Are Mice Repellent Helpful in Rodent Infestations?

Common house mouse looks out from a mink in the wall

Getting mice in your home is not what you’d call an enjoyable experience. They can leave your home in tatters, gnawing through your walls, screens, and containers. And for this, most people look to mice repellent.

But what are the best mice repellent to use? Are there safe, natural repellents, or are they all toxic? Read on to find out.

But for a more immediate plan of action, you can visit Environmental Pest Management for all your pest control needs.

What Are Mice Repellents?

A mice repellent is any substance with the ability to deter rats from entering and nesting in your home. It can be the perfect solution for any homeowner wishing to deal with mice humanely without resorting to traps and poison.

There are natural mice repellents and artificial ones as well. Some are more effective than others, and some can be somewhat useless. The trick lies in knowing which repellent to choose and where to apply it.

What Is a Natural Repellent for Mice?

Natural mice repellents have an inherent ability to keep mice away due to their potent smell. They’re generally non-toxic, which makes them great for homes with pets or small children.

Here are a few examples of natural mice repellents:

Cats

Owning a cat is one of the best natural mice repellent. Just by smelling a cat’s scent, most mice tend to retreat to avoid danger.

Peppermint Oil

Multiple studies have shown that essential oils with strong odors, particularly peppermint oil, are terrific mice repellents.

Rodents abhor strong minty scents, resulting in fewer visits to your house. You can place a few drops of peppermint oil in sites you’ve seen rodents frequenting. And you can also use a diffuser for an easier and more-thorough application. Just ensure undiluted peppermint oil doesn’t come in contact with your skin, as it may be irritating.

Note: Other essential oils that work as mice repellents include wintergreen oil, eucalyptus oil, bergamot oil, and geranium oil.

Chilli

Similar to essential oils, chili has a repulsive effect on rodents thanks to its sharp characteristics. It was proven to decrease their approach when tested on rodents, making them a good repellant.

But be careful when using chili, cayenne pepper, and other spicy items when pets and children are present. While they aren’t toxic, they can irritate the respiratory system.

Vinegar

Vinegar can also be used to repel rodents thanks to its pungent scent. It can also clean after rodents, removing any sign of their scent.

White vinegar and apple cider vinegar are both okay to use. All you need to do is soak some cotton with vinegar, place them near possible entry points and nests, and then replace them when dried out.

Artificial Mice Repellents

Artificial mice repellents are man-made chemicals or devices designed to keep mice away. Here is a couple to look into.

Ultrasonic Repellents

Ultrasonic repellents work by producing ultrasounds bothersome to rodents. Rodents are repelled enough to leave your house by constant exposure to the noise.

Some ultrasonic repellents regularly change the produced sound to disturb the mice continuously. Some even use LED lights to scare them as they’re scuttling in the dark.

While many individuals have found ultrasonic repellents to be effective, keep in mind that that’s not the case for everyone. A few users find them to be useless, and others say they take a week or more to show an effect.

Still, most people love them since they’re so low maintenance and easy on the nose.

Mothballs

Mothballs contain naphthalene, a chemical typically used to chase away moths and other insects.

When naphthalene is eaten or inhaled, it prevents red blood cells from carrying oxygen to the tissues, ultimately resulting in the death of the creature.

As such, many people use mothballs as mice repellents. However, while the amount of naphthalene in mothballs is good enough for insects, it’s not nearly enough for mice.

But you can slightly increase their effectiveness as mice repellents by soaking multiple mothballs in water and using the resultant mixture as a spray.

Can Mice Repellents Get Rid of Rodent Infestations?

Mice repellents are better options for dealing with house mice.

They can decrease the number of rats, but this only lasts for a short while. But after some time, the rodents can get used to the disturbing smells and sounds and start coming back.

Mice repellents are generally not the best idea for an ongoing rodent infestation. They can be a means of prevention, but they won’t permanently resolve the issue.

How to Keep Mice Away

To effectively get rid of mice, sanitation should be your primary goal. By preventing mice from obtaining food and shelter, they’ll eventually move on in search of a new home. However, if your house remains a good nesting ground for them, they may always stay.

