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The Ultimate Guide to Pest Control for Homeowners
Pests are unwanted organisms that damage or spoil crops, livestock, homes, and gardens. Pest control aims to reduce their numbers through exclusion, quarantine, repellents, and physical removal.
Prevention is usually the first step in controlling pests. This includes eliminating food, water, and shelter sources, clearing crumbs and garbage promptly, fixing leaky plumbing, and removing standing water sources. Contact Pest Control Burnaby BC now!
Identifying pests, whether insects, weeds, plant diseases, or vertebrate animals, is an essential first step in any pest control effort. Accurate identification allows the choice of appropriate cultural practices, tools and pesticides. Incorrect identification may result in inappropriate use of pesticides or other control methods that waste time and money and cause unnecessary risk to people or the environment.
An accurate identification is also a key part of Integrated Pest Management, which relies on “field scouting,” or monitoring pest populations and crop development, to determine if pesticide treatment is necessary. Pest identification requires attention to a variety of factors, including:
Physical contamination and/or damage to food, food containers or packaging; biological contamination (e.g. microbial pathogens or intestinal worms), which may be carried in pest saliva, droppings or external parts; and/or destruction of food quality or nutritional value. Typical pests found in food processing environments include small mammals, (e.g. Black and Brown rats and mice), crawling insects (e.g. cockroaches, ants, beetles), flying insects (e.g. flies, moths and wasps) and birds.
Pests are attracted to food processing environments primarily for water, food and shelter. In addition to direct damage and contamination, they can introduce disease causing agents such as microbial pathogens, intestinal worms or parasites, and they may transmit human diseases through their saliva, droppings or excrement.
The MuseumPests Working Group has developed a pest identification aids page that contains easy-to-read PDF Pest Fact Sheets on the most common North American pests. These are useful for training and as reference materials for identifying the most problematic pests.
An important tool for inspecting and identifying pests is a flashlight. This is necessary because many pests are dark and seek shelter in secluded and difficult to access areas, such as behind and underneath equipment and furniture. An extendable mirror is also an asset, as it can be used to see into tight spaces where pests might hide or nest. A magnifier is also useful for examining insect parts, frass (excrement) and other evidence of pest presence or activity.
In some situations, it might be necessary to send a sample of the suspected pest to a specialized laboratory for identification. However, for most pests, a trained eye and the use of key biological clues can help in the identification process.
Pest Prevention
Pest control aims to halt an infestation before it gets out of hand. Infestations are much more difficult and expensive to treat once they have established roots. Prevention is arguably the most important aspect of pest control.
A pest infestation can wreak havoc on both your property and health. It can ruin your home or business’s appearance, attract pests that carry diseases like fleas and cockroaches, and expose humans to allergens such as pollen and dust mites. In some cases, pests can cause fires by chewing on electrical wires. In food processing environments, pests can cause contamination with disease causing pathogens, e.g., rodent droppings or intestinal worms, as well as damage to machinery and the physical structure of buildings.
Typically, the goal of pest control is to achieve one or both of the following:
Structural Prevention: This involves enhancing the physical structure of homes and businesses to reduce vulnerability to infestations. It includes caulking cracks and crevices, removing clutter and reducing food sources that attract pests. It also includes establishing and maintaining proper sanitation standards, i.e., ensuring garbage is properly disposed of and stored in sealed containers, as well as regularly cleaning kitchens and eating areas.
Chemical Prevention: This is the use of insecticides and other chemicals to kill existing pests and prevent their re-entry. It is usually a last resort when other methods of control have failed, as it can be harmful to people and the environment. It is important to know what type of pest you are dealing with before using this method, as it will help you tailor the chemicals used to match the infestation.
Natural Forces: The natural forces that influence all organisms, including pests, can either assist or hinder the goals of control. Climate, natural enemies, natural barriers, the availability of food and water supplies, and the presence or absence of shelter are just some of the natural factors that can affect the population of a particular pest.
