Sea Girt, NJ Professional Pest & Termite Services

We were recently sent out on a service call to a the home of a new customer in Sea Girt, NJ, to treat for Indian meal moths. Indian meal moths, also known as pantry pests, are the most common pests to infest pantries and food storage facilities. They're attracted to light and feed on dried fruits, grains, seeds, nuts, chocolate, candies, birdseed, dog food, and powdered milk. When we arrived and inspected the kitchen, we found a large amount of Indian meal moths not just in the food pantry, but throughout the crevices of the kitchen!

Turns out that the homeowner was storing bird seed in the pantry and the bagged wasn't sealed properly. This is what caused the Indian meal moth infestation! Unfortunately, a large amount of the food in the pantry was contaminated and, with the owners permission, we had to dispose of them. Once that was done we treated all the cracks and crevices throughout the pantries and the kitchen with an aerosol application. This application rapidly exterminates the Indian meal moths.

Afterward, we installed several pheromone traps throughout the kitchen and pantry to catch the adult Indian meal moths that were flying around. These devices have a unique pheromone in them that lures the Indian meal moths to their demise. Lastly, we scheduled several follow-up inspections to monitor the infestation and replace the devices until the Indian meal moths are exterminated for good. Before we left, we mentioned a few simple tips that the owner can introduce in order to prevent future Indian meal moth infestations. 

After spotting a soccer sized hornets nest on his shed, this Home Protection Plan customer in Sea Girt, NJ, called our office for help and we were sent out to inspect and treat. Once we arrived, equipped our protective bee suit, and took a closer look at the nest, we were able to identify them as bald-faced hornets.

Bald-faced hornets are social stinging insects that are a close relative to yellow jackets. The surface of their upper midsection almost looks triangular from the side, and they have white markings on their face. They are EXTREMELY aggressive and will not hesitate to sting anything that invades their space. What makes them even scarier is they have smooth stingers, which means they can sting over and over again, can actually sense vibrations in the air, and remember their invader's face!

We treated the nest with a knockdown aerosol and a knockdown liquid application. Both of these products exterminate the bald-faced hornets almost immediately. A short while later, we removed the nest, properly disposed of it, cleaned the area, and applied a liquid residual to prevent any future stinging insects from reinfesting the area.

As we servicing a new client's home in Sea Girt, NJ, we came across several rat burrows along the deck. On the surface, rat burrows appear as a small hole in the ground that's usually about 2-3 inches across. Rats create these burrows to travel from their nest to a food source and to escape predators. Rat burrows usually contain a main entrance and 1 or 2 exit holes away from the main entrance. If a burrow is active, the main entrance will likely be cleared of vegetation, which this one was!

For treatment, we installed several Ready-to-Use rodent bait stations near each of the burrows. Next, we installed several snap traps that are inside temper-proof, child resistant boxes near the burrows. Lastly, we scheduled several follow-up visits to monitor the rat infestation, apply any additional treatments if needed, and replenish the bait as needed. 

A new customer in Sea Girt, NJ was having an issue with a groundhog roaming around her home and devouring her garden! After a careful investigation, we found the primary burrow that the groundhog was utilizing right up against the right side of the home. We also found its secondary burrow about 10 feet from their main burrow in some bushes.  In order to safely retrieve the groundhog, we're going to install a nose cone directly over the burrow and attach a two-gaited, heavy-duty device to it.

This is what we call a positive set. It's called a positive set, because we are positive that the groundhog will enter our device. We also placed a baited device nearby and put some dirt and food on the bottom of each device in order to camouflage them and make the groundhog think that it's walking on the ground. Once we safely retrieve the groundhog, we will fill in the burrows and relocate it to a new, humane environment.

Recently, I was sent to a home in Sea Girt, NJ,  after Cowleys received a call from a homeowner who found herself with a cricket infestation inside her home, primarily in the basement. Upon arrival, I went into the basement to inspect, and observed a heavy presence of spider crickets, also commonly known as camel crickets, in the laundry room area of the basement. From a distance, these crickets resemble spiders or shrimp because of their gangly long legs and antennae. 

Spider crickets are much different than a few field crickets that periodically find their way into homes. Spider crickets usually congregate in large numbers, and you can find hundreds of them can be clinging to walls in basements or crawl spaces. It’s a scary sight, to say the least! Unlike field crickets, they don’t make that familiar chirping sound we hear when the males rub their ridged upper and lower wings together to attract females. Instead, spider crickets attract mates by emitting a smell. A word of warning: When alarmed or threatened, these insects often jump directly at the intruder. So, don’t get too up close and personal with them.  You may find yourself with a spider cricket firmly planted on your face — and they bite!

Because of their hump-shaped bodies, spider crickets (sometimes shorted to “sprickets”) are also called camelback, camel crickets (“criders”), or even “land shrimp.” These crickets are naturally found in caves, so they are also known as cave crickets. 

They are attracted to and thrive in enclosed dark, moist, and humid spaces. Basements, crawl spaces and garages can have a similar environment to a cave when there is high indoor humidity. So, you’ll often find them in homes with a mold or mildew problem because they feed off any fungi that grows on damp walls. Because spider crickets can be a sign of a mold problem, any home with a spider cricket infestation should be inspected for possible mold. Besides fungi, these voracious eaters will consume fabric, carpets, cardboard, dust, plants, and even each other. 

When dealing with a spider cricket infestation, I’m always interested in the moisture conditions causing infestation, so that the problem can be resolved long-term. Here, the laundry room had finished walls and was very dry. However, the rest of the basement was unfinished with concrete block walls. Also, there was a French drain around the perimeter of the unfinished section to drain water away from the foundation into a sump. Although the unfinished part of the basement was fairly dry, there was still plenty of moisture for these crickets to thrive. 

In resolve this infestation, I treated the French drain and walls inside the basement and also performed a perimeter treatment around the exterior foundation of the home as well as under the exterior siding. However, because a spider cricket problem is an indication of high indoor humidity levels, the long-term solution is keeping down moisture levels by installing a commercial-grade dehumidifier. There are multiple benefits to dehumidification: By keeping your basement dry, you remove the conditions for mold to form, improve the air quality of your home, and make the area much less inviting for spider crickets and other invasive insects and pests. Hopefully, this homeowner will consider dehumidification.

This week I was called to a home in Sea Girt, NJ that managed to have two different stinging insect infestations going on at the same time. Both a yellow jacket nest and a baldfaced hornets nest had formed on the property. Baldfaced hornets are actually a type aerial yellow jacket. Both of these predatory wasps are highly aggressive and very territorial. If these insects feel you are intruding on their nest, you are in for a world of hurt! Yellow jackets, with perhaps the worst reputation of any wasp, have distinctive alternating yellow and black stripes that have us instinctively running in the opposite direction. Baldfaced hornets are larger wasps with distinctive white markings on their face and abdomen. 

The baldfaced hornets nest was built on a branch of a tree on the property. It was active for awhile and had grown to the size of a basketball. These wasps build their nests at least a few feet above ground in trees, shrubs, and sometimes on the sides of buildings, especially under eaves. I was not about to take any chances being stung myself, and put on a protective suit. I treated the nest with an aerosol and then a dust. After there was no observable insect activity, I removed the nest from the tree. The yellow jackets had built their nest in crack of house foundation. Yellow jackets typically build their nests inside wall voids, holes in the ground, or other similar openings they can squeeze into like the nest here. These insects managed to find a big enough void in the home’s foundation to build a nest. I treated the void with a highly effective dust to kill the yellow jacket colony.