Roof rats can fit through holes as small as one-half inch in diameter. Because they prefer to be high in the air, these rodents may climb on power lines or tree branches to get on the roof.

Roof rats can cause extensive and costly damage from:

Doppings

Norway rats will gnaw away parts of the home to enlarge a potential entryway and often burrow their way inside by digging. Older buildings with poor construction and maintenance are at a higher risk for rodent problems.

Disease

Some signs of a Norway rat infestation include:

Leaving open bowls of pet food in yards and on porches can attract cotton rats. These pests may also enter homes through open holes in structures looking for food and shelter.

Cotton rats are agricultural pests that may cause considerable damage to row crops. They live in grassy areas and feed on plants in crop fields and gardens. These rats are not usually structural pests, they can invade buildings, especially if they find food available.

These rats chew on grass and pile it up along soiled pathways. Yellow or greenish colored fecal pellets often build up near areas where these pests thrive that cause contamination.

Diseases
The hispid cotton rat is medically important because it is a host for hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). This disease can become airborne when rat droppings or carcasses are disturbed and people who inhale the airborne virus can become infected. These rats have also been found infected with plague and murine typhus.

Possible signs of a cotton rat infestation include:

The common name field mice includes a wide variety of small rodents and one of the most important is the domestic house mouse. These rodents possess an almost unbelievable ability to get into homes since they are able to climb, jump, swim, and gnaw their way into structures. They often enter through open doors or windows, holes in roofs, plus holes in foundations and siding that are more than only ¼ inch in diameter. After getting inside, they usually nest in attics, walls, voids under and behind cabinets and even under appliances.

In some cases, field mice cause extensive damage when they enter homes. For example, they contaminate stored foods with their feces or urine and gnaw on food containers and other items inside the home. Mice also can cause fires should they gnaw on electrical wires. Homeowners with field mouse infestations are at risk for food poisoning, tick-borne diseases, and other health issues. Field mice can also bring fleas and mites inside if they infest the home.

Deer mice are attracted to homes with plenty of vegetation and protective sites with piles of rocks or firewood in the yard. These pests may sneak into cabins and barns as well as homes in residential suburban and rural areas when cold weather hits.

Deer mice have several problematic habits inside homes. They build messy nests inside stored furniture or mattresses and cache food indoors. These stored nuts and fruits may attract insects and other pests into the home.

Diseases

Deer mice may appear harmless, but they are known carriers of dangerous diseases that may spread through mouse parasites or contaminated food. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) should not be confused with one of the important reservoirs of Lyme disease, the white-footed deer mouse (Peromyscus leucopus).

Hantavirus

These rodents are one of the main carriers of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, an illness transmitted through their waste. People who try to clean up their droppings or who simply live in an infested building may inhale this airborne virus.

House mice can use even dime-sized cracks to gain entry into homes. They seek shelter indoors to escape inclement weather or predators like snakes and coyotes and to locate food sources. Cluttered attics and basements provide excellent hiding places for the pests to build nests and reproduce, while dirty dishes and unsealed pantry goods offer food sources. Wall voids and voids under cabinets are also likely places for mice to live.

Because house mice thrive under a wide range of conditions, are secretive and very cautious, they are hard to control. The pests are rarely apt to bite someone, but their presence can be harmful to human health.

Signs of a deer mice infestation includes:

In the fall and spring, lawns near wooded areas or open fields often have a population of crane flies. In their mature form, the adult females lay eggs in grass. Dampness and heavy rainfall increase their numbers.

Only in their larval state do these pests cause any real damage. After they hatch, crane fly larvae eat grass crowns and roots, leaving large brown patches on lawns. As adults, the insects are mostly a nuisance.

Mature crane flies often annoy residents when they fly into homes and bump against the walls or ceilings. Although they look like giant mosquitoes, the pests do not bite people or feed on blood. Since adult crane flies only live a few days, an entire generation may perish at the same time, creating foul-smelling piles of dead insects on sidewalks and driveways.

If these flies are present in the house there is almost certainly a slow or clogged drain. Drain flies gather, mate, and lay eggs in moisture or standing water. The slimy film that forms in sewers and drains is a favorite breeding spot. Putting off regular cleaning and maintenance of these areas may attract the pests and offer them a place to feed and develop.

