Pests We Treat Before & After Photos

I was sent out by Cowleys to an apartment complex in Barnegat Light to remove an active hornets nest. The insects built their nest in a tree that was close to one of the buildings in the complex. Normally, a hornets nest does not pose a threat to people as long as the nest is not disturbed or approached. Unfortunately, every so often, these pests decide to build their nest in locations where people may inadvertently come too close to the nest. If they feel that their nest and territory is being threatened, a multiple stinging insect attack can easily result. This particular nest was built in a sensitive location. It was about five feet from the sidewalk entering the building and about seven feet off the ground. It was clearly a threat to any of the tenants forced to walk by the nest in order to enter and exit the building. It was an unacceptable situation, and I arrived to correct it.

To deal with this hornet problem, I first incapacitated the hornets that were inside the nest by treating it with a quick knock-down product. Once most of the hornets inside the nest were either dead or dying, I carefully cut the branch holding the nest out of the tree. Whenever you are doing a nest extraction, it is important to be mindful of any foraging hornets returning to the nest. They don’t take too kindly to seeing their nest being removed!

Once the nest and the supporting branch were separated from the tree, I
cut off excessive foliage to remove the treated nest, which I then bagged so that I could remove it from the property. The returning foraging hornets will swarm around the nest site for awhile, but they’ll soon move on when they realize that their nest is no more and there is not even any residue of the old nest to build on. 

Territorial stinging insects like wasps and hornets mean trouble when they decide to build a nest too close to a home or commercial structure. In these cases, the nest needs to be removed by a pest control professional, preferably before there is a serious wasp attack on an innocent person who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

As we get into the winter season and temperatures start dropping, mice become more of a nuisance for homeowners. For survival, these overwintering pests look for warm, dry places to escape the harsh outdoor elements — and our homes are often their targets. Unlike larger wildlife, mice can find the smallest entry points around a home’s foundation to gain entry. They can gain entry through an opening as small as the size of a dime. If they can poke their letting snout into an opening, the rest of the body will follow. Common mouse entry points are garages and crawl spaces. Once inside, mice will travel through wall voids to stay out of sight as they forage for food.  

I was sent to a home in Manasquan, NJ to deal with a mouse problem that was frustrating this homeowner. For mouse infestations, it is critical to perform a thorough inspection of the interior and exterior home perimeter in order to find and seal all of the potential rodent access points. Often, there are droppings and other signs of mouse activity around the openings. Once we find any openings, we assess the problem and seal the gap using a variety of different methods. Because rodents have powerful incisors and an amazing capability to chew through many building materials, we will use chew-proof mesh to ensure that the opening is permanently blocked. With access points blocked and bait traps set, it does not take long for any mouse infestation to be quickly dealt with.

Recently, homeowners in Manasquan, NJ had contacted Cowleys after observing mouse droppings in their home. They were especially concerned with contamination issues because they had three young children. Mice can contaminate food, countertops, and flooring with their droppings and pose a serious health hazard. Their droppings can contain many dangerous pathogens, including hantavirus. 

For any mouse infestation, it is critical to determine their entry points into the home and how they are moving about once inside. Invariably, mice will wind their way to the kitchen when they are foraging for food and water. Here, I pulled the dishwasher and refrigerator away from the wall to look for entry points. Sure enough, there were large holes int he walls that went straight down into the crawl space. Mice are attracted to the warmth of motors in appliances and it is common to find them nesting underneath refrigerators and large kitchen appliances. I sealed the holes with chew-proof wire mesh to block direct kitchen access from the crawl space and keep the mice and the droppings away from the family.  

With the infestation contained in the crawl space, I set up RTU bait stations in the crawl space. These stations contain single-feeding bait that are magnets for mice. The mouse population should be drop quickly and with the kitchen entry points sealed, the mice will not be restricted from the living areas of the home.

A new homeowner in Brielle, NJ, was having an issue with birds roosting in her home. She had another company come out and try to exclude the birds, but it didn't work, so he called Little Rascals for help. 

During our inspection, we discovered that the birds were actually roosting in a small gap behind the shutters. The previous company installed chicken wiring, but it was extremely loose and not secure. We removed the company's exclusion bird, disposed of it, and then carefully removed all the nesting debris.

In order to properly exclude the birds, we took a piece of metal flashing and scribe shaped it to the shutters. This contours the metal flashing to the shutters almost perfect and will not only exclude birds from the home, but bats, wasps, bees, and hornets as well!

Last week, I was called out to investigate a home in Point Pleasant, NJ. The homeowner contacted Cowleys because mice were getting into the kitchen. She told us that several mice were caught on glue traps that she had placed. In addition, rodent bait stations had already been set up from a previous service call. Mice infestations can be challenging for a variety of reasons. One is their size. Because mice are so small they are able to get through gaps and cracks that we barely notice. identifying and sealing all of them can sometimes take a few visits. 

On this visit, I noticed a door nest to the refrigerator that lead to the crawl space. The door was never used by these homeowners, and was leftover after the kitchen had been remodeled. I observed a large gap under the door. There was a high probability that this was the trouble spot for the mice entering the living areas of the home from the crawl space. 

I used a chew-proof copper mesh to fill the gaps where the mice were likely entering. The benefit of using copper is that it does not rust like steel wool. I also inspected and rebated the rodent bait stations that had previously been set up. Unfortunately, there was active rodent activity in the kitchen and crawl space area as well as the exterior behind the home. Clearly, this was one stubborn infestation. Cowleys, however will stay on the job until the infestation is completely resolved. One mouse inside a home is one mouse too many.  

I set up additional bait stations in the crawl space where the mice were initially gaining entry into the home. I also sealed the gap under the kitchen door as well as a hole by their A/C unit in the back of the home. I expect the indoor mouse population to drop quickly and dramatically. In the meantime, we will have follow-up visits until this infestation is completely resolved.