Rain Rain Go Away All the Bugs Come in to Play

Rain and bugs go together-so what can you do about this?

Why are they coming inside, well hello?  It’s raining, it’s pouring – you know the old nursery rhyme.  These bugs aren’t snoring.

Why inside?  They want to be dry so they look for a safe place and your home looks inviting.  Larger insects can handle the rain, but smaller ones like ants, flies and spiders often need shelter or risk a certain death.

Here’s are some things you can do. Ants may be the most common pest you’ll find after the rain starts.  To remedy this, try laying out a piece of duct tape with a little jam on it (sticky side up friends). The ants will be attracted to the jam and will get stuck on the tape.  Kids love this and there is no 800 number to call for bug torture.

Often, Palmetto Bugs  may be found flying around your home after a heavy rain. They can find any and all entry points into your home because they have entry p0int radar. Make sure you have sealed off holes, window sills, cracks under doors and pipe entry points. If they didn’t come in when you opened the door, there is an opening somewhere that needs to be sealed.

Another way Palmetto Bugs enter your home is through drain pipes. They can hold their breath under water for 5 to 7 minutes! When drains aren’t used often and the rains cause waters to rise, the roaches will come up shower, sink and toilet drains.

Run hot water and pour a cup of bleach to cleans the drains and prevent the palmetto bugs from swimming in- stop giving them life preservers.

The tiniest crack or crevice is an open invitation to little critters. So grab an inexpensive container of caulking and some weather stripping.

When bugs cross the barrier of a home that has been properly treated by a Coastal Pest Control , the uninvited visitors should die shortly after entering your home. If you do see dead bugs in your home, there is no need to call us because it means the products are working.

However, if you see multiple bugs, it may be time for a re-treat of your home’s exterior. While you can buy insecticides yourself, it is safer and often more cost effective to trust a Coastal Pest Control to treat your home or office for pests.

Who are you going to call?  Call Coastal – 772-879-0904

Our Promise to You

Yes we have said this before, but in light of all that we have done since we last posted this, we wanted to share our promise to our customers again.

Since 1991 Coastal Pest Control of the Treasure Coast Inc. has grown to provide quality residential and commercial pest control services throughout Florida’s Treasure Coast.  We are dedicated to meet the individual needs of each client we service. Our technicians are reputable, knowledgeable and highly trained to deliver an exceptional level of customer service and we GUARANTEE our services 100%.  We remain committed to the philosophy that our customer comes first.  It is our intention to build a life-long relationship with every client, regardless of account size.

Our services include:

• Pest Control
• Termite control
• Lawn Spraying
• Fertilization
• Tree & Shrub care
• Fungus & Disease Control
• Real Estate Termite Inspections

We Eliminate:

• Fire Ants
• Termites
• Roaches
• Ants
• Fleas & Ticks
• Spiders
• Rodents
• Bees
• Bed Bugs
• Fly Control

Initial service for our new maintenance customers includes a thorough inspection and treatment of the interior and exterior of your home.  We GUARANTEE our regular pest control service will eliminate pests from your property.  If you see any pests in your home or on your property between scheduled applications, we’ll come back for FREE and treat again.

We’re based in Port St. Lucie and service Indian River, Saint Lucie, Martin and northern Palm Beach County.  Call us (772.879.0904) TODAY for a FREE estimate!

ARE YOU STRESSED?

Are you stressed?  April is National Stress Awareness month so we thought we would deviate from the usual gross-out post here and actually give you some useful information.

Fear of public speaking tops death and spiders as the nation’s number one phobia. But new research shows that learning to rethink the way we view our shaky hands, pounding heart, and sweaty palms can help people perform better both mentally and physically.

(Obviously we had to bring a spider into this article.)

We had no idea that fear of speaking in public stresses so many people.  We can only imagine the stress a contestant must feel as they walk onto the stage of “The Voice”.  We hope a spider doesn’t crawl across the stage or dangle down from the lights above.

Here is what happens the minute you face a stressful situation.

The body is marshaling resources, pumping more blood to our major muscle groups and delivering more oxygen to our brains.  Our body’s reaction to social stress is the same flight or fight response we produce when confronting physical danger. These physiological responses help us perform, whether we’re facing a bear in the forest or a critical audience or a spider.

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Caution: Cockroach Grossness Alert

Yes, we are back with a cockroach grossness alert.  You have been warned.

When this event happens it is advertised as an adventure in exotic cuisine.  This year, the event that is held at the Explorer’s Club in NYC created a magnificent (their word not ours) display of “off the plate” edible offerings for those brave enough to try delicacies that include yes cockroaches. This year they were fried.  The head chef, Gene Rurka, was quoted as saying they have “a crunch with a sweet creamy flavor.” Now you know.

Of course since Rurka is a chef he can make anything taste like something it is not.  He went on to say “you will feel the crunch in your mouth much like a soft-shelled crab.”

Grossed out enough?  Well there is more.

Rurka infused the cockroaches with ice wine, maple syrup, and orange juice and compares them to eating lobster tail.  Bet you are really excited to eat lobster now right?  And just to make you feel a little better he does heat them up to clean and “sterilizea” them.  Not sure how that makes them clean but he is the chef right?

This is the first time cockroaches were on the menu but Rurka wanted to make sure he could assure the guests that these pests were clean.