These pests are particularly likely to be found in bathrooms and kitchens, typically getting into homes through:

• Basements

• Drains

• Windows

These pests are a nuisance because they infest in large numbers. Once inside, drain flies may plug pipes and spread bacteria from the filth they live in, possibly contaminating food in the process. These pests, even though they live in filth, are not known to spread any disease to humans.

As with most flies, the most noticeable sign of drain flies are the adults. They typically are seen resting on the walls in bathrooms or near the breeding materials. Larvae also may be observed wriggling in the breeding material.

Cockroaches can wreak havoc on your home. To win the war in cockroach control, here’s what you should know:

• Entry: Cockroaches can enter your home in many different ways, from the outside through cracks and crevices, vents, sewer and drain pipes. We even bring them in on products like grocery bags, boxes, purses and on our person!

• Ideal Environment: Your home is an ideal breeding ground for certain pest species of cockroaches. With plenty of food, warmth, water and nesting sites, they can remain active all year round.

• Reproduction: Cockroaches reproduce quickly. For every one you see there can be many, many more hiding and multiplying behind your walls.

• Evasiveness: Because cockroaches typically are nocturnal, if you’ve seen one, you probably haven’t seen them all. The few cockroaches you see by day could mean they were likely forced out by overcrowding; a possible sign of severe infestation.

• Allergies/Asthma: The debris created by cast-off cockroach skins, dead bodies and droppings can aggravate allergies, especially in children and sensitive individuals.

• Do it yourself ineffectiveness: Cockroaches are better at hiding than you are at finding them, and their eggs are naturally protected from many over-the-counter insecticides. Without special equipment, materials and know-how, cockroach control can be a losing battle.

In addition to being tough to control, rodents may carry diseases and taint food with waste, fur, and saliva. In fact, mice can contaminate about 10 times the amount of food they eat. The CDC links some rodents to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a disease fatal in about 36 percent of all reported U.S. cases.

The pests are also hosts for fleas, which can spread plague and diseases like lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. This illness mostly affects those with weakened immune systems and may result in headaches, fever, and meningitis. It can also cause complications during pregnancy.

It is not advisable to handle any wild rodent. They are equipped with large teeth and are capable of transmitting a variety of bacteria, viruses and diseases through their saliva, feces and urine.

If you locate a rodent within your home, it is best to contact a pest management professional for removal and identification. The presence of one rodent within a home could signal an infestation.

Keep all children and pets away from the rodent. If cornered, the rodent will bite to defend itself.

Rodents thrive across the world in almost any habitat with access to food and water. Because of their small size, they can be difficult to keep out of a home. Rats can get indoors through holes the size of a quarter, while mice can use gaps the size of a dime to come inside.

Rodents are a group of nuisance pests that includes mice, rats, and squirrels. These animals can contaminate food, damage property, and spread disease. The rodents that most often come into conflict with people in the United States are:
Rats

• Instincts: Rats are instinctively wary of things new to their environment, including rat control measures such as traps and bait, and colonize in attics, burrows, under
• concrete and porches, in wall voids and other hard-to-reach places.
• Disease: Rats can harbor and transmit a number of serious diseases. They can also introduce disease-carrying parasites such as fleas and ticks into your home.

Read more information about rats.
Mice

• Access: Mice invade your home seeking food, water and warmth.
• Contamination: Each mouse can contaminate much more food than it eats.
  Read more information about mice.

Prevention methods should be implemented early in order to maintain a rodent-free home. Rodents reproduce rapidly, and small populations become full-blown infestations in very little time.

Food storage

Keep any possible food sources away from rodents. Small crumbs and garbage are popular sources of infestation, as are dry goods such as grains and cereals. These should be kept in sealed metal or glass containers to prevent contamination. Fruits and vegetables should also be stored properly, and resulting waste should never be left in sinks or on counters.

Cardboard

Cardboard objects prove attractive to rodents, as they tend to chew them up for use in their nests.
Seal openings.

Because of the rodents’ body plan, they are capable of squeezing through spaces that appear to be much too small for them. All such holes should be sealed to prevent entry and reentry of rodents.

A pest control professional should be contacted for assistance.

