Menu
By Samantha Chatman
Monday, March 2, 2020 7:40AM
CHICAGO (WLS) — Bed bugs are the one thing you don’t want to bring home with you when you return from spring break.
Despite their name, the insects can get into all of your furniture, even air ducts, once they enter your house.
Whether you’re staying in a cheap motel or a luxurious suite, we’ve heard horror stories about these creepy crawlers stowing away and getting into your home.
Inside your hotel room or short-term rental home, bed bugs could be lurking.
“They will stay waiting for the next host to come there,” said bed bug expert Jim Stavropoulos, co-owner of Eco Tech Pest Control.
Jim Stavropoulos says if you don’t think you could ever bring them home, think again.
“Bed bugs do not discriminate between the rich, the poor, the clean or the dirty,” Stavropoulos said. “If you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, you will get a bed bug and bring it home with you.”
“Bed bugs hide really well. All they do is they come out and feed for ten minutes when you’re sleeping and they come back and hide inside the bed.”
As their name suggests, they love beds and people to feed on and they’re really hard to see unless you’re looking.
Jim brought Chatman along on a house call to demonstrate how to spot them. He said his crew only wears suits for extreme cases.
“So we found a bed bug on the zipper part of the mattress, of the box spring encasement,” Stavropoulos said. “We see this all the time.”
So what can you do to make sure you don’t bring bed bugs home with you?
First, put your luggage in the bathroom as soon as you walk in your room or rental home. You can also place suitcases and bags on a luggage rack off the floor and away from beds or couches.
Next, check the sheets, mattress, box springs and even around the headboard.
Look for dark, rust colored spots. You may even see casings the bugs leave behind and eggs along hard surfaces like a picture frame.
If you find any signs of bed bugs, you should ask for a new room immediately.
“When you come home, do not bring the luggage in your bedroom,” Stavropoulos said. “Instead, empty it out in the garage preferably. Put the clothes in a bag and launder it when you can.”
Jim says don’t let the thought of bed bugs ruin your trip. As with most things in life, there are risks.
But following these steps should put you at a good advantage of steering clear, so that the bed bugs don’t bite.
Bed bug experts say if you notice that bugs are in your home, it’s best to call an exterminator. Don’t try to get rid of them on your own. It can cost anywhere from $500 to $5,000 to treat, depending on the severity and the size of the home.
He says bed bugs can also hide in airplane seats, bus chairs, pretty much anywhere humans sit and lay their heads and they’re the most prevalent in major cities.
No, they are not! Did you know that you can buy food at the supermarket that is already infested with insects? As a general category, they are called “pantry pests”. They include insects such as Indian Meal Moths, Cigarette Beetles, Confused Flour Beetles and Saw-toothed Grain Beetles – just to name a few.
In the grain-producing industry, usually, grains are fumigated somewhere along the line in the processing in order to kill naturally occurring insect populations. But sometimes pockets are missed or the fuming procedure is not completed properly and eggs or larvae or adults can survive. That’s when you find “seeds” in your processed grain products. These insects typically infest cereal, pasta, oatmeal, spices, boxed mixes and almost anything that comes in a package or box.
When you are shopping at the store in these sections look for flying moths, spilled product on the shelves and webbing on the seams of the packaging. These are all indications that products in that area are infested. Let the store management know so that those items can be removed. Left unchecked, these insects migrate to other products and infest them too.
Other products that can harbor pantry pests include dry pet food, grass seed, dried flower arrangements, potpourri and even Epsom salts! Usually your first indication there is a problem is when you find little crawling insects on your counter or floors. Also, flying moths are a dead giveaway you could have unwanted visitors. Finding and throwing out the infested product usually takes care of it. However, sometimes the source can be hard to find. That’s when you need to put on your detective hat! If you don’t find the source you will not eliminate the problem. Call us if you need more help with this.
As we approach the heart of the holiday season let me thank you for your business, your friendship and your support. Please have a safe and happy holiday with the people you love. And all the best for the New Year!
For more info check out our site: All Season Home Protection Plans
NO…not that kind of list. I’m talking about the Fall maintenance that needs to be done before Thanksgiving so you can relax and enjoy the holidays.
