Resources

Ants

Many ant species make no secret of their nesting areas. Others seem to come from nowhere. They can invade your home or business to the point of exasperation. Upon identification, Sheldon Pest Management can advise you how to eliminate the problem.

 A colony starts when a newly fertilized queen digs a hole, then seals it off and remains a voluntary prisoner. Eggs grow within her body for weeks, even months. Once the first eggs are laid and hatched, the queen nourishes the emerging larvae with her saliva until they reach the pupae stage. The first worker ants emerge from pupae cases 6 to 8 weeks after the eggs are laid. These ants are critical for development of the colony as they are the first to go out foraging for food for the queen and future ants to come. No small task – since the queen keeps right on laying eggs all her life.

 Sheldon Pest Management is familiar with how far different species will travel to forage for food and to which types of food they are attracted. Some ants cause problems by destroying wood, stinging people or pets or by just being a nuisance.

Bed Bugs

 The bedbug is an old pest that was common in homes prior to World War II. For the last 50 years, bedbugs have rarely been seen outside of cramped living quarters and less than sanitary conditions in jails and homeless shelters. Not anymore. In the last five years there has been a resurgence. Bedbugs have become a particular problem in hotels, motels, and hostels where there is a high rate of occupant turn over. Even five-star hotels are having problems with bedbugs.

Bedbugs are blood feeding insects. They are a light tan color, but turn dark reddish brown once they have fed on blood. Before feeding, the adult bedbug is about one quarter inch long and flattened. Once engorged with blood, it swells in size. Bedbugs can be easily seen with the naked eye, but it’s not easy to find bedbugs in a room.

Bedbugs can’t fly, so they either crawl or are carried from place to place. Bedbugs or their eggs can hitchhike in a travelers suitcase or clothing. Business people now routine routinely travel to and from countries where bedbugs are common, even in good hotels.

The offspring of one pregnant female bedbug that crawls out of a suitcase can infest a room, and eventually other rooms nearby. Bedbugs usually feed at night and spend the day hidden. Their flattened shape lets them squeeze into narrow places in bed frames, headboards, in bedside furniture, behind pictures and switch plates, behind baseboards, under buttons on mattresses, in box springs, and another cracks and crevices. Speckles of dried blood excrement can be found on bedding or places where bedbugs hide.

A bedbug feeds about once a week, usually for several minutes. It most often feeds on a sleepers exposed skin. The bite is nearly painless and is not felt by most people. Some people have no reaction afterwards, but most people develop a hard bump with a whitish center which can inch for days. Although bedbugs suck blood like other human parasites, there’s been no evidence that they spread diseases. Bedbugs can survive for several months between blood meals if there is no person or animal for them to feed on.

Bedbugs are 5 to 7 mm in length with reduced wings. The mouthparts are modified for piercing and sucking. They live between wooden float floorboards or in furniture, bed frames, mattresses, or behind peeling paint. The bedbugs sneaks out to grasp human skin with its four legs, pierces the skin, and injects anticoagulant and anesthetic-containing saliva. Bedbugs normally feed at night, usually about an hour before dawn, but if the conditions are favorable they also feed during the day. Feeding time takes from 3 to 12 minutes. Adult bedbugs can survive starvation in proper conditions for a year or more. Each female lays about 300 eggs in her lifetime. The eggs hatch in 10 days. The nymph stage lasts six weeks, undergoing five molts.

Sheldon Pest Management uses the least toxic, most effective methods to kills bedbugs.

Fleas

Fleas invade millions of homes each year. Any home even the tidiest which has heat, humidity, carpeting and a pat provides flees the warmth, shelter and food they require. Sheldon Pest Management and your veterinarian can work together to solve the problem. Here’s how to prepare for flea treatment when please have been identified: 

• Clear all carpeted floors including closets. Wash all pet bedding in hot water or destroy it.
• Vacuum all carpeting and rugs thoroughly.
• Carefully vacuum pet sleeping and resting areas – under furniture, cracks and crevices and floors and draperies.
• Carefully vacuum furniture – especially between an under cushions.
• Immediately dispose contents of the vacuum cleaner into a sealed plastic bag.
• Prior to the treatment, remove pets from the home. Arrange to have dogs cats and other flea infested pets treated at the same time the home is treated. People and pets may go onto treated services and areas after the insecticide has dried thoroughly – under normal conditions drying time is approximately four hours.

Upon reentering the home you can resume all normal activities except one; do not clean carpets floors or furniture with detergents or cleansers for 5 to 10 days after the treatment to allow the residual to work.

 Sheldon Pest Management uses pet friendly methods to eradicate fleas from your home and can recommend things to help prevent recurrence

German Cockroaches

 Your first indication of having roaches will most likely be when you switch on your lights in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. The roaches will scatter so fast, you may not even notice them at first glance.

The German Cockroach is the most common in Ontario and is a major problem as it is difficult to eliminate. Cockroaches have survived for millions of years and have not changed much in their appearances or habits.

Once the roach reaches maturity it can breed up to seven times in their life. Each breeding produces 30 to 40 offspring. Roaches like to live in dark humid conditions close to a food source. Kitchen cupboards, behind refrigerators and stoves are ideal harbor areas.

German Cockroaches are primarily nocturnal which makes it sometimes difficult to recognize their presence. Cockroaches contaminate food and food areas with feces and have been known to cause salmonella. Due to prolific breeding they can become extremely aggravating.

Sheldon Pest Management often uses baits rather than sprays to eliminate cockroaches. Minimal preparation is required for application, evacuation unnecessary and this method is more environmentally friendly.

Mice

House mice easily adapt to life with people; thriving in a wide range of climatic conditions. Adult maturity is reached at about six weeks and has a lifespan approximately one year. A female can bear seven litters in her lifetime of five or six offspring each. House mice dwell anywhere from the basement to the attic, between walls, behind refrigerators or stoves and under kitchen cabinets. The house most can exist but only 3 grams of food per day.

Nests are constructed of soft materials found readily throughout the home, such as paper or cloth, which is shredded by the mouse. nests are completely covered with a small entrance hole, approximately 12 cm in diameter.

 Health risks occur as contamination of food and food areas with mice urine and feces is often not easily detected. Mice become a costly nuisance when they chew through computer, telephone and electrical wiring.

 Sheldon Pest Management uses various proven techniques to rid your property of mice.