Pest Control for Healthy Living

Whether you live in a house or an apartment, you may find yourself faced with a pest (insect or rodent) problem at any time. Renters should immediately discuss this problem with their building manager or landlord, but homeowners are wholly responsible for dealing with pest problems by themselves, and must do so in a timely and thorough manner in order to prevent the infestation from worsening dramatically.

The earlier you deal with the problem by calling in pest control professionals, the better.  Many homeowners may be tempted to avoid the expense of calling in pest control professionals, and procrastinate.  However, this is an unwise decision as the longer the infestation is left, the more difficult and expensive the problem will become.  Insects, such as cockroaches, flies, and fleas, and rodents breed very quickly, and an infestation can quickly become overwhelming.

Pest control professionals use several different methods of eradication, some of which include strong chemicals.  While some people may be concerned about the safety of strong pest control chemicals, it is also important to remember the health implications of an insect or rodent infestation.  Both insects and rodents can spread disease.  Rodents are especially dangerous in this respect.  In an infested house, mice and rats will run over surfaces such as kitchen counters and tables.  Their feet and bodies are often coated with their own urine and saliva, and therefore their making contact with these surfaces, as well as the droppings they might leave, can make people very sick.  Also, even if an infestation does not make someone sick, the presence of insects or rodents in a household can compromise or even destroy the inhabitants’ quality of life.

Infestations can also adversely affect the quality and integrity of your house itself.  Rats and mice will damage walls, while insects such as termites will eat the wood in a house’s structure, thus ultimately destroying the house itself.  If homeowners ignore these infestations and do not invest in pest control, they will eventually lose a great deal more money than they would have spent on eradication measures.

Some of the more common infestations  include cockroaches, ants, spiders, and fleas.  Fleas are most common in pet-owning households.  An increasingly common insect seen in infestations today is the bed bug.  Bed bug infestations are being detected in alarmingly increasing numbers .