Your Leaky Pipes May Be Attracting Pests

Cockroaches are attracted to plumbing fixtures in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Having leaky pipes or plumbing issues in your home is bad enough without the added bonus of a pest infestation. Unfortunately, pests love excess moisture and will readily infest a home that is experiencing a plumbing problem. This is why it’s crucial to stay on top of plumbing repairs in your home. When you don’t, you run the risk of potentially leaving yourself vulnerable to pest infestations. The experts at Garrie Pest Control are here to help. Read on to learn everything you need to know about preventing pests and leaky pipes in your Peekskill NY home!

Moisture-Loving Pests

Pests are drawn toward areas that provide them with their main sources of survival: food and water! This is why pests are commonly found in bathrooms, crawl spaces, laundry rooms, and more. The most common pests that are going to be attracted to areas with excess moisture are as follows.

  1. Termites: If a broken pipe has caused water damage in the very structure of your home, you can be sure termites are to follow. Subterranean termites in particular are attracted to moist wood and soil. When there are unattended-to leaky pipes or plumbing issues, you could be leaving your home vulnerable to termites.
  2. Ants: These tiny pests will appear seemingly out of nowhere when excess moisture is abundant. Leaky faucets or spilled water from a pet’s bowl can bring ants out in the hundreds. In addition to your typical house ant, water can be a main attractant to the wood-destroying carpenter ant as well.
  3. Cockroaches. Roaches may be known for their resiliency, but they aren’t as strong as you’d think. Without water for a week, a roach will not survive. Cockroaches also love to linger inside of pipes and plumbing fixtures. An issue can quickly introduce roaches into other parts of the house.
  4. Rodents: Rats and mice alike are always looking for a water supply. Leaky pipes or broken faucets in your crawl space or laundry room can provide a haven for rodents. The last thing you want is rodents scurrying around when you have a plumbing issue, making it important to prevent them.

How to Prevent Pest Infestations From Leaky Pipes

Leaky pipes or plumbing issues can quickly bring a plethora of problems into your home. This is because almost all pests are attracted to water. In fact, some will die without a source of water within a few days. If you want to help prevent pests in your home, the best thing to do is keep an eye out for leaks and address any issues right away. Regularly inspect to ensure your faucets aren’t dripping, your drains aren’t clogging, and there are no leaks from your fridge, washing machine, or dishwasher.

Dealing With Pest Problems in Your Kitchen or Bathroom?

If you’re already noticing the signs of pests from a plumbing issue or leaky pipe, it’s important to contact your local exterminator for assistance. At Garrie Pest Control, we will work hard to get rid of any pest problems and provide you with tips to prevent future ones.

Types of Household Bugs in New York [2021 Update]

Bed bugs are a common household pest in New York - Garrie Pest Control

Nobody wants bugs in their homes. Bugs can contaminate food, bite people and pets, and generally creep you out, too. So what can you do about the many varieties of bugs that are native to the state of New York, particularly in the Hudson Valley area. The good news is most pests will stay outdoors. Occasionally, though, they can make their way indoors. To avoid the frustration and surprise of finding pests in your home, it’s important to know how to protect your home from the most common ones! The pest experts at Garrie Pest Control are here to share everything you need to know about the four most common pests in the great state of New York.

Pests in New York

1. Cockroaches

Infamously gross and hardy, cockroaches are tough to kill. You could squish every roach that you see, but what can you do about the elusive nests of cockroaches that may be living in your cabinets, walls, or attic?

The key to cockroach control is preventing cockroach invasions in the first place. Seal up cracks in doors, windows, and walls, keep your home clean, and try to avoid eating outside of the kitchen or dining room. Also, make sure you keep your food tightly sealed away in airtight containers. If cockroaches access your food supply, they can spread incredibly dangerous diseases.

2. Bed Bugs

Some of the most difficult bugs to kill, bed bugs spread like a disease, latching onto a single person and spreading across entire homes, neighborhoods, and even cities. Bed bugs hide in mattresses, closets, baseboards, and other areas where they can form tiny but highly populated nests. They’re infamous for biting humans at night, feeding on their blood.

Bed bugs are difficult to kill, often requiring the use of heat treatments that essentially cook them to death, including their eggs. You must kill bed bug eggs if you hope to eliminate the infestation. This is why most other methods that target adult bed bugs just don’t work. It’s best to enlist the help of a bed bug control expert.