Apart from thoroughly cleaning your home, you also need to seal away any points of entry. That includes checking your floor drains, pipes, doors, windows, screens, and walls.

Conclusion

Rodent control can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing.

While many people will advise you to use rodent repellents simply, you’ll find that they only serve as a temporary solution.

If you’ve tried your best, but the mice keep coming back, it’s time to give us a call. We at Environmental Pest Management can deal with the pests swiftly, leaving your home mouse and rat-free in no time.

February 15, 2023May 3, 2023

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Safely & Permanently

Bedbugs colony on the matress cloth macro.

Having a bed bug infestation is annoying and uncomfortable. You wake up with tiny, red, and itchy bumps on your skin that seem to appear out of nowhere.

These tiny pests can also make you dread having guests over. Who wants the embarrassment or explanations?

And to make matters worse, bed bugs are excellent at hiding in tiny cracks and crevices, making them incredibly difficult to eliminate permanently. You can turn your room upside down today to treat these bloodsuckers, only to have them reappear the next day.

So, below, we’ll walk you through how to get rid of bed bugs in proven steps.

What Are Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are reddish-brown, flat insects that feed on human blood. They’re about the size of apple seeds and don’t carry any known diseases. However, their bites can be itchy and cause skin irritation in some people.

The favorite spots for bed bugs are areas where we sleep or rest, such as beds, sofas, and chairs. However, you can also find them in other areas of the home or building, such as behind baseboards, wall voids, carpets, and electrical outlets.

A bed bug infestation doesn’t mean the place is unhygienic—it’s one of the several myths about bed bugs. Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers and can easily be transported from one place to another via clothing, luggage, or other personal belongings.

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently: A Step-By-Step Guide

Getting rid of bed bugs is a process that takes effort and persistence. You might need to repeat some steps for a few weeks to eliminate the blood-sucking insects completely.

Here are the most practical and effective steps to achieve a bed bug-free space.

1. Conduct a Bed Bug Inspection

If you wake up with red bumps and suspect that bed bugs may be the cause, conducting an inspection will help to confirm their presence.

You should also carefully analyze whether the pests you find are bed bugs. It’s easy to mistake several household pests (like baby cockroaches, carpet beetles, ticks, spider beetles, and bat bugs) for bed bugs.

If you’re unsure about the household pest you’re dealing with, you can take a sample to experts or request a professional bed bug inspection.

Here’s what you should look out for when conducting a bed bug inspection:

Live or dead bed bugs (oval in shape)
Rust-colored droppings
Empty skins
Small pale yellow eggs
Reddish stains on beddings

2. Identify All the Bed Bug Infested Areas

Where do you look? Most bed bugs will be within five feet of the bed, but you can also find them in other rooms. Here are the areas you should examine carefully:

Bedding, including the mattress, box spring, and pillows
Underneath wall paintings, posters, and other decorations
Closets, nightstands, and dresser drawers
Along seams of carpets and cushions
Any dark cracks within your bed
Inside electrical outlets
Furniture joints

This process can be time-consuming but crucial. You’ll know which areas of your home to treat and the extent of the infestation. As a result, you can create an effective bed bug treatment plan.

Use a bright flashlight to inspect cracks and crevices where bed bugs may hide. Crush or vacuum any bed bugs you come across in the process. If you need help, hire a pest control professional to carry out a pest inspection.

3. Declutter and Clean

Decluttering the infested room will make detecting and treating bed bugs easier. Remove unnecessary items, such as old magazines, newspapers, and cardboard boxes. Bed bugs can hide in such materials.

Once you’ve removed the clutter, wash all infested linen, clothing, carpet, and personal items in hot water. Bed bugs cannot survive in temperatures above 120 degrees, so use the hottest setting on your washing machine. Dry your items on the hottest setting as well.

Place the items you can’t wash, such as books or electronics, in a sealed plastic bag without air holes to avoid spreading the pests.

4. Vacuum Everything

Simply use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the bed bugs and their eggs from mattresses, carpets, furniture, and other areas where they may be hiding. You can use a crevice tool to reach into cracks, small spaces, and crevices where bed bugs may hide.

