What if you came home Friday night, flipped on the kitchen light, and saw a small army of mice or cockroaches scuttle underneath your refrigerator? What if you woke up Saturday morning and noticed dozens of red, itchy bites on your body?
What would you do? Do you have emergency pest control you can call?
Pests don’t keep 9-to-5, Monday through Friday office hours—meaning the odds of a pest control emergency are very good. Most people notice a pest problem when they are home, usually in the evenings and on weekends.
If and when a pest control emergency happens to you, you’ll want to be prepared. After all, no one wants to wait days or even weeks to get a pest problem fixed: the longer you wait, the worse an infestation gets!
Here are our top tips for what to do for emergency pest control.
#1 – DON’T PANIC
This is a good rule of thumb for all emergencies. Staying cool will help ensure you don’t act rashly and make the problem worse. Take a deep breath and then move on to the next tip!
#2 – IDENTIFY THE PEST
How you handle a late night or weekend pest control emergency often depends on the insect you’re dealing with. For example, if it’s a stinging insect, like wasps or bees, you may want to distance yourself from the hive or nest. However, if it’s bed bugs, while it seems counterintuitive, you’ll probably want to stay put in order to avoid spreading the problem.
Don’t assume you know what pest you’re dealing with. There are some tricky insects out there that look alike. For example, bat bugs and bed bugs look very similar. (Tip: You can get familiar with the various creepy crawlies you could be dealing with by using ScherZinger’s Pest Control Library.)
If you aren’t sure what pest you’re dealing with, call an expert like the ones at ScherZinger Pest Control. An experienced professional can help you figure out what pest has invaded your home and what you should do next.
#3 – DON’T DIY
We get it: you want the disgusting pests gone yesterday. But in your haste to solve a pest control emergency, don’t turn to untested DIY methods. Many of them don’t work, and some of them can actually make the problem worse!
What’s more, some DIY methods can even be hazardous to the health of you, your pets, and your kids. You can read more about what DIY methods to avoid here:
- FAQs: Home Remedies for Bed Bugs
- FAQs: Home Remedies for Termites
- FAQs: Home Remedies for Ants
- FAQs: Home Remedies for Roaches
It isn’t just homemade pest control solutions that can be detrimental. Some over-the-counter products like the ones you’d buy at your local hardware store can also make the problem worse. For example, bed bugs have developed a resistance to many DIY or OTC insecticides. According to Molly Wilson, Director of Bed Bug and Urban Pest Information Center at Virginia Tech, “Spraying bedbugs with insecticides you buy at a hardware store or online will likely kill only some bugs and scatter the rest, making your problem significantly worse.”
#4 – CALL IN THE PROFESSIONALS
If you’re experiencing a serious pest control emergency, your best bet is to call 24-hour pest control.
A professional exterminator is the most efficient and effective way to get rid of pests. They have the experience, knowledge, and tools to determine what pest you have and how best to get rid of it. When you work with a trusted professional, you know that you’re getting service that will quickly, effectively, and discretely get rid of your pest problem. (That’s not the case with risky, ineffective and suspect DIY methods!)
You can call ScherZinger Pest Control 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-877-748-9888. We’re here to help, whenever you need us!
Depending on the severity of the pest problem, we offer emergency pest control services—so you can get expert help ASAP. And even if you don’t need emergency pest control, you won’t have to wait ages for help to arrive. We’ll schedule a technician to come to you promptly.
#5 – GET YOUR HOME READY FOR TREATMENT
A qualified pest control expert like the ones at ScherZinger will be able to give you advice based on the specific pest in your home. However, in general, here are three things you can do to prepare for pest control:
- Clear clutter! Clutter—whether it’s shoe boxes crammed under your bed, boxes stacked in the basement, or anything in between—offers excellent hiding places for pests. Try to tidy up so the pest control treatment can be applied wherever needed.
- Find a pet sitter or out of the way space for your furry friends. Some pest control treatments can be harmful to Fido and Fluffy. Even if the treatment you’re having done is pet friendly, having a dog or cat underfoot can make things more difficult for your exterminator.
- Eliminate water and sources of food. Just like us, pests need food and water to survive. Try to cut them off as soon as possible by eliminating leaks, drying up any moisture in sinks and bathtubs, cleaning up crumbs and spills, etc.
Dealing with a pest infestation is not how anyone wants to spend their nights or weekends. However, by following the tips in this article, you can help solve your pest problem quickly and with as little stress as possible!
CONTACT SCHERZINGER FOR TRUSTED EMERGENCY PEST CONTROL
Need help with a serious or emergency pest problem?
Contact ScherZinger Pest Control, a trusted pest control company in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas, including Dayton, OH, and now Columbus, OH. We’ve been pioneers, engineering new standards for ways of eliminating and controlling bugs and pests. Contact us by phone at 1-877-748-9888 or through our website, Facebook, or Twitter.