As the weather gets cold critters from the outside move in with you! If you don’t make sure to block their way in you can end up with some unwanted guests that can do real damage. Sure, nobody wants an insect infestation any time. But if cracks and weep holes aren’t sealed you may have some uninvited roommates. Caulking up these areas will make insects find a different place to call home. And you’ll save energy, too. That translates into more money in your pocket.
Adding weather stripping around doors and installing door sweeps makes a big difference in the temperature in your home as well as the number of pest problems. It has been estimated that rodents cause 20% of undetermined fires in the United States each year. They have teeth that continue to grow throughout their life and it is a necessity that they gnaw to keep those teeth worn down. When they move into your attic or walls the wires become the target of this gnawing. That’s when the building catches on fire. Please prevent this tragedy!
Speaking of attics…is your chimney an entryway? Make sure all holes are sealed so that wildlife can’t take up residence. You may not find out for a while that squirrels or bats are nesting in your attic doing lots of damage until it becomes really expensive to cure. Prevention is the best idea.
And finally, take a walk around the outside of your home. Trim back bushes that are right up against the structure. Ideally, you should have a foot of clearance at a minimum. Look for trees touching or overhanging the building. Cut them back to prevent a bridge for insects and four-legged pests to get inside.
If you get this done in the next couple of weeks you can relax for the upcoming winter and be WAY ahead of the game when Spring rolls around next year. Make a list; check it twice; and enjoy the holidays.
For more info check out our site: All Season Home Protection Plans
The short answer is…maybe. There are many things to consider when deciding to hire a professional or try a task yourself. How difficult is it? Is it dangerous? Is there a steep learning curve? How much is it going to cost and what is my time worth?
This past summer as I drove around, I noticed many people out applying Round-Up or other weed killers to their lawns. You can buy it over the counter so it must be safe, right? There is a HUGE settlement in California against the manufacturer for people claiming they got cancer due to applying Round-Up. And yet, you can see non-trained people using this product every day! Most that I saw were wearing shorts and tee-shirts and flip flops. Not wearing the proper protective clothing when applying is a big no-no! And it tells you right on the label what you’re supposed to do. So my question to the victims who got cancer would be, “did you read and follow label directions”? My guess is the answer is no.
And this is just human behavior. Nobody likes to read the directions. My experience with DIY types when it comes to pesticides is if a little is good, a lot is better. So your typical homeowner will double or triple the amount of concentrate called for, thinking they will get a better result. What they actually get is a population of insects that become resistant to the chemical, and that makes them harder to control in the long run.
Do you have the right storage spot for chemicals away from children? Every year poison control centers get thousands of pesticide poisoning calls. And chemicals need to be stored within certain temperature ranges and with proper ventilation. Do you have that at your home?
You’ve read about someone setting off bug “bombs” and blowing up their house or apartment in the process. Not only are these aerosols not very effective, they can explode if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s expensive and dangerous.
Look, if you want to use a vacuum and some bay leaves or an ultrasonic contraption to control seasonal pests, go ahead and give it a try. But when it comes to the health and safety of you and your family you may find that it’s cheaper, more effective and safer to call a professional.
For more info on our pest control services check out our site: Residential Pest Control
It’s back to school time and you know what that means…head lice! Every year we get calls from exasperated parents who want us to come out and “spray” for head lice. Unfortunately, that won’t do any good. Here is a run-down on the ‘who, what, where and why’ of these little invaders.
These pests are transferred from person to person through contact or sharing of certain items such as combs, brushes, hats, clothing, etc. If you have ever watched school kids play together you can see this behavior all the time. Since head lice can’t fly or jump, they spread from person to person by these methods. Teach your kids to avoid these behaviors to keep from bringing this problem home to you.
August through November is when activity is at the highest level. During these months head checks should be done weekly. Remember, lice need a human host to survive. They can’t live off the body for more than 24 hours so they don’t really infest furniture and floor coverings or vehicles. It’s just not a good environment for them – that’s why “spraying” doesn’t work.
Head lice eggs are called nits. Look for tiny white, white, oval cylinders in your child’s hair, close to the scalp. Nits are glued to the hair shaft, normally behind the ears and along the back of the neck. You will need a special louse comb to remove them. Start at the root and comb to the tip. Do this to the entire head several times until no more nits appear on the comb. Note: a regular plastic comb won’t do the trick.
