Some of us may engage in a little critter maintenance on the side - that is, managing children and four-legged friends. Unfortunately our homes have a habit of letting in all kinds of creatures during the pre-winter wet weather. Ants in the kitchen, rats lurking behind the cupboard, termites sneaking through a house’s foundations - when it comes to these sorts of visitors, patience and prudence are no virtues. Here are a few reasons why professional intervention may be the best way to be quick and clean about taking your family out of risk.
It’s easy to walk into a supermarket or hardware and walk out with all manners of baits, traps and sprays, but such products often won’t get to the heart of why you’re experiencing a pest issue. A little chalk may keep ants at bay for a few weeks but it certainly won’t block the hole in your window frame; a mouse in the house usually indicates some kind of accidental entrance, not the rodent’s cunning and audacity. Of course, treating the symptom and not the cause may be enough for minor brushes with seasonal visitors - but for those which are recurring, it is better to tackle the issue properly.
It’s reassuring to have someone on your side who is readily familiar with the habits and favourite hidey-holes of the vermin in question. Being able to predict behaviour means being able to develop solid plans which use a variety of methods to target a population. They’re also more familiar with the cycles of infestation, when to come through with follow-up treatments and so on.
DIY pest control often relies on the overzealous and inappropriate use of ineffective products! According to your preferences, professional pest controllers can avoid toxic pesticides in favour of more natural methods. In fact, some insects may prove extremely resistant to traditional pesticides and require more radical treatment. On the other side of the spectrum, they’ll have high-potency substances on hand to cope with more extreme infestations.
Some pests, and in particular termites, can wreak absolute havoc on an unsuspecting house. Although fronting the cost of regular service might seem unappealing, the reality is that postponing such check-ups will likely lead to the proliferation of a colony and widespread, long-term damage to the most essential and intimate structural aspects of a property. Short-term pain for long-term gain.
Blessed as Australians are with the double-whammy of spiders and snakes, they’re not necessarily something you’d welcome into your home and they’re certainly not to be dealt with by the untrained hand. Some pest varieties may not seem as blatantly harmful as these examples but have more insidious effects on family members. Fleas can incredibly uncomfortable for pets and bedbugs just as much for humans. The use of chemical treatments for these kinds of painful critter may be something you’d rather leave to others.