by Jason Nester

Created on: February 05, 2007   Last Updated: April 23, 2012

What is the most common pest control mistake people make when treating their own homes? Well the most common mistake is most likely, simply not knowing the pest of which you are trying to rid your home. Does this mean to introduce yourself to it formally and have a conversation over tea and crumpets? Of course not! Although most pests would love the hospitality of free food... that would simply be downright ridiculous, and your family would probably think you lost your mind as well.

So what do I mean by "getting to know the pest"? Well, it really is quite simple. How do you bake a cake without knowing what ingredients go into it? How do you know what temperature and how long to bake it, if you never baked one before? Well, pest control is exactly the same way. How do you get rid of a pest that you know nothing about? How do you know what products to use, and what strategies work best, if you know nothing about how the animal lives, where the animal lives, and the general behavior of the animal? So you think, "well an insect no matter what species, is still an insect? and mice and rats are all rodents? So what's the big deal?" A little bug spray, a couple traps..... no more problems..... Right?" WRONG!

See, if you were to do a little research on that particular pest that you are trying to rid your house of, you will find out very quickly that you would be one hundred percent wrong on your simple treatment theory!

For example if you had an ant problem, you will learn that while there are some species of ants that can be killed with a little bug spray, others if sprayed with the same bug spray will actually make the problem worsen! Believe it or not, ants can be very picky! For example early in the season (late winter to early spring) ants prefer the types of baits that are more protein based, and in later season (summer to fall)ants will prefer baits that are more sugar based. So it is very important in knowing what breed of ant you are trying to treat for as well as what type of bait you should use in order to treat effectively.

Many people will think the same with roaches. If you were to spray the roaches you see with a can of raid, the others will simply laugh at you! Because they know that you are wasting your time and money! If you have a roach problem, the ones you actually see will account for less than ten percent of the entire population. The other ninety percent are hidden throughout your house, mostly in the walls where your can of raid is useless!

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