Some of the areas to pay attention to include the following:

All surfaces of your mattress and box springs
Inside and under drawers of furniture
Underneath loose wallpapers
Cracks and folds in upholstered furniture

After vacuuming:

Remove the vacuum bag or debris container, put the contents into a plastic bag, and seal it.
Dispose of the sealed bag appropriately.
Wash the debris container and vacuum brush attachment with hot water and detergent, then store the parts in large plastic garbage bags.
Use Steam or Heat Treatment

One of the best tips on how to get rid of bed bugs fast is to use heat treatment. Heat is a non-toxic and effective bug killer that works on all bed bug life stages.

You can use heat treatment in different ways, for instance:

Steam (for carpets, furniture, baseboards, etc.)
Hot dryers and portable heat chambers (for infested personal items)

Bed bugs will generally die in 20 minutes if exposed to 118°F and 90 minutes if exposed to 113°F. The only downside to heat treatment is that it doesn’t leave any residual activity, and bed bugs can return soon. That’s why you must use it as part of the process, not a stand-alone treatment for bed bugs.

5. Treat the Infested Area With Insecticides

The most important factor in this step is to search for insecticides that are marked for use on bed bugs. So ensure you read the product’s label and follow its instructions for safe use.

Here’s what to look out for on an insecticide label:

Has bed bugs on the list of pests it helps to control
Designed for indoor use
It has clear instructions for the use

Most people think insecticides are sufficient to kill bugs, but that’s not the case. While this is an important step in a bed bug control strategy, you need to combine it with other strategies in this guide.

6. Assess the Effectiveness of the Bed Bug Treatment

Bed bug treatment requires patience and persistence when doing it yourself. After following the steps outlined in this guide, the bed bug count should reduce significantly.

However, to completely eliminate bed bugs, you should repeat the steps several times over the next few weeks. Don’t let that discourage you! Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to remove. But eventually, they’ll be gone if you keep up with the bed bug control measures outlined in this guide.

7. Hire Pest Control Experts

Struggling to get rid of bed bugs after several attempts? It’s time to stop scratching your head on how to get rid of bed bugs at home and hire professional pest control experts.

Pest control professionals have the experience, knowledge, and tools to effectively and safely eradicate bed bugs from your home. They can conduct a thorough inspection, identify the extent of the infestation, and develop a treatment plan tailored to your specific needs/situation.

The experts can also offer advice and guidance on preventing future bed bug infestations.

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

Once you’ve kicked out the unwanted guests, you should take several measures to ensure they don’t return.

Here are a few tips on how to do so:

Inspect second-hand furniture before bringing it into your home
Use protective covers on mattresses and box springs
Reduce the clutter in your home
Avoid placing luggage on the floor or bed in hotels
Vacuum frequently and dispose of the vacuum bag or contents immediately
Wash and dry bedding, clothing, and other similar items in the highest heat setting
Seal cracks and crevices in walls and floors

Conclusion

Learning how to get rid of bed bugs can help you regain your peace of mind and enjoy a bed bug-free environment. However, you might not eliminate bed bugs completely in one or two attempts.

It’s best to hire experts to save yourself the headache and time. If you’re in the Twin Cities area and surrounding suburbs, look no further than Environmental Pest Management. We offer pest control services for residential, commercial, and multi-family services and TAP insulation.

October 30, 2022February 28, 2023

Why Ladybugs are Beneficial Insects for Your Garden

When you start a garden, it won’t be long before pests arrive. Don’t panic; insects that feed on your plants can never be fully eradicated. They’re part of the ecosystem, and that’s okay!

A healthy ecosystem also includes natural predators of plant-eating bugs.

Ladybugs are beneficial insects– perhaps the most beneficial insects you can introduce to your garden. Learn more about these naturally beneficial insects and discover how BugTech can help you with pest management!

Natural Aphid Control

Aphids are a common pest in gardens. They reproduce rapidly and feast on plant sap. This can weaken your garden plants and cause illness or infection. Aphids are soft-bodied, which means they can be treated with soapy water.

However, introducing ladybugs is a much easier and more eco-friendly solution. These beneficial insects’ favorite food is aphids. They’ll munch through aphid populations swiftly and deter other aphids from arriving. An adult ladybug will consume green, black, and wooly aphids cheerfully.

