Dealing with pest infestations is a lot easier on the front end if just a few preventative steps are taken. Being one step ahead of the pests saves time, money and sometimes, your sanity.

One of the simplest ways to prevent pests is to think of the basic needs of any bug (or rodent, snake, etc…) and these include food, a place to hide and maybe even moisture. If you make it as difficult as possible for the pests to get comfortable in your home then you are less likely to have a problem.

So what are some good pest prevention practices to avoid an infestation?

• This is probably common sense but clean up any spilled food or drinks…these can attract pests
• Declutter – don’t give pests a place to hide
• Repair easy access points to the structure.. i.e. window seals, door jams, etc…
• Be conscientious – don’t leave doors open, avoid leaving dirty dishes for the morning, keep screens in the window when it’s open, etc…

Even if you try to prevent pests from moving in, you may still face an infestation. One of the most important steps to controlling the infestation is to properly identify the pest. If you figure out what you’re dealing with then you can take steps to make their life more difficult i.e. dumping out stagnant water so mosquitoes don’t have a place to breed near your house or structure. Another positive to properly identifying the pest is the correct pesticide can be used for the problem.

Fumigation also known as tenting, is a method of pest control that completely gets rid of pests within the area being fumigated.

The pests are eradicated with the use of pesticides in gas form. Methyl bromide used to be the most widely used pesticide in tenting but has since been restricted because of its environmental damage. Nowadays there are several fumigants that can be used including formaldehyde, methyl isocyanate and hydrogen cyanide.

The structure is either sealed with plastic, tape or other materials or the entire structure is tented with the use of nylon tarps. See pic above. The length of fumigation or tenting can vary from a couple hours to a week; depending on the pest problem and the size of the structure.

It’s important to remember that the pesticides used to kill the termites can also kill or poison other living things. All people, pets (fish included), plants, etc… are to be removed. Also, it’s a good idea to remove or completely seal anything that will eventually be ingested (pills too!).

Proper precautions are taken when it comes to fumigation. For instance, the re-entry date, time and other information will posted on the house when the structure is safe to re-enter. But, if headaches, nausea or any other symptoms appear after re-entering the structure, leave immediately and contact a doctor or poison control.

For more in depth information about fumigation, view California’s Structural Pest Control Board’s FAQ about fumigation.

Fumigation is an aggressive method of pest control but it’s not flawless. Since the pesticide used is in gas form, there is no poison left behind so the termites or other pests can return. Also, the deadly dosage of pesticide for one pest may not be enough to kill another pest. But if fumigation is performed correctly, the target pest should be eradicated.

The maintenance of controlling pests varies depending on the pest, the location of the building and several other factors. But here in Southern California where the weather is warm year-round, pest maintenance is most beneficial when performed every month or two.

It’s important to remember maintenance. The pests are gone after the initial treatment but since insects and other pests are constantly breeding, they can come back. So just because the pests are gone right now doesn’t mean they wont return which is why controlling pests is a never ending job, especially in pest control in Orange County, California.

Did you know?

• Worker termites live between two and five years and queen termites can live up to 25 years
• It takes three to four months for an egg of a cockroach to develop into an adult cockroach
• For two to five years, a queen bee lays several thousand eggs a day
• Male black widow spiders are sometimes killed by the female black widow after they mate