3. Termites

These dangerous pests are infamous for being costly. The very word “termite” should send a shudder down every homeowner’s spine. They eat dead plant matter, which often consists of building materials in homes, like wooden frames, cabinets, flooring, and furniture. New York homes commonly deal with termites, making it important to put prevention in place all year long.

If you notice deep grooves or holes in wood, your home may have termites. Always contact a termite control professional as soon as possible to begin termite intervention. As some of the most costly and destructive bugs on earth, professional termite prevention should be at the top of your priority list as a homeowner!

4. Pantry Pests

Like roaches, pantry beetles are hungry for just about anything you’ll take home to them. Sadly, their home may happen to be your kitchen pantry, hence the name of this common New York beetle. Pantry beetles are incredibly destructive to human food sources, and can often infect flour mills and grocery stores. This sadly means that you may take a pantry beetle infestation home with you.

Try to keep all food stored in airtight containers, especially sugary and flour-based foods that pantry beetles love. If you notice these food-eating pests in your home, it’s smart to get advice from your local pantry pest control experts.

Pest Prevention for New Yorkers

At Garrie Pest Control, we know that no homeowner wants to have pests in their home. We are proud to work with homeowners in the Hudson Valley and Peekskill NY area to customize pest control plans that keep homes pest-free year-round. To learn more, contact us today to get started!

Are Cockroaches Only Active At Night?

Cockroaches at night in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

As frightening as it sounds, cockroaches are indeed active overnight while you are asleep. As mostly nocturnal creatures, roaches prefer to stay out of the light of day as much as they can. Seeing roaches during the day can signal you have a serious infestation on your hands. Instead, these pests will hide and even sleep during the daytime hours, typically in the darkest and dampest areas of your home or business.

If you suspect you have roaches running rampant in your Peekskill NY apartment overnight, read on to learn everything you need to know about the behavior of roaches with the experts at Garrie Pest Control!

Cockroach Sleep Schedule

Similar to other animals and insects, roaches possess a unique circadian rhythm that includes a resting period. In one particular study, it was proven that roaches have three states of activity: a period of locomotion, a period of limb or antennae movement but no locomotion, and a period of immobility. Under normal light conditions (light during the day and dark overnight), cockroaches were only active at night, typically during the period right before midnight. There was little activity during the early morning hours, and roaches were found to rest during the daylight.

What Do Roaches Do During the Day?

Seeing a cockroach or two in the light of day inside your home or business is never a good sign. It could mean one of three things:

  1. You already have a serious cockroach infestation on your hands.
  2. Cockroaches have been forced out of their typical hiding places due to a lack of resources.
  3. Artificial light can sometimes disorient roaches, encouraging them to come out in the daytime.

Where Do Roaches Hide?

Due to the fact that they dislike daylight, cockroaches typically hide in the darkest areas inside or your property. The main cockroach environments in a building include bathrooms, basements, and crawl spaces. However, in a big infestation, many other areas can become a roach’s new home: under the appliances in your kitchen, underneath sinks, inside light switches, or amongst boxes in your attic or garage. If you stumble upon them during the day by moving an object, they will likely run for cover.

Cockroaches in Peekskill NY Homes

If you begin to notice the signs of cockroaches in your home—or worse, you’ve seen them in the flesh during the day—it’s time to call the cockroach control team here at Garrie Pest Control. Our experts will thoroughly investigate to find where roaches are hiding. From there, we will implement a cockroach control plan suited to the unique needs of your home. Contact us today to get started!

Signs You Have Mining Bees in Your Lawn

A mining bee digging a tunnel in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Like other species of bees, mining bees, otherwise known as ground bees, play important roles in their local ecosystems. They pollinate our plants and aerate our soil, helping you achieve beautiful growth in your yard, free of charge! However, having a growing population of them in your yard can be unsettling, and sometimes more aggressive bees or wasps will move into the tunnels that they have dug out. Our bee removal experts at Garrie Pest Control have laid out some steps to identifying ground nesting bees in your yard in Peekskill NY. Read on to learn!

Signs of Ground Bees in Your Yard

There are many kinds of burrowing pests that live in and around Peekskill NY. So how can you tell if you have ground bees? These are some of the most common signs of mining bees in the ground:

  • Holes that have an opening around 1/4”-1/2“ in diameter
  • Small mounds of dirt around these holes
  • Bees that look similar to honey bees, but smaller and with a fuzzy thorax

Miner bees don’t live in communal hives, but they do dig their tunnels in close proximity to each other. If you find one tunnel, finding more similar ones close by is a great sign of a ground bee population.

Are Ground Bees Dangerous?

