This weather sure has gotten cold, hasn’t it? Nothing like temperatures in the thirties to make you want to stay inside curled under a blanket. Well, guess what? Rodents feel the same way. Okay, maybe they don’t want to snuggle under a blanket, but they are looking to get out of the cold and to find food and your warm, cozy house could be their next target.   Here are some tips to help you keep mice and other rodents out of your home this winter from your Marietta Pest Control friends at SWAT Services.  

1. Seal them out.

Mice are tiny creatures and they can fit their little bodies into a space as small as a dime. It would be worth your while to take some time to walk around the outside of your home and examine it for any openings. Make sure to look carefully around doors, windows, wiring gaps and even around your lighting fixtures. The biggest problem areas are often crawl spaces, basements and garages, so pay even closer attention to any gaps in these areas. If there is an opening that a mouse can fit through, they’ll eventually find it. When you see these openings, make sure to seal them up with caulk or silicone. In crawl spaces, you’ll need to look at vent screens that might be missing or damaged and fix those immediately.  

2. Hide the food.

In the winter, mice will find it harder to get food outside so they’ll come inside looking for it. The best thing that you can do to hide your food is to put it in sealed containers. Mice can easily chew through paper or plastic bags, so put food in sturdy containers with lids. Also, make sure that pet food and garbage are also stored in sealed containers.  

3. Eliminate places where they can thrive

If you have woodpiles, junk piles or loose garbage near your home, these can be perfect places for rodents to make their home and breed. To eliminate these breeding grounds, keep woodpiles stacked neatly and as far as possible from your home and remove any clutter or junk piles as soon as possible.  

4. Peppermint Oil

One easy and cheap way to keep rodents away is by spraying peppermint oil on your walls and floors. This calming fragrance is actually the exact opposite to many rodents. All you have to do is mix two teaspoons of peppermint oil with one cup of water, put it in a spray bottle and spray along the walls of your home.   We hope that these are some helpful tips and that your home can be rodent-free this winter. But, if you find some critters have still gotten inside, call SWAT Services and we’ll help get them out. We always make sure to get pests out as safely and humanely as possible. Call during the month of January and you can receive our special: $150 off a full wildlife exclusion or $75 off a partial exclusion! This offer is good until January 31^st. SWAT Services 1900 Lower Roswell Rd Marietta, GA 30068 770-565-7928

Facts About Your Creepy, Dark Crawlspace-Encapsulation FAQ   If your home has a crawlspace, you know how dark, damp and just plain creepy it can be.  You might feel good about the fact that you know for sure that it is code-enforced vented by the builder.  But, did you know that recent findings actually suggest that year-round venting is not beneficial for homes?  Venting can even have a negative effect on your home.  If your crawlspace is left unfinished or just vented, here are some of the negative effects it can have on your home:  

• Reduced indoor air quality.  The moldy, musty smell is actually bad air in your crawlspace.  Eventually this air will seep into your living spaces above.
• Increase in humidity levels.  When you have a vented space, in the summer time especially, the difference in temperature outside and inside causes condensation to form on every surface, which leads to mold growth, wood rot and other moisture-related problems.
• Moisture can also attract wood-boring insects, such as termites
• Presence of insects will attract rodents and other pests (what a vicious cycle!)
• Cold air has free passage under your home and cools down pipes and heating elements (furnace, duct work), which means there will be an increase in utility costs.

  Well, that doesn’t sound good does it?  The bottom line is, if you have a vented crawlspace, you need to get it encapsulated.  Encapsulation is the process of installing a liner up the walls of the crawlspace and over the exposed earth floor.  There is overlap of the wall and floor liners, all seams are sealed and the whole lining is fixed to the walls so it will not ever open.  Once you have an encapsulated space, you can count on reduced humidity levels, better air quality for your whole home, more energy efficiency (it can reduce your energy bills by up to 20%!), fewer critter problems, greater home comfort, reduced chances of costly floor repairs due to wood rot and on top of that all, an encapsulated crawlspace is an excellent selling feature!  

Is it time for you to get your crawlspace encapsulated?  Lucky for you, SWAT Services Pest Control Marietta, is offering a special for the month of November: $250 off a crawlspace encapsulation!  This offer is only good until November 30^th so call us today! (770) 565-7928

 

For most of us, just the thought of bats is enough to make us shudder. If you think that you could have bats in your home, it is especially unnerving. SWAT Services can help you get the bats out!

WILDLIFE REMOVAL MARIETTA

Did you know that in Georgia, there are 16 species of bats? The most common of those, the Little Brown Bat and Big Brown Bat are the two main ones that just might decide to make a home in your attic. Now, don’t let the name “Big Brown Bat” scare you. Even the large ones are only 3 to 4 ½ inches in size (not including wing span) and weigh just about a half of an ounce. Their tiny size is how these bats are able to find a spot to get into in your home. They find gaps and holes that already exist and squeeze their way in. Some of the most common small spots bats squeeze into are in gaps caused by warped siding, spots where there are missing bricks, broken windows, and louvers and vents in siding.

Because of the warmth and darkness, attics can be an ideal place for bats to roost and nurse their young. The bats themselves don’t cause damage to your home because they don’t build nests or gnaw. However, the bat droppings (guano) and urine can build up and this is a health hazard. A common disease that can turn deadly in compromised immune systems is Histoplasmosis.

Call Now For Bat Removal 770-565-7928

When there is a presence of bats in your home, it is important to get them out before the guano reaches toxic levels. If you think you might have bats, here are some ways to find out for sure:

• Search for entry points. Make sure to be thorough as these spots can be very small.
• Look for bat droppings. It could be on the ground or wall near entry points.
• Check the attic for droppings or the smell of droppings.
• Go outside (maybe a few people) and stake out your home at dusk when the bats fly out. This will help you get an idea of where they might be.

If you find that there is evidence of bats in your home, call SWAT Services. You cannot remove bats with light, noise, garlic or mothballs. If there is a mother bat protecting her young, she will put up with just about anything to protect them. It is also very important to know that it is illegal (not to mention hazardous to your health) to use pesticides to kill bats. Bats are a very important because they help control insect populations (including mosquitoes) so you should never kill one. The only humane way to get rid of bats in your home is exclusion and this is done best by a professional. SWAT Services is here to help! If you need to get rid of those pesky bats shacking up in your home, give us a call. We have been servicing the metro Atlanta area for 30 years and know how to get bats out of your home quickly and humanely.