Head lice lay 6-7 eggs per day. Your child could have several dozen living on their head in just a few weeks. This is why weekly inspections are so important. There are over- the- counter products that can be applied to the scalp to help with control but nit removal is the main key to success.
Remember, kids who don’t share personal belongings such as hats, brushes, scarves and combs with other classmates, and have weekly inspections performed, are less likely to experience head lice during the year.
Did you see the recent news piece that showed the destroyed beehives some nitwit(s) ruined for no reason? It made me angry. Honeybees mind their own business and don’t bother anyone while they go about improving our environment. They are mostly non-aggressive if you just leave them alone. Without them, the food supply would be in big trouble. So when someone goes out of their way to kill off something so important to all of us, it should make us upset.
Fifty or more years ago beekeeping was considered a gentleman’s hobby. Maybe your “unusual” aunt would have hives in the backyard and you always knew you would be getting a jar of honey for Christmas. And maybe some vitamins. Now, it’s big business. Beekeepers truck their hives all around the country and rent them out to farmers to maximize pollination of their crops. In the process, the bees get stressed and many of them die off. In addition, pesticides improperly applied and the Verroa mite have contributed to something called bee colony collapse. It’s a problem.
Since spring is just around the corner maybe you can help the bees out a little. Usually the first flowers that appear are weeds. This is the first real food source for bees before other planted crops begin to flower. If we could delay our flowering weed killing activities by a few weeks it would allow the bees to get a good start on strengthening their colony numbers. When we kill off the weeds early, we are destroying a food source for the pollinators. And the consequence is fewer bees. That’s not a good thing.
We talk about being pro-environment but there are very few things that we can individually accomplish that make a big difference. This is an easy one. Put up with the flowering weeds for a few weeks. Then you can go after them aggressively and kill them off. Your lawn will still look great this summer.
The bees will thank you for it.
Woman’s Hand holding cockroach on room in house background, eliminate cockroach in room house[/caption]
Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate and travel expert. He travels around the globe with his 3 school-age children researching stories for his columns. Recently he posted an open letter to his children apologizing for some to the AWFUL places they have stayed with Airbnb, Vacation Rentals by Owner and other online short-term hotel alternatives. And he gives some hard learned tips on how you can avoid the same pitfalls.
I was especially interested in the story of the rental that had roaches crawling over every surface. They were in the cabinets, on the dishes and eating utensils, as well as bathrooms and dresser drawers. Big EWWW!!!
It is safe to assume the owner did not have reliable pest control. It made me think about what I would do in that situation. In this case, the owner was unresponsive and there was no other place for them to stay at that particular moment. So, what would I do? And what should you do??
Once you’re over the fact you will be cleaning someone else’s property, the first thing would be to either hand wash or use the dishwasher to clean and sanitize anything you are going to eat off of. Empty the drawers and wipe them down with a disinfecting cleaner. Then find the vacuum. Thoroughly vacuum cracks and crevices, behind appliances – especially the stove and refrigerator, and then do the same with the rest of the home. Proper vacuuming can remove up to 80 percent of the insects and make managing the rest much easier. Dispose of the contents of the bag outside immediately. The advantage of cleaning a vacation rental over your own home is the house is pretty much empty. This makes the task much easier!
If there is a store close by, get lots of glue boards and put them around. You might be surprised how many of the pests you can catch. Place them behind appliances (see a theme here?) and other areas where you are unlikely to step on them and replace them if they get full. DON’T use over the counter sprays as it just scatters the bugs.
Mr. Elliott says you should always read the fine print in the ad to look for clues about what you may be getting into. And check those one-star reviews. It’s true; some people are hard to please and may post a poor review over something petty. So look for a pattern. Use Google Earth Street View and aerial views to see what the neighborhood really looks like. Remember, a description that says “quaint” may actually mean rundown or worse! And if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
For more info on rodents check out our site: Household Pests
Noted consumer advocate Clark Howard recently declared Chicago the number 1 rat infested city in North America. If you have been downtown at night you may have seen them on the sidewalks or crossing the street. They really are everywhere.