Once you establish a nesting ladybug population in your garden, their larvae will feast on aphids like there’s no tomorrow. Ladybug larvae can consume dozens of aphids each day. Once they grow up, they’ll keep eating!

Dealing with Mites and Other Hard-to-Treat Pests

Ladybugs are beneficial insects and are among the few natural predators of spider mites and other resilient pests. A healthy ladybug population will happily feast on tough mites and even tiny spiders, so you won’t have to resort to insecticides.

Mites and small flies avoid areas where ladybug larvae grow, so cultivating a population in your backyard is a great idea. These pests are difficult to treat with homemade solutions, and ladybugs are often your best bet.

How to Introduce Ladybugs To Your Garden

When you start a garden, the best outcome is that pests and their natural predators arrive independently. You may not need to do anything. However, if you’ve noticed an abundance of aphids on your plants and not a ladybug in sight, you can introduce a population.

Here’s how:

Ensure that there’s a flourishing population of aphids. They’ll only stay if there’s food!
Introduce ladybugs in the evening or early morning to help them establish themselves.
Mist the plants before introducing a ladybug population.

Ladybugs are beneficial insects but they may not always stick around. They’ll typically feast on the aphid population if introduced properly, but there’s no guarantee they’ll nest in the same area.

The best way to encourage ladybugs to nest is with a diverse, vibrant garden. This gives them options for nesting away from their feeding grounds.

Identifying Visiting Ladybugs

Note that not all visiting ladybugs are welcome visitors. While they still eat aphids, the Asian Lady Beetle or Harlequin Ladybird can rapidly become a household pest and even kill native ladybugs.

If you notice an abundance of new ladybugs in your yard, check the markings on their backs to help you identify them!

Create a Healthy Garden Ecosystem by Introducing Ladybugs!

Introducing a flourishing ladybug population to your garden is a great way to control pests naturally. Introduce these beneficial insects to keep your garden balanced and healthy!

How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets and Save Your Summer

A portrait of a yellow jacket on a white background.

There is nothing sweeter than family get-togethers, grill-outs, and the warm Minnesota sun on your skin. For a brief moment, it seems as though nothing can get in your way of a perfect summer. That is until the flock of bugs emerge, and worst of all, the dreaded yellow jackets.

Insects can dramatically hinder your happiness this season. If you find an infestation in your yard, here’s how to get rid of yellow jackets safely.

Environmental Pest Management offers pest control services in the Metro Twin Cities area and surrounding suburbs. We use safe products for both the environment and your family. Make your summer the best yet with a yellow jacket-free yard and home when you give us a call.

How to Identify a Yellow Jacket

To the untrained eye, a honey bee and a yellow jacket might be the same. While they look similar, their behavior can be very different, with yellow jackets being more aggressive. There are several things to look for to spot a yellow jacket.

The first thing to keep in mind is that a yellow jacket is less furry than a honey bee and a bumblebee. The fur on a bee helps it pollinate plants. Yellowjackets rely on hunting insects and even seeking out human food instead of feeding from plants.

The predatory nature of yellow jackets also leads them to travel in larger groups than other types of stinging insects. If you see a swarm, you are much more likely to be looking at a yellow jacket. You are more likely to see them swarm in the summer season when their preferred insect meals become less plentiful.

The final and most obvious way to tell is by the black and yellow bodies that motivated the name. It’s true that bees also have striping, but it is more visible on a yellow jacket due to having less fur. You can notice the striping more when looking at the head of the insect.

Yellowjackets don’t exclusively nest underground but are the most likely to do so. They are most likely to occupy a hole dug by a rodent. If you see many insects flying out of a hole in the summer, you are likely observing a yellow jacket nest.

Yellow Jacket Nests

The unfortunate thing about yellow jackets is that they can pretty much be found anywhere humans are located. This is because they prefer eating many of the same foods that we do.

Yellow Jackets fly in a straight line, known as a beeline, useful if you try to locate a potential nest location. Look for an area in your yard that is hit directly by the sun, and see if you can notice any insects flying by repeatedly. If you see this, you are likely to be close to a hive.