Mining bees do have stingers but are much less temperamental than some other bee species, and especially less aggressive than wasps and hornets. When you have ground bees tunneling in your yard, they are only there to go about their business. If you go about yours, they will leave you alone!

However, the problem with mining bees is that they create tunnels that other stinging insects like to inhabit. Some species of wasps create their nests by digging tunnels in the ground, but they are more than happy to invade a preexisting nesting network to start off their breeding season. If you start to notice an increasing number of tunnels in your yard, it’s safe to bet that wasps could be taking over any day. You can always ask your local pest control company about the risks associated with the tunnels in your yard.

Pest Control for Mining Bees in Peekskill NY

Although having some bees around can be very beneficial, having too many mining bees and ground bee nests around can lead to more serious safety issues. If you believe you have miner bees but can’t be sure, talk to the bee removal experts at Garrie Pest Control. We understand how vital bees are to their local ecosystem, so we use the most humane strategies and eco-conscious products to remove them. For a free quote, contact us today!

How an Ant Infestation Starts in Your Home

An ant infestation starting in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Ants are much more cunning than we give them credit for. We receive many calls every year from frustrated clients who just can’t seem to figure out how ants are getting indoors. It’s safe to assume that most people in Peekskill NY have dealt with an unexpected trail of ants in their home at one point or another.

This might be you right now. You may be a super tidy and organized person with a huge ant infestation, wondering, “how could this happen in my house?” Garrie Pest Control has the answers for you, and can teach you how to better prevent this unsightly occurrence from happening again.

How Do Ant Infestations Get Started?

When ants work their way into your home, they are usually on the hunt for a new food source. Once an ant finds some accessible food, they will release a pheromone signal to their fellow colony members to follow them to the source. As long as the food supply is ample, the ant trail will continue to build. Ants aren’t picky eaters, but they prefer these foods:

  • Bread and grains
  • Meat
  • Fruit
  • Sweet things like candy and soda

Even if you store your food away properly, you still might be liable to an ant problem. If ants are still entering your home when it is clean as can be, the problem might be with the exterior of the building. In addition to food, ants often seek out warmth and shelter. They will take advantage of even the tiniest slit in the wall to sneak inside. Some of their most common entry points include:

  • Holes in foundation
  • Gaps in brickwork and wood paneling
  • Cracked plumbing pipes
  • Ventilation systems, and more

How ant infestations start in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

What Can You Do to Stop Ants?

To make your house ant-free, keep your kitchen and bathroom clean. In the kitchen, all food should be sealed and stored away, dishes should be cleaned right after you eat, and spills should be mopped up right away. Regularly use a lemon-scented or vinegar-based cleaning agent for an extra preventative touch. As for your bathroom, reduce excess moisture buildup from your shower and sink by having it properly ventilated.

Next, turn your attention to your home’s exterior. To keep ants from accessing your indoor spaces in the first place, you can:

  1. Seal any cracks in your plumbing fixtures
  2. Inspect your foundation and siding for holes and fill them
  3. Install screens on windows and doors or fix existing ones
  4. Keep your trash bins far away from your house

Expert Ant Prevention Services in Peekskill NY

We get plenty of calls every year from people who can’t figure out how to get rid of the ants in their house. As a result, we’ve built up years of experience dealing with the specific ant problems that Peekskill NY residents face. If you need help removing ants from your home and ensuring that they don’t come back, trust in your local pest control team at Garrie Pest Control. To learn more about our services or for a free estimate on ant control, contact our team today!

Do Wasps Die After They Sting?

How wasps look in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Bees are very unique creatures, set apart from other insects for a variety of reasons. One of their more peculiar features is that they die after stinging a victim just once. This leaves many people wondering: do wasps work the same way?

It turns out that wasps are able to sting multiple times in a row, and can deliver even more painful stings than bees in most cases. Read on to learn more about wasp stings and the differences between wasps vs bees in Peekskill NY.

The Difference Between Wasp and Bee Stings

Certain wasps dish out stings that cause about the same amount of pain as a bee sting. However, the reason that wasps are considered so much more dangerous is that they can sting multiple times in a row. Bees’ stingers are attached to their digestive tract, so when they sting someone, they eject some of their organs with the stinger upon release.

On the other hand, wasps’ stingers are designed like a needle. They retract in and out of the skin, piercing their target as many times as necessary. Like bees, their stinks are chock-full of a painful venom. It is designed both to paralyze small prey and to convince potential predators to leave them alone.

Why Do Wasps Sting?

