Pest control is critical to maintain the safety of your home and family.
When you hear the term "pest control", what do you think of? Is it a big white tent covering a house to eradicate a huge infestation of termites? Or a crop-dusting airplane dropping pesticide on a field? Or maybe a Ghostbusters-style guy blasting a hose at a big ugly bug?
When it comes to your home, you should be thinking of it as one of the most important ways you can protect your home, family and pets from harmful invaders.
Is pest control really that important? The short answer is yes. Here are a few reasons why you need to maintain pest barriers in and around your home and property.
Damage to Property
Did you know that it is estimated that home and business owners sustain over $5 billion in property damage each year as a direct result of insects? Even scarier, about 50% of homeowners have experienced structural damage from pests (Forbes Home).
Most homeowners have a healthy understanding of the dangers of termites, but it's not just wood-eating insects that you need to be aware of. Several other pests can cause significant damage, such as ants, rats, mice, squirrels, wasps, and cockroaches.
Spreading of Disease
Pest-spread diseases are such a public health threat that EPA, CDC, and USDA have collaborated to create information to combat vector-borne diseases. Not only do mosquitoes kill more people than other creature in the world, they are very prevalent right here in Richmond. So are rodents, such as mice, rats, and squirrels, which also spread dangerous and sometimes fatal disease.
In Virginia, we also have a large number of ticks and fleas. Lone star ticks are the most common tick to bite here, and a relatively large percentage of those bites transmit diseases, such as Ehrlichiosis (to read more about tick diseases, check out this great page by the Virginia Department of Health).
In addition to the risk to your and your family, pets are also at risk for diseases and are find themselves in higher-risk areas (such as in bushes or in piles of leaves) more often than humans.
Contamination of Food
Did you read our last blog post about fruit flies? Contamination of food by insects is gross, harmful and could cause some really unpleasant situations.
It's not just fruit flies, of course. There are many varieties of flies, cockroaches, and other insects that can cause food destruction and/or contamination.
Destroying Plants and Vegetation
Most people who have tried to grow plants have run into insect damage at some point or another. Growing a food garden, flowers, or even just trying to keep your grass looking nice can be a significant investment of time and energy. When you find that insects or rodents have damaged, eaten, or dug up your plants, it can be extremely frustration and sometimes very costly.
Many harmful insects and rodents can be safely controlled, even in sensitive areas, such as food gardens.
Creating an Unpleasant Environment
Insects can cause environments of fear and discomfort. No one wants to sit outside in the morning for breakfast with ants crawling all over them. No one wants to let kids play in a yard infested with spiders. No one wants to be worried about getting stung when tending to a garden near a wasp's nest. You've worked hard to have a home to enjoy, you don't want to miss out on your living spaces because of harmful (or just plain annoying) insects.
Pest Control is Critical
Don't put your home or family in danger from noxious pests. Call us today and let us help you protect your home, family, and pets.
To learn more about how we can help, check out our Services page!