Winona Pest Control Services

Tips To Avoid Yellow Jackets

Yellow jackets are an aggressive species of stinging insect that live and work together in large groups to feed and defend their colony. They are yellow and black in color, look similar to a bee, but with a slimmer body that is mostly hairless. A few important facts to know about yellow jackets include that they are mainly ground dwellers, but will also sometimes create their nest up off of the ground if a suitable space is available. Unlike in cooler areas of the country, yellow jackets don’t die off during Texas’s mild winter season; yellow jackets are predators and feed on other insects, along with garbage, sugary liquids, meat, and fish.

To help deter these stinging insects from choosing your property to live on and to avoid coming into contact with them, we suggest taking the following precautions:

• Limit their access to food and water sources by making sure that gutters are unclogged, fixing leaky outdoor faucets and making sure that outdoor garbage cans have tight fitting or locking lids on them.
• Stop yellow jackets from making their way inside of your home to nest in the attic or behind its walls by sealing any holes, gaps or crevices that are found in the foundation or exterior walls.
• Cover food and drink items that are being consumed outside.
• Trim back bushes and other overgrown vegetation away from the exterior of your home.

If yellow jackets ever find their way onto your property, contact Innovative Pest Control immediately. We never suggest trying to take care of a yellow jacket nest on your own, as their stings are painful and the venom is strong enough to cause a severe allergic reaction that requires immediate medical attention in some people. At Innovative we offer highly effective, specialized services to eliminate potentially dangerous yellow jackets from properties.

How To Identify Bed Bugs

Adult bed bugs are small, but they certainly can be seen with the human eye. Bed bugs grow to about 1/4” long and are reddish-brown in color. They have an oval flat shape which allows them to hide in cracks and crevices, unseen throughout the property that they are invading. Nymphs, or young bed bugs, are much smaller in size and much more difficult to see, however if they have just fed their translucent body becomes bright red in color and is much easier to identify.

Besides seeing the actual bed bugs, other ways to identify a bed bug infestation include finding dots of blood or dark streaks on linens, mattresses, box springs, walls, inside of drawers or along baseboards; or finding piles of shed exoskeletons along the floor or underneath of mattresses and box springs. If you or your family members are waking up with unidentified bites, chances are you have an infestation. If bed bugs are ever accidentally introduced into your Winona home contact us at Innovative Pest Control. Innovative Pest Control can get rid of your infestation through our comprehensive three-step process which includes inspection, implementation, and elimination services!