Wasps sting when they feel that their nest is being threatened. What’s more, when they sting someone that they consider to be a threat, they emit a pheromone that signals to nearby wasps to help them. This is why people often report being stung by multiple wasps or even a swarm of wasps at once. Multiple wasp stings can cause serious health risks, such as:

  • Swollen, painful bumps
  • Rashes, hives, or welts
  • Headache, nausea, and fever
  • Swelling and joint pain
  • In extreme cases, death

Professional Wasp Control in Peekskill NY

Wasps build their nests out of chewed-up wood, forming a construction that looks like layers of gray paper. If you notice a wasp nest forming on your property, contact your local wasp control experts right away. Our wasp nest removal specialists at Garrie Pest Control will use the most efficient and effective techniques in the industry to relocate your wasp nest and help you have a sting-free summer. For a free quote on bee or wasp nest removal services, contact us today!

How to Keep Stink Bugs Out

Stink bug appearance in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Scientists assume that stink bugs have developed their foul odor as a defense mechanism against potential predators. We can confirm that it makes them unpleasant guests in our homes!

Every year in Peekskill NY, we hear complaints about little brown bugs infiltrating homes. It also appears that we deal with more year after year in our area. If you believe that you have a stink bug infestation, read on. We will share our expert tips with you on identifying and getting rid of stink bugs and what you can do to prevent them in the first place.

How Do I Know if I Have Stink Bugs?

Stink bugs don’t cause a health risk when they enter your home, but they aren’t called stink bugs for nothing. Here are a few ways to tell if the pests in your house are stink bugs:

  1. Stink bugs are usually slightly over half an inch long with long antennae and shield-shaped bodies.
  2. They have a brown base color with patterns of green, black and yellow on their backs. Their antennae and legs have white stripes.
  3. Their odor is pungent and foul—it is sometimes described as smelling similar to coriander.

If you get near a stink bug to try to trap or remove it, it will emit its odor. This will be a sure sign that you’re dealing with stink bugs.

How to Keep Stink Bugs Out

Stink bugs usually find their way in on their own, entering homes through any access points that they can find. They like to enter through:

  • Unsealed cracks in walls
  • Gaps around doors and windows
  • Ventilation systems
  • Torn screen doors

In order to keep stink bugs out, it’s important to check around your house for any of these vulnerabilities. Turning off outdoor lights when not in use will also help to keep stink bugs away.

Professional Help Removing Stink Bugs in Peekskill NY

If you can’t seem to find the source of your stink bug infestation in Peekskill NY, it’s time to call the pest control experts at Garrie Pest Control. Our technicians are trained to quickly identify the source of a stink bug outbreak and correct the issue by both removing stink bugs inside the house and blocking them from returning. For more information on our stink bug removal services or for a free quote on pest control, contact us today!

What Pests Are More Active in the Summer Months?

A trail of ants in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

Here in New York, we get to enjoy the waves of seasonal changes, but many of us are always looking forward to when summer comes around again. Unfortunately, along with warm weather and sunshine comes a host of pest problems. Residents of Peekskill NY and neighboring areas should be on the lookout for increasing numbers of pests. Keep reading for knowledge and advice from the expert exterminators at Garrie Pest Control.

Why are Pests More Common in Summer?

The conditions leading up to summer allow for a boom of pest populations in Peekskill NY. Rainfall and increasing amounts of daylight in the spring make for ample plant growth, attracting all sorts of insect. Whether they are tiny insects like aphids nibbling on leaves or large predatory pests, all sorts of creatures start to emerge in the spring under the perfect conditions to thrive. This leads to reproductive cycles starting up again, making for pest-filled summers.

Summer Pests in New York

Here are the pests that you can count on to reappear in high numbers this summer in Peekskill NY:

  • Ants: When the weather warms up, ants return from beneath the surface to build nests closer to the abundance of new food. Leaving food out or unsealed in your home or forgetting to clean up your spills could lead to an ant infestation.
  • Mosquitoes: Spring rainfall results in sources of standing water for mosquitoes to lay their eggs. As summer days get longer and warmer, mosquitoes’ populations will have more opportunities to find hosts to feed on. Their numbers won’t drop off again until the temperatures drop below 50 degrees consistently.
  • Bees, wasps, and hornets: In the early summer when flowers are in full bloom, wasps, hornets, and bees see huge surges in their populations. Each of these species of stinging insects build their nests in different areas. Additionally, each stinging insect species exhibits different patterns of behavior. Ask your local pest control experts for help identifying stinging insects on your property.