What’s that? You don’t live in the city? Well, they are in your neighborhood, too. Norway and Roof rats and common house mice are commensal rodents. That means they live in close association with humans. We create an environment that provides food, water and shelter for them and they move right in. Your first sign might be droppings in the pantry or the sound of chewing. By the time you are aware of a problem they may have chewed through the wiring of your home – which can be a fire hazard. It’s estimated that 20% of undetermined fires are caused by rodents.
And it’s not just your house. Cars, motorcycles and even lawn tractors can go up in flames due to rodents. Some car manufactures are coating the wires in their cars with an environmentally friendly substance that rodents can’t seem to resist! And repairing that damage is expensive. In the winter, field mice move inside and like to reside next to electrical components for the warmth and chewing opportunities. The point I’m trying to make is that in addition to the diseases they carry, and the mess they leave behind, they might cause your expensive possessions to go up in smoke. It might be worth a look around to see if you have a problem. Here are a few steps to take:
Maybe a good resolution for this year would be to take really good care of what we already own and make sure we are keeping our families safe by being observant and proactive. That’s a good resolution anytime!
For more info on rodents check out our site: Rodents
They say the years go by faster the longer you live. I must be older than I think because this year has flown by!! The holidays are right around the corner and pretty soon we will be saying goodbye to 2018. But before we do, let’s look ahead to what might be “bugging” us in the next few weeks.
This is the time of year for insects and rodents to move inside your home or office. One of the creepiest of these is something called the cave cricket, or spider cricket or camel cricket. No matter what you call it, it is prehistoric looking and a bit of a nuisance. It lives in basements, crawl spaces and dark damp places. If you see something that can jump a long way but isn’t your normal black or brown cricket, you have camel crickets. They will eat your clothing as well as stored papers and cardboard. The good news is they are pretty easy to control.
Mice are looking for a nice warm place to stay during the winter. Yes, they are cute…but not in your kitchen. They leave urine and droppings everywhere they go. That includes your kitchen counters and pantry. Mice are responsible for many house fires every year because they chew your wiring.
You would think ants would be gone until next spring. You might be surprised how many calls we take about ants showing up during the holidays. They move inside and nest in the walls of your kitchen. When you turn on your oven to cook those big meals the walls heat up and out come the ants.
Then there are lady bugs, boxelder bugs, cluster flies, wasps and other numerous outside insects that want to overwinter in your home. My best advice is to seal up the gaps where they come in around windows and doors and don’t forget the garage.
If you’d like to do a little preventive work we are always here to help. And if it’s past the prevention stage, give us a call. We can make your holidays a little less stressful – at least when it comes to unwanted guests.
I’ve noticed several stories in the news recently about Kissing Bugs. They sound pretty cute but can cause big problems. This insect bites your face when you’re sleeping – and somebody thought, “I know, let’s call it a kissing bug”!
It makes you wonder about their sleeping arrangements.
Kissing bugs have been found in the lower 2/3 of the United States as well as throughout out the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. They are easily mistaken for many other harmless insects and most of the time you never see them anyway – because you are asleep. Here’s why they’re a problem.
As with most insects, kissing bugs poop a LOT. Everywhere they go. So after they bite you, sometimes they leave a little “extra” behind. When you wake up, you feel the bite and rub your cheek or eyes and the poop gets in there, too. Yuck…I know. And this is where the trouble starts. If the bug was carrying a parasite it can transmit Chagas Disease to you. The initial symptoms are flu-like and most people don’t associate the bite with the symptoms. In most cases, Chagas goes into remission and there are no problems. But for about a third of the people infected, Chagas can cause serious heart and digestive issues, and even death, if not treated. So it’s no joke.
If you travel much it is possible that you could become a victim. It is common enough that when people donate blood this is one of the things they screen for before that blood donation is made available to hospitals. And this is usually how most Americans find out they have the disease.
Personally, I wouldn’t let this keep me from traveling. But it is one more thing to be aware of when deciding where to stay. Just like at home, I recommend that structures have screens, are tidy and don’t have uncontrolled vegetation growing up around the building. A little pest control is a good idea, too. If conditions aren’t friendly for pests your chances of exposure are much less.
And now you know the Rest of the story.
We are here to take your
call 24 hours a day
6271 W Howard Street
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 610-8323
Illinois License 051-024800
Copyright 2024, Eco Tech Inc. All rights reserved.