It is a common misconception that bees and yellow jackets only create hives above ground. This is, unfortunately, not the case. Check rodent holes for nests, and if they are empty, make sure to fill these holes. Be careful and watch your step in case there are other nests nearby.

You are most likely to notice a yellow jacket nest in late summer and early fall. The rest of the year, the low overnight temperatures are still too low for active bugs.

How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets Safely

If you feel like you have a Yellow Jacket nest nearby, locate and mark the yellow jacket nests in broad daylight.

It is not recommended for you to try to get rid of Yellow Jackets yourself. Yellow Jackets are highly aggressive, and even seasoned technicians get stung when trying to treat this pest.

If a Yellow Jacket gets squashed, it releases a pheromone that attracts and incites others of its species. Because of this, people often find themselves getting stung multiple times.

For these reasons, it’s recommended you get a professional to get rid of the nest. Then, you can take preventative measures to deter them from coming back.

How to Prevent Yellow Jackets

When gathering outside, there are ways to prevent those pesky yellow jackets from joining you in the first place. Inspect your yard frequently to stay on top of everything.

If you have pets or problems with other kinds of pests, you may have a yard full of several holes. Work on filling the holes with dirt to prevent yellow jackets from creating underground nesting hives.

Scraps of cardboard and old wood should be discarded or stored securely. Yellowjackets will frequently build nests out of this kind of material.

Outside trash containers should be regularly cleaned and sprayed with insecticides before filling the bin. Double-check that the lids fit tightly, so there is no room for the bugs to sneak in. Don’t carelessly dispose of food, be sure to put food in air-tight bags first. Keeping the outside of the bins clean will also help prevent them from looking around this area for a food source.

If you have a garden or fruit trees in your yard, keep an eye for falling produce. Rotten fruit lying around is a big attractor for yellow jackets, and clearing them out of the way will go a long way.

Who Can I Call if I Need Assistance to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets?

Environmental Pest Management offers pest control services in the Metro Twin Cities area and surrounding suburbs. We use safe products for both the environment and your family. Contact us today for a free quote, and spend the rest of your summer relaxing.

June 29, 2021January 22, 2024

How to Successfully Get Rid of and Prevent Japanese Beetle Grubs

Japanese Beetle: two words that strike fear into the heart of every lawn-lover and gardener in the United States.

Japanese Beetle grubs have become one of the biggest problems Minnesotans face each summer. Instead of living in fear of them, you can get to work by trying to control their massive population.

Environmental Pest Management is here to help you successfully reduce Japanese Beetle Grub populations. They utilize integrated preventive measures along every stage of the beetle’s life cycle.

When the bugs get to be too much, it’s time to call in the professionals. If you find yourself infested with pests like Japanese beetles, contact Environmental Pest Management. Your free consultation awaits!

Where to Begin?

Treating your yard for beetle infestations can be a bit tricky. Like the infamous chicken and egg question, it’s hard to pinpoint where to start. Let’s begin!

Identification

First, be aware of what creature you are up against. The predator that strips plants to the bone and leaves lawns aghast is a creature no bigger than your fingernail.

The beetle’s shells have a shimmery-green head and rust-colored wings. Deceptively mundane looking, they can be highly destructive. You can see evidence of its presence from early Spring to late Fall.

Life Cycle

7664f08 — Photo courtesy of Japanese Beetle Management in Minnesota, University of Minnesota

Once identified, it’s helpful to know the Japanese beetle’s entire life cycle from start to finish.

During the summer mating season, female Japanese beetles can lay eggs. They can lay up to 60 at a time into the soil. This process can happen anywhere from July-September when adult beetles emerge.

After the eggs hatch, they become grubs. The grubs quickly grow, and white grubs feed on the root systems of lawns and gardens, creating turf damage. Homeowners will commonly see spotty dead spots and patches on lawns.

Once grubs have formed and begun their harmful eating, they essentially go through a two-staged process before emerging into adults. The first grub stage is in the Fall when they are new grubs.

When temperatures begin to drop, the grubs will then burrow deep underground and lay dormant through the winter months.

The second grub stage begins after the ground thaws. Destruction begins when these slightly more mature grubs viciously feed on root systems in lawns once again.

