Abbotsford Pest Control is a process for managing the existence and presence of different types of pests. It uses a range of techniques, including physical, biological, and chemical methods.
The use of pesticides can lead to the development of resistance in the target pest population. Rotating pesticides and limiting their use may help prevent the development of resistance.
Pests are more than just a nuisance, and they can be a serious health risk. Many carry pathogens that can cause disease in humans, animals and plants. These include fungi, bacteria and viruses. These pathogens can spread to surfaces and food, causing contamination and illness. Fungi, like molds, can damage and degrade materials, while bacterial and viral pests can cause sickness in people, animals and plants. Pests can also damage buildings and structures, including wiring and roofs.
Preventing pests starts with eliminating entry points into a home or commercial building. Sealing cracks and gaps, using door sweeps and window screens, and keeping debris, woodpiles and weeds away from foundation walls can prevent pests from entering through tiny openings. Keeping areas clean by sweeping and vacuuming floors, wiping down surfaces and storing food in airtight containers can eliminate attractants such as crumbs and spills. Regularly cleaning out clogged gutters and drains, ensuring that water is not pooling around the structure, and using dehumidifiers in damp basements can reduce the environment that pests like to inhabit.
A well-designed integrated pest management program (IPM) focuses on preventing pests and their damage through a combination of techniques, such as physical barriers, habitat manipulation, cultural practices, plant selection, the use of resistant varieties, and monitoring and threshold-based decision-making. This approach keeps pesticides to a minimum and minimizes risks to human health, beneficial insects, wildlife, and the environment.
Threshold-based decision making refers to scouting and monitoring pest activity on a scheduled basis, with the goal of recognizing when action is needed. For example, noticing a few wasps flying around the house one day does not warrant control, but if you see them every day, it might be time to remove their nest.
Biological methods are natural ways to manage pest populations, and they can be extremely effective. These methods usually involve using predators and parasites to control pests, rather than directly killing them. This type of pest control can be particularly useful in reducing the risk of exposure to harmful chemicals, and is often preferred by environmentally conscious consumers.
Suppression
Once a pest is detected, its numbers should be reduced to an acceptable level using control measures. This requires monitoring, scouting, and accurate identification of the pest and its host. A good monitoring plan should be based on the value of the plants involved, how often you can check them, the life cycle of the pest, and how much damage you’re willing to tolerate. Generally, it’s better to prevent problems than to treat them once they occur.
Prevention includes preventing the pest from entering an area and reducing the amount of damage it causes once it’s inside. For example, barriers and fences can physically keep pests out. Barriers can be made of physical material such as wood or metal, or they can be chemical or biological. Chemical barriers can include chemicals such as herbicides to kill weeds, insecticides to kill insects, or fungicides to manage diseases. Biological barriers include natural enemies of the pest, such as parasitoids and predators. These organisms feed on or in the body of their hosts, limiting their population growth by depleting the resources they need. Examples of biological controls include purchasing and releasing natural predators such as lady beetles to kill aphids or nematodes to destroy grubs. You can also use pathogens, such as bacteria that produce disease in the host, to manage pests.
Sanitation practices can also prevent and suppress pests. For example, cleaning equipment and sanitizing tools can prevent the spread of plant pathogens from one plant to another. In urban areas, sanitation can be used to reduce pests by improving garbage pick-up and storage practices, removing weeds that provide shelter for pests, and reducing the frequency of dumping compost. In agriculture, sanitation can be used to control pests by properly labeling and handling seed, transplants, and chemicals.
Once a pest problem is detected, cultural or biological methods should be used to try to solve the problem before using chemicals. Cultural methods include preparing the soil; choosing and planting plants that are adapted to site conditions and are not attractive to pests; interplanting to reduce pest pressure; rotating crops; adjusting planting dates; managing weeds; and using trap crops such as serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis). If you decide to use chemical controls, be sure to follow all instructions on the product label and observe local, State, and Federal regulations regarding pesticide safety.
Eradication
Pest control is the elimination or management of unwanted creatures like rodents, ants, termites, cockroaches and bed bugs. Pests can cause serious health problems and also damage properties such as buildings and gardens. Pests can be controlled through a variety of methods including traps, baits, sprayed chemicals and physical barriers.
The goal of eradication is rarely sought in outdoor pest situations, where prevention and suppression are more common goals. However, eradication can be achieved in enclosed environments such as dwellings, schools, and offices, or in food processing, storage and preparation areas. Eradication may also be a goal in cases of imported pests, such as the Mediterranean fruit fly or the gypsy moth, that are not wanted in a particular area.
In the case of eradication, strong intervention tools must be available to rapidly identify and respond to outbreaks and stop transmission before it is too late. This is especially important where humans form a critical component of the pest’s life cycle and are susceptible to infection. It is even more challenging in endemic pests where there are large numbers of resistant individuals and an independent reservoir that can continue to sustain the pest.
Eradication is a very difficult task that requires the coordinated action of several agencies at local, community, national, and global levels. It involves reducing the number of infected people to the point that there is no longer a risk of infection and then stopping transmission in a way that does not create new cohorts of susceptible people through births, migration or waning effectiveness of prophylactic measures.
To prevent infestations, keep your home clean and remove any attractants such as crumbs and trash. Regularly vacuum carpets and upholstery, sweep and mop floors, and wipe surfaces with a disinfectant cleaner to keep your home pest-free. In addition, make sure to dispose of garbage frequently and seal any gaps around the house. Finally, trim back bushes and pick up debris that could provide hiding places for pests. If you have an infestation problem, contact a professional pest control company for advice and treatment options.
Monitoring
Monitoring pests allows you to catch them early and take preventive measures before they cause significant damage. Small monitors placed throughout your spaces can help you gauge pest populations and identify the areas where they are most active. Inspecting these monitors on a regular basis provides valuable insights and enables you to act quickly before pests get out of hand.
Pest monitoring also helps you understand your environment and the conditions that make it susceptible to infestations. For example, the presence of fungus-eating plaster beetles can indicate that your building is more humid than it should be for collections storage. Monitoring the population of these pests, along with other indicators like psocids, can alert you to problems and inform your treatment strategies.
There are many ways to monitor pests, but the most important aspect is identifying them correctly. Insects are generally divided into categories based on their level of threat to the health and beauty of plants or crops: beneficial insects, innocuous organisms, and pests. Knowing which category a particular organism belongs to is vital for interpreting pest population trend data.
Other monitoring methods include scouting, trapping, and the use of nets. Some of these monitors are designed to be hung over plants, such as in a greenhouse, while others, like sweep and malaise nets, capture insects when they enter a space. These nets can be used to determine the density of insect pests, or their frequency, in a given area by measuring how many are captured per square foot.
Another type of pest monitoring uses a log to track the frequency and location of pest activity. This information can be helpful when making decisions about where to place monitors and traps. It can also be useful in determining which types of treatment are most appropriate for a specific space, or determining when a particular type of prevention is necessary.
In the past, heritage custodians often resorted to toxic chemical pesticides in an attempt to protect collections from pests. However, such chemicals can leave harmful residues that contaminate objects and can be damaging to human health and the environment. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an alternative that seeks to safeguard collections while minimizing the use of chemicals. It combines practices like good housekeeping, excluding pests from buildings, and regular inspection and monitoring to reduce the need for pest control.
