For my final posting of 2014, l want to take this opportunity to  say Thanks.

Thank you to a great staff - Brent, Bruce, Janette & Ryan. You make my job easy.

Thank you to great customers. We appreciate you choosing our company for your pest control needs.

Thanks to Idaho - I appreciate that our state is so business friendly.

I hope 2014 has been a good year for you. My best to you this holiday season, and together, we'll look forward to the good things of 2015.

 Phil Coulson

With each season change here in the Treasure Valley, the pest problems change too.  We’re just finishing up with the fall Spider calls and without pause, the mouse calls have begun.

From all indications so far, mouse calls will be high this year. With colder air coming, mice will be looking for warmer places to nest.

Here are some helpful hints for you to consider for reducing mouse activity in and around your home.

1) Inspect the exterior foundation of your home. You want to look for any entrances, like holes or small spaces.  A mouse can enter through much smaller openings than most people consider so here's a good rule-of-thumb:  if a #2 pencil can fit through the hole or space,  so can a mouse. If you find any openings, seal them up. I don’t recommend using expanda-foam, since mice easily chew through the foam. We suggest using Copper Mesh or steel wool. 

2) Check exterior doors--especially the garage door---for access points.  Install weather stripping or door sweeps to block entrances.

3) Since Mice feel more comfortable in an environment where they can move from place to place hidden from their predators, it helps to reduce debris around the perimeter of your house.

Those are a few of the most common tips for blocking mice from entering your home. 

As always, if you have any questions or need our services to help you with mice or any pest problem, give us a call.  We're here to help. 

Thanks to all our great customers!

Phil

As our weather starts to cool down outside, the natural instinct of Mice will be to start finding a place to survive the cold of winter. Unfortunately for us, that will be, in a lot of cases, be our homes.

The following is some general helpful information to help prevent Mice problems in your home.

Sanitation

Good housekeeping and good sanitation practices such as proper storage and handling of food material, feed and garbage will aid in control by permitting easier detection and increased effectiveness of traps and baits.

Mice are very adaptive to living with people. They require very little space and only small amounts of food. Mice have been known to inhabit buildings even before construction has been completed, living off the crumbs and scraps of workers' lunches.

In offices, house mice may live behind cabinets or furniture and feed on scraps or crumbs from lunches or snacks, candies, or even sugar granules found on desktops.

In homes, mice may find ample food in kitchens, garbage cans, garages and even the pet dish.

Exclusion

Physical barriers can prevent mice from gaining entry to structures where food and shelter are available. To exclude mice, seal all holes and openings larger than 1/4 inch across. Rodent-proofing should be done with heavy materials that will resist rodent gnawing. These include concrete mortar, galvanized sheet metal, heavy gauge hardware cloth and Copper Mesh.

Rodent-proofing

Mouse damage can be reduced by removing or limiting access to nesting areas, food sources and, escape and nesting areas.

Eliminate weed and other vegetative cover as well as debris and litter in and around homes, buildings, crops, lawns and other cultivated areas.