Hello, we recently found a mouse that ate a cookie (literally) on our counter and successfully got it with a mousetrap (only one catch so far but hoping that no more show up. I also put a bait box outside with some of the tomcat mouse poison.

Two questions, how long should I leave the bait box outside and secondly, how do I safely store the bait for the box in my garage without attracting the mice to my garage? I know they have a great sense of smell so won't they be able to smell it if I just store it in my garage?

3rd floor apartment with an attic/crawl space above. Not for storage or anything accessible. Had been hearing critters and maintenance sent pest control out to set traps. They set them and left them for a while. Since about a day after they were out I’ve been getting bites almost every day.

I’m worried about both fleas and bedbugs but the timing of it starting right after they came out is a coincidence.

We found out today that the traps did catch at least one “rodent”. The traps were left for almost a week and yesterday the whole place started smelling. Currently staying in a hotel because maintenance had to come deodorize and remove the rodent since pest control won’t be in until tomorrow due to the holiday.

Is it possible that pest control being in the attic to set traps, and then whatever was up there dying, have caused fleas to be stirred up and brought back down? I’m really hoping I don’t find bedbugs. I’m checking everywhere I can think of every day.

I’m getting maybe one bite per day. The first day I noticed anything was 4 on my leg and it reminded me of the flea bites I’d occasionally get when working at the vet. Bright red, small, with a while halo. Then I got 4 on my hip. Since then it’s been one per day.

Whatever it is, is not biting my partner. Only me.

I’m dealing with rats living in the foundation of my home for years. We have tried everything save for poison. We don’t want to use poison for multiple reasons. I have come up with an attack plan and I want to know if ya’ll think it’s a good or bad idea.

I’m thinking of buying a pellet gun and mounting night vision scope on it. I know they are running around in my backyard so I plan to place bate in front of a thick backstop and attempt to eradicate them from my bedroom window.

I need help narrowing in on what to purchase for this goal. For the night vision i am considering purchasing the Sightmark Wraith 4K Mini.

Could use advice on the rifle, gamo seems solid but I see opinions all over the place on caliber and velocity necessary for the job.

So I’ve been dealing with a flea infestation for about 4 weeks I have two cats gave them the flea medicine that goes between the shoulders and gutted my entire apt tore the carpet out and put down vinyl got a new bed and washed every single clothing item I had twice at the laundromat got rid of my washer dryer my computer chair basically anything I couldn’t wash got thrown out. While redoing my apartment I was staying w my parents I just got back in tonight with a new bed. Problem is when I was petting them I still noticed fleas. I got a comb and brushed them out for a good 45 mins. I’d say around 20 fleas each. Gave each their second dose of shoulder medicine ( the more expensive brand hoping it works better, it also claims to kill all stages ) and gave each a capstar pill they are isolated to the bathroom. My question is how do I prevent a reinfestation? At least calm my anxiety about it. I already know about vacuuming daily and I’m going to get a good mop. Boiling mop water daily? How often should I brush them ? I haven’t seen anything on the floor or baseboards the past few days so I’m semi confident nothing in my room is infected but I want to prevent the spread of anymore eggs. I might be overreacting a bit bec I’m traumatized from childhood when my basement was extremely extremely contaminated my dad had to blow torch the floor and that’s the only thing that got rid of them. So seeing one flea is enough to send me spiraling and I can’t live like that again pls help me

Looking for large storage bins to use in pantry to keep items. I'm unsure of how sealed these containers have to be since these guts are so tiny. Would poly bags with zippers keep them out? Or Rubbermaid totes? Do the containers have to be air tight?

I am looking to start a pest control company. I have no prior experience. Not looking for someone to tell me no, but someone to help. A couple of questions right now:

LLC right away for licensing and insurance?

I need a commercial applicator license and a pesticide business license in my state to "apply pesticide for compensation". Is this only for restricted pesticides? Are those kinds common in day-to-day business operations? Can I start initial marketing / working without this with minimal trouble, or should I wait for all licensing?

Insurance? I will need this to apply for a pesticide business license. Should I look for someone who specializes in pest control insurance?

I plan on starting with a service for termites, bed bugs, ants, mosquitos, and rodents. What exact equipment should I buy to start? (I hear flowzone sprayers, power rig not yet.. bait stations?) What exact pesticides to stay prepared for a bit for these basic services? I want to go in with the best stuff so my clients love the service.

Any recommended CRM or apps to manage scheduled jobs?

Best basic starting price structure? Quarterly work and also specific call-in jobs? free inspections? free first time service?

Other than this I should have the first truck soon, branding good, marketing good, website good, competition lacking near me.

Thank you to anyone who replies.

We have been battling wasps for the past few years. Usually we find a nest kill it and that's the end of it. This year we cannot find a nest. We are at wasp #20 this week killed indoors.

We've thought about putting up a wasp trap outdoors but they also read like they don't kill a hive (which what we need done).

While typing this, we had another come in. I've been trying to keep my eyes on that area but there's a fireplace near, a floor vent, and the window itself. I've stood outside and cannot hear of see any movement out there.

Where do we go from here? Interest rates are too high to move. Burning the house down is off the table for similar reasons.

Hello. I searched this thread but did not see any solution. About once a month or so, I see maggots crawling across the kitchen floor. I see them concentrated mostly under a window and then they tend to scatter. I simply cannot find the source. I would expect to see some rotting food somewhere with thousands of them on there, but this is not the case. I put stoppers in my sink and have checked the trash can - no maggots there. I usually just bust out the shop vac, suck them up and then problem solved until next time 'rounds. I do understand they are fly larvae, but where are the damn eggs at ? I'm at a loss here !! There is no rotting food, veggies, girlfriends, anything in my kitchen !!

What might be the best approach to this issue. Place a few slap traps 🪤 inside the car?

Basically I have a stash of edibles that I don’t really use and I have a mouse that I know has been frequenting my room. He’s too smart to fall for traps so far because he’s careful, but… he eats EVERYTHING. All of the traps are always cleaned before too long. It got me thinking what if I left some edible chunks out for the mice to eat and possibly get poisoned by. I know THC is poisonous to dogs so I’d imagine a human sized dose would kill a mouse right? Let me know your thoughts.

Is there any problem with throwing contrac bloxs into the attic without a bait station?

Found mouse droppings yesterday while doing some clean up of a rather cluttered garage. Mostly sealed boxes and plastic tubs, but still some loose items I haven't gotten around to organizing yet.

Most of the droppings seemed concentrated in corners near the garage door. I sprayed with a bleach solution and swept them up (later realizing wiping them up with gloves and a mask would have been the better option).

I caught one deer mouse in a trap last night and found more droppings in the same areas. Worrying about hantavirus (I live in a western state), I applied bleach spray again to the droppings, cleared the mouse traps and set new ones. I plan to gut the garage for a deep cleaning once the traps don't consistently yield mice.

Is it best to wait to remove all the mouse droppings until after I (hopefully) reach a point where the mouse traps don't catch anything?

I also purchased a bait station - should I also wait to put that out until after I've trapped as many mice as I can?

So far, the infestation doesn't seem extensive, but at what point should I call a pest control service over taking care of this myself?

Thanks for reading!

I have a squirrel in the attic. I've read online that blocking the holes that they enter through will only anger them and they will chew a new hole to get back into the attic. Is this true? I was planning on blocking the holes with something like sheet metal and insulation foam. But I don't want the squirrel to end up chewing open a new hole somewhere else. I've also tried setting a trap up there and he didn't go for it.