Nettles Exterminating - Available Services

RIP
we offer  TOTALLY GREEN SERVICE  or GREEN + SERVICES, both are designed to provide you with a pest free environment using little or NO poisons

The TOTALLY GREEN SERVICE  uses glue boards, traps, sealants and only those materials on the U. S.  Government's GREEN chemical list.    The "good" this service offers is safety but the "not-so-good" is the treatments, will not provide protection as long as traditional materials, some people object to the odors, the service is more difficult to apply, and are more expensive.   Our GREEN + SERVICE uses only GREEN/Eco-Friendly products inside your home or business and traditional (odorless) materials on the exterior.

Once we have established a "clean zone" around and throughout the home our quarterly exclusive "exterior only" service will maintain a "Pest free" environment.   Commercial properties are generally serviced monthly.  Their pest problems are more numerous and are generally brought into the buildings by employees, office products and/or goods brought in  during the course of doing business.  

Honey Bees
More people die each year from Honey Bees stings than venomous snake bites.
Honey Bees are beneficial insects but when they invade your home or business they must be eliminated.  When I started my business some 45 years ago we could vacuum the bees out of a hive and give them away.  Today, no one will take them because they could be Africanized Bees and very dangerous.  You can only distinguish between the European and the Africanized Species with a microscope.   

If the hive is less than 30 days old, eliminating the bees and sealing their entry points should be adequate.    If the colony is older removal of the cone and honey is recommended.  Left in the walls or ceilings the honey could melt and run out of the hive, the honey will attract ants, roaches, rodents or another bee hive to the same location.   

No matter what method of control you choose it is important that all entry points be sealed

Termites
There are three species of termites in the Texas Gulf Coast Area that are of structural importance.  The Dry Wood Termite has the fewest number of insects in a colony.  To eliminate them you either have to fumigate the entire structure or apply a Borate to the area of infestation.  The Formosan Termite can have the largest number of insects per colony, but it is not as wide spread as the Eastern Subterranean Termite.   Treatment for the Formosan and Eastern Subterranean Termites involve installing a liquid chemical barrier around the structure, under all construction joints, slab protrusions or defects.  It may include treating the infested area with Borates and/or installing a termite baiting system around the structure. 

Many homes are infested with more than one species of termite and there can be many conditions that hide entry points.  There can also be conditions that attract or sustain a termite infestation within the structure after treatment.  A thorough inspection and property layout showing construction joints, known slab defects, past or current water leaks, past and current termite damage and points of infestation is very important. Years later an accurate inspection report will be helpful in determining if you are dealing with an old problem of a new infestation.   

Animal Trapping
Wild animals abound in our urban society.   People over feed their animals outside leaving plenty of food for the Raccoons, Opossums, Squirrels and Rats.   They hide and raise their families in garages, debris around homes and in attics.  They  are a source for flea infestations and Raccoons can transmit Rabies to people and pets.  If you see them on your property or hear them at night in your attic you, should have them removed immediately.  

Removing the animal(s) is important; but, not as important as finding out how they got there in the first place.  If you don't close up the entry point, their brother, sister or cousin will surely follow.   A part of our service includes an inspection for entry places.  Your options are to trap them or scare them out.  Trapping involves installing "live catch" traps either outside where they are gaining access on the roof or in the attic.  To "scare them out" we use sonic machines (mostly above human hearing) and/or high intensity strobe lights.    

Never feed wild animals!  I know they are cute but they can give you fleas, infect you with Rabies; and they will chew on electrical wiring and air conditioning equipment which can burn your home down or result in costly repairs.

Bats
Bats are beneficial animals because they consume large amounts of mosquitoes and other insects.   Having them around is "good" but if they are living inside your home or building can be "bad".    The Houston Health Department states that about 30% of all Bats are infected with Rabies.  If they are living in your structure the "stench" from their fecal droppings will be nauseating and can be a health hazard.

Some Bats live around us all year long but others like the Mexican Free Tail bat are seasonal visitors.  The Mexican Free Tail usually arrive in April and depart in early fall and because they are on the endangered species list they cannot be killed.  In flight identification of bats is not possible so we must assume they are all bats on the endangered list.   Bats can enter openings as small as a dime and prefer nesting sites in tree hollows, fireplaces, eaves, and fire places.    Their preferred high nesting locations and sometimes their nest site will be identified by a "smudge" mark left on the wall at the entry hole.  