In outdoor situations, the most common goal of pest control is suppression. Suppression is the attempt to reduce the pest population to a level that is deemed acceptable by the affected individuals or organization. It is often combined with prevention in order to ensure success, as eradication can be extremely difficult to achieve in the outdoors.
Pest Control Methods
Pest control methods aim to destroy the pest or prevent it from reproducing, and cause as little harm as possible to people, property, and the environment. They fall into three categories: prevention, suppression, and eradication. Prevention is the best strategy, as it can stop an infestation before it even starts. When this isn’t practical, the goal should be to minimize damage caused by pests. This can be achieved through exclusion, quarantine, repulsion, or physical removal.
The most effective pest control techniques are those that target specific environmental conditions that promote or sustain a pest population. These include food, water, shelter, and overwintering sites. For example, nematodes, microscopic roundworms that live in the soil, can be used to reduce pest populations by killing off harmful ones and competing with them for the same resources. They are especially useful when a pest is invading a garden or lawn, and can be applied easily using a spray.
A physical approach to pest management involves sealing cracks and holes that allow pests to enter. This is known as “pest proofing.” Another physically based method involves positioning traps where pests are most likely to pass. Traps can be baited with food, snares, or other things that lure the pest and then capture it. When traps are placed, they should be checked regularly and any pests removed. Sanitation practices can help prevent and suppress some pests, as they remove the foods and shelters that support them. This can be done by improving sanitation and waste management in agricultural settings, and by eliminating food sources and hiding places for urban pests.
Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, is a practice that targets all the factors that contribute to pest growth and development. IPM is an important part of any pest control program and can be done by anyone, from homeowners to business owners. It’s important to use a combination of physical, biological, and chemical methods, and know which method is appropriate for each situation. The IPM process also encourages scouting and monitoring so that decisions about pest treatment are based on actual evidence of a problem, rather than simply sightings. This threshold-based decision-making is an essential aspect of IPM and helps keep environmental impact low.
Pesticides
Pesticides are any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, mitigating, or controlling pests. They include plant growth regulators, insecticides, fungicides and other chemicals used to kill unwanted plants or animals, and to control the spread of disease. These chemicals are available in many forms, from spray cans and crop dusters to household cleaners and hand soaps. They may be biodegradable (break down quickly by microorganisms into harmless compounds) or persistent (take months or years to break down).
The most common use of pesticides is to kill unwanted organisms that are damaging crops, food, wood or other plants. They can also be used to kill or control rodents, birds and other pests that spread diseases. Whenever possible, pesticides should be applied as part of an integrated pest management plan.
When using pesticides, it is important to read and follow all label directions. This will help ensure proper application and protection of people, pets, property and the environment. It is also important to store and dispose of pesticides correctly.
Remember that pesticides are poisons and can harm the environment as well as humans, especially if they are not used properly. Some pesticides can also harm nontarget organisms, such as birds, other insects or soil microorganisms.
Chemicals are most effective when used for the specific pest listed on the product label. Other factors that can affect the success of a pesticide are the weather conditions, soil types and planting techniques.
Abiotic conditions such as poor soil drainage, water stress, and air pollution can also interfere with pesticide effectiveness. If these problems are not corrected, the pests will soon return and the pesticide will have to be reapplied.
Always wear gloves when handling pesticides and wash your hands immediately after applying. Do not eat, drink, or smoke while working with pesticides. Wash contaminated clothing and equipment according to the product label. If a spill occurs, sprinkle it with sawdust, kitty litter or vermiculite and sweep into a plastic bag for disposal.
Before applying any pesticide, check the regulations in your area for restrictions such as buffer zones around ponds, streams, wells and other water sources, playgrounds or schools, or fields or gardens posted as production areas for organic crops. Avoid spraying in windy days, as the drift of pesticides can pose health and safety hazards for people, pets or livestock. Also, do not spray near hives and bees.