Pest Control this Summer in Peekskill NY

Summer comes with many different recurring pest problems. Each individual pest infestation requires due attention and specialized treatments to deal with properly. Our extermination specialists at Garrie Pest Control are well-versed in the particular problems that Peekskill NY residents face and will work hard to solve them for you. Our holistic pest control process includes helping you prevent future infestations with progressive treatments and advice. If you need help preparing for this summer’s imminent pests, contact us today for a free quote!

That Buzz in Your Walls Might Be Honey Bees

Honey bee found in Peekskill NY - Garrie Pest Control

A honey bee colony forming in your home can go from an undetectable issue to a constant nuisance in what seems like no time at all. Every spring, the honey bees swarm again to look for a new home. If they find a hidden space through a hole in your home, they will be more than happy to settle for the summer. At Garrie Pest Control, we know that no one wants to deal with this problem, so we train our bee removal specialists to use the safest and most effective methods to remove hives in residential areas.

Why Are There Honey Bees Inside My Walls?

Growing honey bee colonies swarm each spring to look for a new place to live. They often make use of hollowed old trees out in the wild, but when they live near a neighborhood, they commonly find opportunities to nest in wooden homes. There are three main ways that you can prevent a colony from setting up shop in your house:

  1. Caulk any gaps that they might be able to enter through. They often find a way in through holes in siding, knots in wood, and openings for plumbing and electrical wires.
  2. Install window screens to cover openings that are needed for ventilation.
  3. Check around your home regularly for potential liabilities and new bee activity.

How to Remove of Bees in Walls

When you discover a growing beehive in the walls of your home, the next step is to determine just how large the nest and population are. If the bees have recently inhabited your walls, simple nest removal tactics can be applied by licensed bee removal experts. However, in certain cases of extreme infestation, a pest control company will have to resort to extermination tactics. Any amount of honey bees living in your home warrants a call to your local pest control specialists, though – it’s never safe to try to remove the bees yourself.

Our technicians at Garrie Pest Control know just how important honey bees are to their local ecosystems as pollinators, and will always go with the most eco-friendly and humane efforts possible to remove them.

Bee Removal in Peekskill NY

If the buzzing noise in your walls is starting to drive you crazy, it’s time to contact your local pest control company. We can send our bee removal experts out to inspect your situation and draft a plan to have them removed as quickly and cautiously as possible. Contact us today for a free bee removal quote!

HOW CAN YOU REPEL WOODCHUCK INFESTATIONS?

Garrie-Pest-Control_How-to-Repel-Woodchuck-Infestations_IMAGE

STEP 1: IDENTIFY

As with all residential pest control, controlling woodchucks requires you to be able to identify the furry creatures. They’re often confused for squirrels, beavers, or even large brown rats. However, woodchucks are distinct in some specific ways. They’re stocky, with square-like bodies and brown fur. Look for their short ears and stubby, bushy tails. They can be as small as an average ground squirrel or grow to be as tall as three feet!

Woodchucks are spooked by humans, like most rodents, so they may disappear into their burrows before you can catch them at work. Luckily, there are some clear clues that point to a woodchuck infestation. Look for the foot-wide holes that they burrow around yards. The holes will have a mount of excavated soil around them. Look for several entrances near each other. Also, look for claw and chew marks in trees and other vegetation.

STEP 2: REPEL

Good news: it’s actually not very hard to repel woodchucks! Your yard gives them the healthy vegetation that they crave, and they’re likely to burrow their underground homes nearby their favorite food sources. So, how do you make your yummy yard less appetizing to these ravenous rodents? Change the flavor! Woodchucks are repelled by blood meal, ground black pepper, baby powder, and spicy mixtures of hot peppers and garlic. Spray/sprinkle a liberal amount of these around your garden. You may even try to make a perimeter with the repellant around your yard to deter them from entering in the first place.

Another way to help repel woodchucks is to keep your yard well-trimmed with the grass cut low. If there are any holes or gaps, fill them in with dirt. Even if you’ve simply turned up a small amount of loose soil to plant new vegetation, cover the exposed dirt with rocks.

STEP 3: CALL THE PEST PROS

If you see woodchucks slinking around your home, it’s time for you to call the best in the business of pest control in Middletown, NY: Garrie Pest Control. We use specialized, time-tested methods to eliminate pests of all shapes and sizes from your home. Our services include woodchuck prevention, mosquito pest control, and solutions for just about every home pest, including insects, arachnids, and rodents. Don’t wait – call us today!