Pest Control Mesquite, TX, involves managing plants, animals, and other organisms that damage or threaten human health or economic interests. Correct identification of the pest is important for determining whether the pest can be tolerated or requires control.
Natural forces influence the number of pests, such as climate, natural enemies, available food and water, and barriers to movement. Pheromones and juvenile hormones can also be used to manipulate pest behavior.
Most pests are looking for food, water, and shelter. The best way to prevent a problem is to remove those items that attract them, such as open trash containers and crumbs. The next step is to reduce hiding places, such as piles of weeds and brush near your house. In addition, fixing leaky pipes and draining standing water will help keep pests away from your home.
Many pests can squeeze into small spaces, so it is important to seal cracks and crevices in walls and floors. Also, rips and tears in screens and windows should be repaired. Some pests can come in through vents and chimneys, so be sure to keep those tightened as well.
Managing waste is another way to prevent pests, such as cockroaches and rats, from entering your home. This includes taking out the garbage regularly and knowing your local collection day for trash and recycling. Keeping food in airtight containers will also help prevent pests from finding it.
Regularly sweeping your floors and vacuuming carpets helps eliminate places where pests can hide. This is particularly helpful in areas that are high traffic, such as kitchens and bathrooms. Keeping counter tops and tables clean will minimize food crumbs, which will attract pests. Finally, fixing leaking faucets and draining standing water will keep pests from using the water as a source of moisture to live in.
Clutter and overgrown vegetation provide rodents, spiders, ants and other pests with highways right to your door. Make sure the area around your home is free of clutter, and trim back shrubs and bushes so they do not touch the roofline or foundation.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a comprehensive approach to pest control that uses prevention, monitoring and reduced-risk treatment methods to lessen reliance on and risk from chemical pesticides. The goals of IPM are to optimize beneficial insects and natural enemies, avoid contamination of foods and feed, and use only the amount of pesticide needed to get the job done. The plan also addresses sanitation, habitat modification, changing cultural practices, plant selection and resistance, mowing techniques, and proper application.
Suppression
Pests can be controlled by preventing infestations from occurring in the first place. Proper food storage and handling, avoiding clutter around homes and offices, sealing cracks and crevices, removing standing water, and practicing integrated pest management are all good preventive measures to take.
Once a pest has invaded, a suppression strategy must be put into place to reduce their numbers and keep them below threshold levels. The use of biological, cultural, and chemical controls can all be used to accomplish this.
Biological control uses natural enemies to limit or control pest populations. These include predators, parasitoids, and pathogens (disease-causing organisms). Increasing the number of these enemies by conserving existing ones or introducing new ones can help to control pest insects. Biological controls can also include the use of juvenile hormones or pheromones to affect a pest’s life cycle.
The best way to determine whether a pest can be tolerated or requires control is to monitor its presence and damage on a regular basis. This can be done by trapping or scouting. Monitoring pests can provide clues as to when a threshold level is about to be reached so the correct control measures can be taken.
Cultural practices can influence pest populations by making the environment less suitable for them or more suitable for desirable plants and animals. These may include changing cropping practices, modifying plant varieties, incorporating mulches that deter pests, and altering land cover. Chemical control can be used to kill or suppress pests by using insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and nematodes. Chemicals are usually most effective when they are targeted to specific areas and used at the right time in the pest’s life cycle.
In general, the use of pesticides should be avoided, if possible. There are many alternatives to chemical control that can be used that pose less risk to people and the environment, such as traps, sticky pads, diatomaceous earth, and sprays. It is important to select the most appropriate and least toxic option for each situation. If chemical treatment is required, it is advisable to read and follow the label instructions carefully and observe any safety warnings.
Eradication
Pests can cause great damage to crops and property, but they also are a source of food for predatory animals and can be beneficial to humans by pollinating plants. For these reasons, controlling pests is important. Efforts to control them can range from tolerance, through deterrence and suppression to eradication.
Prevention
Many pest problems can be stopped before they even start with preventative methods. These may include preventing access to food, water and shelter or blocking the path of a pest. For example, removing rotting wood can keep termites and ants from infesting a home. Similarly, sealing cracks and crevices can prevent mice and other rodents from entering a house.
Preventative methods are often more cost effective than eradication and can be applied to outdoor as well as indoor environments. Physical traps, netting, and decoys are examples of preventative pest control techniques. Chemicals such as repellents and insecticides are useful tools for reducing pest populations. However, a word of caution: pesticides can be dangerous to the environment and human health. Biological pest control, which uses living organisms to reduce pest populations, is more environmentally friendly than chemical methods.
Elimination
The word eradication is misleading in this context because it can have different meanings. It can mean “to extirpate or destroy entirely,” and it can refer to the global elimination of a disease, such as the eradication of guinea worm (dracunculiasis) in the human population. It can also be used to describe the complete destruction of an undesirable plant or animal, such as the intentional culling of livestock.
The most common method of extermination is spraying a home with pesticides, which can kill the pests or at least disrupt their ability to reproduce. Some people are hesitant to use this method because it can pose health risks, but reputable pest control providers take precautions to minimize the risk. This approach is rarely needed for outdoor pest control, because preventing them from getting into the home in the first place is usually much more effective than trying to eradicate them once they are there.
IPM
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an ecosystem-based strategy that manages weeds, disease organisms and insects using a combination of techniques—including physical, biological, cultural, and chemical control methods—and considers the long-term effects of all actions. IPM aims to achieve optimum plant health and production with the least impact on people, beneficial insects, wildlife and the environment.
IPM programs start with monitoring pests and identifying them accurately. This reduces the likelihood that pesticides are used when they are not needed or that a pesticide will be applied to the wrong species of insect or weed. The IPM process then identifies environmental factors that influence the pest and uses them to reduce their numbers or to block their ability to damage or feed on plants. IPM also includes preventive measures, such as choosing or growing plants suited to the local climate and soil conditions—for example, arid regions might call for drought-tolerant crops; or blocking pest access to buildings—for instance, by caulking cracks or using bird or rodent deterrents.
When a pest problem is detected, the IPM process determines if the pests pose a health, economic, or aesthetic threat and sets action thresholds that indicate when treatment is needed. This is an important step because it ensures that treatments will be targeted only at the pest species or subspecies causing damage, and limits the use of unnecessary pesticides.
Once the action thresholds are set, the IPM process looks at all available control options—including nonchemical and natural methods—to find the best one for the situation. Many IPM options are less expensive and more environmentally sensitive than conventional chemicals. Some are as simple as stretching netting over a vegetable garden to stop marauding birds, or setting mousetraps to catch destructive pocket gophers. Biological controls include encouraging natural predators and parasites to eat or kill pests, and applying microorganisms (such as entomopathogenic fungi and nematodes) that disrupt a pest’s life cycle.
A good IPM program takes into account that different control methods have varying costs, risks and benefits, and is therefore flexible and adaptable to each location or crop. IPM also reduces the need for conventional chemicals, so it can be a cost-effective alternative to organic production.