Oh No! Argentine Ants!
Rat & Mouse Alert
Cat Flea Victims
Pest Prevention Tip of the Month
Y2K Preparation and Real Bugs
Your Questions Answered
Trivia!

These common ants arrived in New Orleans on coffee ships from Brazil around 1890. Since then, they have spread to California and many southern states, becoming our #1 ANT PEST. It is such an aggressive pest that it drives out our native species of ants, quickly becoming the dominate ant in an area.

Argentine ants are pests year-round but during late summer and fall several things change to make them even worse. Their colonies, which have grown in size all during the spring and summer, are now HUGE, sometimes with hundreds of thousands of mouths to feed. But at the same time, food gradually becomes more scarce for the ants. They eat most anything, but their primary natural food outdoors is a diminishing supply of honeydew--the sweet substance that is excreted by aphids, scales, and other sucking insects. With so many mouths to feed, and less food and water available outdoors, the ants become aggressive pests indoors.

Argentine ant colonies can grow rapidly because each colony contains not one but multiple queens, each queen laying up to 60 or more eggs a day! These ants don't fight neighboring colonies--instead they combine forces to create much larger, super-colonies. But at any time, a queen (or queens) can break off from the main colony to start new colonies where the ant population is scarce.
As the area ant experts, Stanley Pest Control can control this invasive and persistent pest. Give us a call.

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At this time of year rats and mice invade homes in record numbers, looking for food or a more comfortable place to spend the winter. The question many people as us is, "How to rats and mice get in"? The short answer is, "very easily."

Mice and rats have an amazing ability to squeeze through very small holes. A young mouse can easily squeeze through a hole even smaller than a dime; a young rat can squeeze through a hole smaller than a quarter. And if the hole is too small, these pests gnaw the edges to widen the opening.
Openings around service conduits, like water, electricity, and phone lines, are very common and provide easy access indoors, and from apartment to apartment. Dryer vents, and gaps around window-installed air conditioner units are other common entries. Rodents can also crawl up through drain pipes not properly capped, as well as under garage and other doors.

Rats reach rood areas by "tight-rope walking" along utility lines or tree branches, by climbing up pipes or even through gutter downspouts. Once there, they enter through loose shingles, cracks, capless roof and chimney vents and around fireplace flashing.

Surprisingly, rodents can be inadvertently brought indoors hidden in bags, boxes, or used appliances. And they sometimes scurry in through an open door or unscreened window.
These are just some of the places rodents can enter. If you have not had your home inspected and professionally pest-proofed recently, give Stanley a call today and make an appointment.

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Cat fleas not only infest cats and dogs, but also more than 50 other animals, including wild raccoons, opossums, skunks, many rats and mice, and foxes. When any wild animals or stray pets wander through your yard, female fleas riding on them lay eggs that drop to the ground. These eggs then develop into adult fleas that bite people and pets. That's why your property as well as your pet needs to be treated.

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Clean out gutters so that fall and winter rainwater doesn't back up and overflow. To find leaks, run a hose through the gutters, then make repairs as needed. Be sure the downspouts are not clogged--water should run freely through them.

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Your Questions Answered

Q. Help! Mosquitoes seem to like me more than other people. How can I convince them I'm not as sweet as I look?

A. Yes, that's what our mothers always told us--that mosquitoes bite US more because we were somehow "sweeter"--as if it was a compliment to be love by mosquitoes. But the more scientists delve into this subject, the more they discover the real clues mosquitoes use to select their victims.
To find us, mosquitoes use their sense of smell far more than sight or hearing. From as far away as 50 feet they can detect the carbon dioxide we exhale. They can also zero in on the moisture from our breath and skin, our body heat, and certain odors we produce. For instance, lactic acid, which comes naturally from our skin glands and mouth is a strong attractant for mosquitoes, and people vary widely in how much lactic acid their bodies produce.

BOTTOM LINE: If you don't breath or move, or perspire, you won't attract mosquitoes. But there are some easier steps you can take to make yourself less attractive to these pests.
Don't use any more scented soaps, shampoos, perfumes, lotions, or perfumed detergents than necessary. Wear light-colored clothes, and cover as much of your skin as possible. Wear loose clothing because it is more difficult for them to penetrate. And apply an insect repellent according to label directions if you are still being bitten.

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Answers to Pest Trivia!
1. A thief stole 86 pet beetles worth $67,000.00 from a Japanese pet store. Some prized beetles were valued as high as $2,100 each.

2. Last year, a dead cricket was spit an incredible 32 feet, 1/2 inch in front of Guinness Book of World Record judges, by Dan Capps, from Madison, Wisconsin.

3. At least 20.

4. The caterpillars of a small moth burrow into young seeds and eat away the insides. It's the caterpillar that causes the "jump" in jumping beans.

5. Yes. Although tiny, male cockroaches often try to intimidate other males. They will try anything, including "stilt-walking," (they straighten their legs, raising their rigid bodies high off the ground), "body-jerking" and "antennae fencing." These tenacious little pests will also kick and bite just like the wrestlers on television!
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