Our elimination process involves installing a net over the entry/exit hole.  This allows them to get out but not back into the nest.   After a few days most, if not all, of the bats will have gone and because they cannot get back into their roosting site will have found another place to live.  Once they have gone we seal up the entry points.   

Lawn Services
Most lawns in the Gulf Coast Area are St. Augustine Grass.  It is easy to grow but subject to damaged from Chinch Bugs in the mid to later summer, Brown Patch Fungus in the fall, improper watering, too much thatch and poor mowing methods.   The typical yard needs a minimum of:
Three  (3) applications of fertilizer
Two    (2) application of insecticide
One    (1) application of pre-emergence herbicide
One    (1) application of Fungicide

If your yard is in less than good condition you can expect to invest more time, money, materials and labor the first year to two to get it looking like you want.   Shrubbery needs vary with the type and species of plants.  Some will require very little care, fertilizer, insect control and pruning, while others require something being done every ten days to two weeks.  Trees sometimes require special care but for the most part the lawn fertilizers will be good for your trees.  For specific needs or questions, call us.  

Bed Bugs
"Sleep tight and don't let the Bed Bugs bite".  These were words that mothers spoke to their children for generations up until the late 40ies when Bed Bugs were virtually eliminated from the United States.   It was then that chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides were developed and people started having exterminators professionally treat their homes.  Today Bed Bugs are making a come back.  They do not discriminate, they feed on both the rich and poor alike and are moved across town and around the world in luggage, on planes, trains, busses, in your cars and in the things you purchase.   They infest homes, hotels, motels, businesses, hospitals, schools, restaurants and places where you shop.

Control methods will employ fumigation, heat, cold, steam, pesticides and disposal of infested items.  What works best will depend on the severity of the infestation, cooperation, where and what they infest.  We can sell you some "do-it-yourself" products that will "help" but probably will not totally eliminate your problem.   Bed Bug control should be thought of as a long term process.  Most people do not realize they have Bed Bugs until the insect's population is quite high.  They hide, live and breed in walls, in your bed, furniture, clothes, carpet,  and can live over a year without feeding.  

If you have Bed Bugs you should expect several treatments.  Once our initial treatment is done, most Customer enter into a general pest control program which allows us to monitor for Bed Bugs and take appropriate actions when needed.

Fleas
Fleas are generally thought of as pest to our pets; but, in reality fleas are very dangerous to humans.  The flea was responsible for the Bubonic Plague which killed 1/3 if Europeans in the middle ages and today kills thousands throughout the world yearly.  Typhus and Tape Worms which can effect people and our pets are also spread by the flea.  Fortunately, here in the U.S., our health system and good pest control practices have virtually eliminated the threat of these diseases. 

To be effective, control must include treatment to the pets (by a veterinarian), interior and exterior of the property.  Miss one area and your problem will continue.  When we treat, we use an adulticide pesticide and insect growth regulators inside the home and liquids and/or granular materials outside. This is the easy part.   Your part of the treatment will be to vacuum daily (like your mother-in-law was coming to dinner)  until NO MORE FLEAS ARE FOUND.  Elimination may take weeks. 

Ticks
Ticks can transmit diseases to humans and our pets and Lyme Disease is the most dangerous of these diseases. Once thought of as "only" a northern U.S. disease LYME is now considered an epidemic in Texas and has passed HIV as the most infectious disease (as announced by the CDC) and it the world.  

The Tick species most encountered in Texas are the American Dog Tick, the Brown Dog Tick and the Lone Star Tick.  All feed on your pets and humans but only the Brown Dog Tick infest the pets and the interior of a structure. Because of the large number of insects, their ability to hide and restrictions on what and where we can treat inside a home Brown Dog Tick infestations normally requires more than one interior service.  Brown Dog Ticks can be found on and in furniture, curtains, pictures, clothes and inside walls.  Outside Ticks hide under decks, in trees, shrubbery, dog houses, on and in walls and they like to climb high to digest their food and molt or lay eggs.

Pigeons
Pigeons are cute and fun to look at until they roost above your car or driveway or take up residence in your attic. Their fecal droppings will damage car paint, they are noisy and the stench and disease problems with roosting Pigeons quickly turns them from "Cute" to unwanted guest.   Controlling Pigeons is accomplished by using humane "repelling spikes" on their landing and/or roosting sites and/or scaring them off with a product that causes them to emit a "danger-alarm"  signal. The birds that witness the "danger-alarm" signal will leave the area and will not come back but to prevent your building from becoming re-infested by a new bird population you will either have to alter the conditions of your building that attracted them there in the first place or establish an on going maintenance program.