an hour or two before going out for exercise. Avoid feeding immediately after exercise. After a long walk, a dog probably wants to drink lots of water. Doing that and then eating can be a fatal recipie. Don’t feed late at night.
Before this happens I had no idea what a serious problem this was in pet dog health. Interestingly, it often takes dogs in their prime: most victims are aged between 4 and 7 years of age. But dogs of any age can get it, and although males have a higher risk, female dogs die from it as well.
In the end we can’t prevent every bad event from happening. But at least taking these steps will put your mind at rest since you’ll know you were aware, and took responsible steps to control the risk.
More information on pet dog health: click here
Caffeinated Content
Flea Control
rich_318 asked:
i live in a small town , but however there is a higher content of flea’s than in the country. they tend to migrant from yard to yard so i wann stop them from comming in mine . what can i spray to kill them of at least control them . what is the product called and where can i get it ?
Caffeinated Content
i live in a small town , but however there is a higher content of flea’s than in the country. they tend to migrant from yard to yard so i wann stop them from comming in mine . what can i spray to kill them of at least control them . what is the product called and where can i get it ?
Caffeinated Content
Recent Posts
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- 09-03-2010accidentally bought sentry pro flea control for dog over 66 lbs. my dog is about 5 pounds?
- 09-03-2010Stain from Hartz flea control- how do I get it out?
- 08-03-2010The Top Five List; The Best Air Purifiers Available
- 08-03-2010ABC Pest Control – Tampa Bay Residential & Commercial Pest Control Company.