Rurka told the “Huffington Post” that 98% of the US population will not deviate from beef, pork, and poultry and that he is looking for that adventurous person who is willing to try something despicable.

We are in the 98% and happy to leave you with this thought – the remaining 2% are strange people.

Cockroach problem?  Call Coastal Pest Control of the Treasure Coast, there is no money in catching them and selling them to the chef.

 

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

If you’re afraid of spiders, you’re in good company–at least according to the Wikipedia page on arachnophobia, which states Justin Timberlake, Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson as sharing the affliction.

For example, one of the most infamous spiders, the brown recluse, has earned a terrible and outsized reputation for its supposedly deadly bite. Doctors often blame the species for spider bites, even in states where the brown recluse isn’t present.

Even where the species is present, says Dan Babbit, insect keeper at the Natural History Museum Dan Babbitt, “They don’t often bite people–they’re recluses, they tend to hide.”

How do you like this bad boy?

This is the pinktoed Tarantula.  Wonder who does it’s pedicures.  Because the pinktoe spider comes from the rainforest, it’s one of the few tarantulas that can climb trees, survive falls and even swim. Where other tarantulas would be killed by a drop of just a few feet, these spiders “can essentially parachute down” from the treetops.

Aside from their hidden talents, spiders also offer humans benefits in some surprising ways. Their venom has been used in scientific research for new medicines, their super strong webs  are helping designers dream up new industry technology and they’ve even inspired artworks and clothing products.

There are even new spiders still being discovered, like when spelunkers found a previously unknown family since dubbed Trogloraptor, or cave robbers, in southern Oregon.

We’re still a long way from ridding ourselves of arachnophobia.

Just how close are you to a spider right now?

Ick You Found a Tick!

Ticks – tiny little nasty b@st@rds.  Look how tiny they are, yet if we magnify them they are ugly enough to be in a Hollywood Sci-Fi movie.

Really creepy right?  What should concern you is Lyme Disease which can be transmitted to both pets and humans by the bite of infected deer ticks.  16,000 people are affected here in the US annually.

This is where it really gets creepy – ticks have harpoon-like barbs (YIKES) on their mouths to attach to the host for feeding and they emit a sticky secretion to help them hold on.

Ticks can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever which strikes 300-400 people here in this country per year.

Creepier yet is that some species of ticks can lay about 100 eggs at a time, others can lay 3000 to 6000 per batch.  Now you are itching right?

Some species can go years without feeding off a host.

If this concerns or if you are petting your dog or cat and finding that hard bump and on further inspection you know you just touched a tick, wash your hands immediately and call our office at 879-0904 – we can help stick it to the ticks!

10

Cat Vs. Fire Ants

We are always looking for funny things that have to do with icky things – but icky things keep us in business.  Let us know if you liked this one.

 

Whoopie Cushions Move Over

Just when all of you might have thought we could not come up with a better story than last week we found this great tidbit from the Huffington Post.

Who knew????

Gives a whole new thought about whoopee cushions that’s for sure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/01/30/cockroaches-farts-animals-methane-global-warming_n_2581674.html?utm_hp_ref=uk

Mentioning whoopee cushions makes us realize fart humor has been around for a long time.  Not as long as cockroaches but almost.

Warning – NOT for Anyone With a Weak Stomach!

Every now and then it is fun to go searching on the internet for weird, yet true, stories from other pest control companies and we found a doozy today.  We don’t make these things up.

These are real questions/happenings.  Ready?

How many mice will there be when the eggs hatch?

Unlike some pests, mice are mammals and do not lay eggs. Those small dark-colored pellets our customer was asking about were actually mouse droppings!

Do you spray for mice?

There is no spray deterrent for mice.

How do you trap for stray cats?

Not our job. It is best to contact your local Animal Control if you are having problems with any feline friends.

Similarly, if you found two stray kittens living in your basement yesterday but can only find one today, it’s still best to call Animal Control to figure out how to lure the other out of its hiding spot.

Will you spray me for parasites?

We do not treat humans or pets for parasites. You must call your doctor for any necessary diagnosis or treatment to be prescribed the proper medication.

In addition, we cannot always check out your bug bites to identify what they were caused by. Please seek the assistance of a medical professional!

Ratatouille?

Some time ago, a small cafe in the downtown area had a big rat problem. While servicing the restaurant, our technician noticed a tail poking out of the soup in a large stockpot.

“Oh my! What is in that soup?” He asked the line cook.

The line cook reached into the stockpot and fished out a dead rat. The rat had climbed into the giant pot of soup and drowned without anyone noticing.

The startled cook gasped, “I’ve been serving this soup all week!”

Unfortunately, he said this in front of a counter full of people, and customers began rushing out the front doors of the cafe.

Moral of the story: if you’re a consumers, do your homework before eating out; if you are a restaurant owner, always maintain a healthy environment and call us if you think you have a pest problem!

Coastal Pest Control is here to help you with any pest control problem you might have except cats and parasites on humans.

Bet you stay away from soup in a restaurant for a while too.

And You Think Bugs Are A Big?

Every now and then we find it necessary to digress away from what we do in pest control and share with you something you wouldn’t want to find in your backyard.

This past weekend crazy people went bounty hunting for these bad big boys and girls.  This one takes the cake and more.

http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/10/16452817-how-do-you-weigh-a-21-foot-long-python-australian-zookeepers-weigh-atomic-betty?lite