Deal, NJ Pest & Rodent Control Company

Recently, I was sent to a municipal building in Wall Township, NJ to deal with a stinging insect infestation. Cowleys was called after a boy had been stung on a walking path close to one of the town’s building. The initial report we received was that the boy had been stung by “bees” hovering around their nest that had formed in a tree. As it turned out, the stinging insects in were actually bald-faced hornets, an aggressive, territorial wasp. They are a close relative of yellow jackets. These particular wasps have distinctive white markings on their face and body. One major difference between bees and wasps or hornets is that bees can only sting once while wasps and hornets can sting multiple times. With bees, their barbed stinger usually stays in the puncture wound. Since wasps and hornets do not lose their stinger, they can sting multiple times. Also, the chemical makeup of their venom is different. It’s not your imagination that wasp and hornet stings hurt much more than bee stings— they really do! Their venom has a higher concentration of acetylcholine, a chemical that stimulates your body’s pain receptors. 

It goes without saying that wasp nests in areas with high pedestrian traffic must be dealt with quickly, especially if the nest is in a commercial or public area where customers and visitors and coming and going.

When dealing with wasp nests, I always take appropriate precautions to avoid being stung myself. We have full-body protective suits if we feel the circumstances warrant it. Here, to keep a safe distance, I used a special extension pole that applies a dust inside the nest. This product quickly knocks down insect populations. After pumping the nest three times, I waited until I observed no more insect activity. Once I saw no more activity outside of the nest (there still could have been some live insects inside), I carefully cut the small branch where the nest had formed to detach the nest. I immediately bagged the nest in order to contain any insects that may still be alive. Once finished, I took the nest with me so I could later safely disposed of it. It is important to remove the nesting material from the property so it does not attract other insects. 

Homeowners often assume that buzzing, biting mosquitoes are flying into their backyard to bother them, not realizing that mosquitoes, which do not fly great distances, are often home grown and the females are laying eggs somewhere on their property. If your lawn has more than its fair share of mosquitoes, I could walk with you around your property and show you at least a half-dozen potential mosquitoes breeding grounds.

I was conducting a routine exterior service to a Middletown residence and noticed many areas where one lone female mosquito could lay her eggs -- and a lot of them. Upwards of 200 eggs a few times throughout the season! The key is to look for anything capable of retaining water. With this house, I told the homeowner about kids toys left outside in the yard, a tire swing, clogged gutters, and a bird bath. The tinniest of objects, even a bottle cap, is enough water for a mosquito to lay her eggs. The accompanying photo is a perfect example of a potential breeding site. I took this photo as I was walking back to my truck along the street. 

If all the species of mosquitoes found in New Jersey weren't enough to deal with, over the last decade or so, New Jersey has become another state invaded by the  Asian tiger mosquito. These little pests got their name from their area of origin and their coloring. They are an invasive species, native to Southeast Asia, were first identified in New Jersey right here in Monmouth County in 1995. They soon spread to other areas of the state. They are called "tiger" mosquitoes because of their coloring, a black background with distinctive white markings including a white strip running down the center of its head and back and white bands on its legs.

Also called the tree hole mosquito, the females lay their eggs in small hard-sided containers rather than swamps or marshes. While they like to breed in tree holes, they are happy to use anything else where they can glue themselves to the sides like flower pots, an old bucket, a tin can, or tires. In fact, the spread of this mosquito has been attributed to the interstate transport of used tires.

Unlike other mosquitoes that tend to be active at dusk, this particular species is equally active during the day,making them even more of a nuisance than other species. The Asian Tiger mosquito is an aggressive, persistent biter and can transmit diseases like the West Nile virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

While doing a routine bedbug inspection in Deal NJ today I stumbled upon bedbug eggs.  The eggs were located inside the head of a screw on back of the head board. Bedbug eggs are so small that it takes a highly trained eye to locate them. Imagine a piece of very white dust and that's what a bedbug egg looks like. 

Finding bedbug eggs is a very critical step of the treatment process. Once the eggs are located we can focus our efforts on steaming those areas to kill the eggs making them unable to hatch.  

The customer was so happy that the eggs are found and eliminated.  It's a satisfying feeling to have solved her problem. 

We had an appointment at a home in Deal, NJ that had water seeping in through the crawl space walls. The crawl space had approximately 2 inches of water on the floor. We needed to install a sump pump and then used drainage matting to direct the standing water towards the sump pump. We covered the walls and the floor with 20 mil vapor barrier to keep the moisture down and then installed a professional grade dehumidifier to control the relative humidity.

We highly recommend yearly inspections of your crawl space to maintain the sump pump, dehumidifier and inspect for wood-destroying insects.