Rodents tend to be rapid breeders. Some species breed year-round, and populations are maintained through constant reproduction. Females produce pheromones that attract the attention of males. After sensing the female’s hormones, the male mouse emits an ultrasonic mating call.

A female mouse produces between five and eight offspring after mating. Although females are protective of their young, some also consume their offspring if exposed to high stress such as famine.

Mice young are blind, deaf and hairless for the first three days following birth. For mice with dark adult coloration, pigmentation of the skin begins on the third day. Within five to seven days, fur begins to grow and the ears become receptive. Eyes open between days 10 and 14, at which point young mice become mobile and begin to feed on solid foods.

In 21 to 28 days, babies wean from their mother’s milk. They reach maturity between days 28 and 35 and are then capable of reproduction. Some specimens are capable of breeding at six weeks. Mice tend to live for approximately one year.

Rodents are some of the most adaptable creatures on the planet and can be extremely difficult to exterminate. Infestations can cause considerable damage to infested buildings and local agriculture as well as the proliferation of many diseases hazardous to humans.

Rats and mice are both extremely destructive within agricultural communities. A number of species feed on seeds and grains. The feces and urine of some rodents may contaminate surfaces with which they come into contact.

Unified efforts on the part of neighbors can prove extremely effective in preventing infestations. Within apartment buildings and neighborhoods, coordination of prevention measures may include cleaning efforts and landscape alteration. And on an individual level, homes can be rodent-proofed through identifying and sealing as many possible entry points.

In order to protect your home, garden and health from existing rodent infestations however, professional, customized solutions are often necessary.

Termites have soft bodies, pinchers and straight antennae. Colors range from white to light brown in color. Worker termites often appear lighter, while swarming termites are darker.

Termites swarm after their original colony has reached a certain capacity level and is ready to expand. For most colonies, this happens once a year. Hundreds or even thousands of swarmers, called alates, are produced with the sole purpose of reproduction and expansion.

Alates (swarmers) have wings and hard exoskeletons that may be very dark in color. Additionally, flying and swarming termites can be recognized by their prominent wings.

Termites typically measure between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch long.

Check areas around the home for damaged wood, cast-off wings around the floor, and shelter tubes. Call an expert at Orkin for further investigation.

Most homeowners don’t notice they have termites until the damage has become costly and tough to fix. Home termite damage is a serious issue. It often ruins the structural integrity of a home. Residents rarely have the chance to inspect hidden areas like wall voids, so the pests tunnel and eat their way through rafters and studs uncontested, leading to collapsed supports.

There are about 50 different kinds of termite species found in North America and each of these species is categorized into one of three termite groups – subterranean, dampwood or drywood. Each termite group has distinctive environmental requirements and behaviors when it comes to whether or not they live in soil and where they construct their colonies.

Subterranean termite workers are the caste members that consume wood and they gain entrance into homes by building mud tubes that provide them a moist, protective passageway to get from one location to another. Workers generally gain access to houses by following their underground foraging tunnels, also known as exploratory tubes, to the foundation or underneath the house’s slab.

Termites can live only a few days without water, and only two weeks without food.

Termites have been around for about 250 million years, making them an active contributor to our environment. In the U.S. alone, there are about 45 active species of termites. In fact, termites live in every U.S. state, except Alaska. While you cannot get rid of termites permanently from the environment, you can help prevent them from taking root in your home and control any active colonies nearby.

There are a variety of strategies an exterminator can use to get rid of termites. Connect with an Orkin Pro to create an effective termite treatment plan for your home!

The cost of a termite exterminator varies depending on the pest control treatment plan. Get a free quote and contact your local Orkin Branch Office to request a comprehensive pest inspection from an Orkin Pro.

No matter the industry you are in having a clean business is key to keeping your employees and guests safe from germs and potential pests. There are several different ways to keep your business clean such as:

• Having employees delegated cleaning tasks
• Having employees clean during shifts
• Having employees clean after shifts
• Hiring a cleaning service
• Create a checklist of areas to clean
• Wipe down surfaces regularly that are high traffic areas
• Encourage hand-washing with soap
• Vacuuming regularly
• Dispose trash properly
• Make sure that common areas where food is consumed is maintained regularly