After this, the mature grub then begins its metamorphosis into the pupa. Quickly after that, the adult beetle emerges, wreaking havoc on just about every edible plant around. Mating happens, and the process begins all over again.

Countless plants are susceptible to beetle damage. Gardeners will notice the almost immediate destruction of roses, raspberries, apple trees, beans, and other plants; all brought about by adult beetles.

The entire life cycle process from start to finish goes largely unnoticed until it’s too late.

Don’t be discouraged! With Environmental Pest Management here to help, there is still time to disrupt and kill the pests during any stage of their life cycle.

Japanese Beetle Reduction Process

Even though it takes an entire year or more, the whole life cycle of the Japanese beetle from start to finish is quite simple. However, the means to eradicate them can get a bit tricky.

Timing is everything.

Once again, the chicken/egg problem emerges. Thankfully, prevention can start at virtually any stage of its life cycle. As long as it is continued and maintained, beetle population reduction is possible.

For this example, we will go through the stages starting at the second grub stage when ground thaw occurs in the Spring.

Spring Grub Stage

Grub control products for lawn care are found at many home and garden stores. Most of these are chemical-based except for Milky Spore and Neem oils.

Milky Spore is a natural product that can provide benefits. Even though the product claims to provide lawn assistance, unfortunately, no science currently backs its success.

Adult Stage

The next stage to attempt population reduction is the adult stage. This happens in early to mid-July when adults emerge from the ground. Their destructive presence is unmistakable. Gardeners across the US want them as far away from plants as possible.

Using Japanese beetle traps is an easy and effective option. These contain pheromones which produce an attractive scent the beetle follows right into the well-designed trap.

It’s best to place the traps in multiple locations around your yard. Traps can fill quickly, so you will want to make sure you have backups as well.

There are also protective products you can put on your plants to kill or deter the beetles. Conventional and organic options are available at most stores. However, if you have the time, the absolute best option is to hand-pick them off into a bucket of soapy water.

Breeding and Egg-Laying Stage

Once the egg stage begins, control measures get slightly more advanced. Popular insecticides work well for turf, but they will need re-application after any rainfall. This can get time-consuming for homeowners trying to keep up with endless to-do lists.

Fall Grub Stage

Finally, in our example, we reach the fall primary grub stage. Treatment is the same as spring mature grub control. You can apply more granular grub control products from late August into early November or until the ground freezes.

Prevention is Possible!

Though it can be challenging, controlling the Japanese beetle population is possible. It takes proper timing, dedication, and persistence. Prevention is always best when it comes to any pest type.

Knowing your enemy and the ways to combat them are great tools to have in your arsenal. Sometimes even the best defense is no match for the plethora of Japanese beetles.

When the bugs get to be too much, it’s time to call in the professionals! If you are struggling with your Japanese beetle population, contact the experts at Environmental Pest Management.

Minnesotans only get a few months to relish, don’t waste yours battling a never-ending enemy. Don’t let Japanese beetles ruin any more of your yard or precious ornamentals.

Contact us at Environmental Pest Management for a free quote today! Let us help you have a stress-free and Japanese beetle-free summer!

What Are Mice Repellents?

What Is a Natural Repellent for Mice?

Cats

Peppermint Oil

Chilli

Vinegar

Artificial Mice Repellents

Ultrasonic Repellents

Mothballs

Can Mice Repellents Get Rid of Rodent Infestations?

How to Keep Mice Away

Conclusion

What Are Bed Bugs?

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently: A Step-By-Step Guide

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

Conclusion

Natural Aphid Control

Dealing with Mites and Other Hard-to-Treat Pests

How to Introduce Ladybugs To Your Garden

Identifying Visiting Ladybugs

Create a Healthy Garden Ecosystem by Introducing Ladybugs!

People also ask :

How to Identify a Yellow Jacket

Yellow Jacket Nests

How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets Safely

How to Prevent Yellow Jackets

Who Can I Call if I Need Assistance to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets?

Where to Begin?

Identification

Life Cycle

Japanese Beetle Reduction Process

Spring Grub Stage

Adult Stage

Breeding and Egg-Laying Stage

Fall Grub Stage

Prevention is Possible!