Northwest's Learning Center

Have you seen a strange pest flying or crawling around your home?  Would you like to learn more about the habitats of certain insects that you are seeing?  Northwest Exterminating can be your source of information on all things pest.  By visiting our website and going to the Northwest Learning Center, you can Identify Your Pest, use our Termite Risk Calculator, or view Frequently Asked Questions.

Identify Your Pest – helps you identify and become knowledgeable about common household pests

Termite Risk Calculator – Use this calculator to find out if your home is at risk of termite infestation and damage

Frequently Asked Questions – View questions that are commonly asked by our customers

Help us add to our pest library!  What pests would you like to see on there?
What questions would you like to see in Frequently Asked Questions?

Early Warm Temps, Early Termites

If you are anything like me, you are loving this unseasonably warm weather that we are experiencing in Georgia.  It’s been a nice preview of what is in store for us come Spring time.  That being said, I’m not looking forward to the cold snap that we will inevitably experience before Spring comes around.  I’m also not looking forward to an earlier termite season due to the warm temperatures.

Termites aren’t usually moving this time of year because the temperature is typically below 60 degrees.  When temperatures are above 60, that is when termites start to swarm.  And when they start to swarm, they start inside your home before moving outside.  Unfortunately, once you find out that you have termites in your home, damage has most likely already occurred.  And termites can do some serious damage, causing up to $5 billion of damage each year in the US.

Oftentimes, termites are mistaken for flying ants.  If you think you see what appears to be flying ants, call your termite control company, such as Northwest Exterminating, to come inspect your home.  Termites look for moisture in and around homes, so be sure that any standing water or leaking pipes are adequately taken care of.  Look for mud tunnels, usually the size of a pencil, that are created on the inside or outside of the home’s foundation.  Clean gutters and pull back soil and mulch from the home’s foundation where termites can find their way into the wood of a structure.

If you have questions about termites or suspect that termites may be in your home, call Northwest Exterminating today and we will be happy to come out and conduct a FREE termite inspection.

iPest app

We’ve recently discovered a useful tool that has helped us both inside and outside of the office.  iPest is a mobile app that is beneficial not only for pest control technicians but homeowners, building managers, etc.  The iPest app is a guide that was developed by researchers at the University of Florida.  The app is a great tool to identify and educate yourself on common pests that are found in and around homes and businesses.  iPest contains 3 series, a search tool, and color photos that can help you quickly find a particular pest.

Series:

iPest1cockroaches, flies, occasional invaders, and urban pest and wildlife droppings. 

iPest2ants, beetles, termites and wood destroying insects.

iPest3 – biting, stinging, and bloodsucking arthropods

This app has been a great tool in and outside of the office and we think it would be great for our customers as well.

Go to you app store and purchase iPest for $1.99

Technician Tales: There’s a boa in your refrigerator

Technician Tales

As you can imagine, there is never a dull moment in the pest control industry.  It is our privilege to be able to help our customers keep their homes and businesses healthy and free of pests.  Along the way, we get ourselves into some pretty interesting situations.  Sometimes we get a good laugh about them around the different offices and thought that we would share our stories with our readers.  Technician Tales will be stories from our ladies and gentlemen out in the field or in the office who have found themselves in some very interesting predicaments.  For your enjoyment:

Technician Tales: There’s a boa in your refrigerator

Recently our representatives went on a call for a German cockroach infestation.  The area was crawling (no pun intended) in cockroaches.  There were roach droppings covering the floors, walls, and naturally, surrounding the refrigerator.  As a team of technicians were treating and vacuuming up the roaches, one of the technicians had pulled back the refrigerator and was treating around the area.  The technician was working his way around when he all the sudden jumped back and screamed, “SNAKE!!!!!!”.  Everyone hurried to see what he was yelling about.  When they looked at the bottom of the refrigerator, curled up at the bottom was a 4 foot long boa constrictor!!!!  Our technicians went to find someone at the location to let them know what they had found only to be met with the response “We’ve been looking for him”!!

Now THAT was a technician tale that we just had to share.

How Do Ladybugs Get in My Home?

Ladybugs are making their way into homes for the winter instead of finding a home outside.  Ladybugs are attracted to the heat that the homes reflect and often prefer older homes and light colored homes.  Once these cute little bugs make their way into your home they can be difficult to get rid of.  One of the reasons they are difficult to get rid of are because they release a pheromone that attracts other ladybugs into your home.  This pheromone can be detected up to 1/4 mile away and is a way of communication to let other ladybugs know where make their home for the winter.

Removing the pheromones from your home can be almost impossible considering that they remain long after the ladybugs are gone.  So the key to keeping ladybugs out of your home is prevention.  To prevent ladybugs from getting into your home is to ensure that all cracks around windows, doors, pipes and vents.  Also, make sure you have a good pest control company that you can depend on.

Ladybugs are cute but do you want them in your home?

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