Tag Archives: bed bug infestation

The Added Benefits Of Environmental Pest Control

Residential Pest Control / April 22, 2022

April is Earth Month, with Earth Day happening on April 22. So, this month, Terminix Canada wanted to focus on the importance of environmental pest control, as some pest control practices can be very harmful to people, pets, and the planet.

True to its name, environmental pest control is all about getting rid of pests with minimum impact on the environment. That means finding pest control solutions that go beyond simply spraying and praying with dangerous pesticides.

However, more than just being environmentally friendly, natural pest control can be more effective than traditional pest control solutions, offering longer-lasting results with less impact on your day-to-day life.

Long-Term Pest Control With Integrated Pest Management

Health Canada and the Pest Control Products Act regulate the sale, use, and handling of pesticides across the country. They promote an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to pest removal. Integrated Pest Management is an ecological approach to pest management that focuses on techniques to eliminate pests effectively, economically, and with environmental consciousness.

IPM is an environmental pest control method that seeks to remedy pest infestations by getting rid of the root causes of the infestation. While insect applications can temporarily get rid of pests, if it doesn’t address those root causes, you can be sure the critters will return as soon as the smoke clears.

Ultimately, IPM is about creating a holistic pest management plan that will get rid of pests without having to resort to chemical pesticides, except in extreme cases. Examples of Integrated Pest Management include exclusion and getting rid of conditions that could create pest habitats, such as removing standing water in your backyard.

By striking directly at the heart of your pest infestation, you’re ensuring years of pest-free living, instead of buying a few months of peace as the surviving pests breed and repopulate.

Eco-Friendly Pest Control Is Safe Pest Control

In addition to keeping the environment safe, eco-friendly pest control reduces the amount of chemicals inside your home. While you can be sure a reputable pest control company will take every precaution to use pesticides safely, weekend warriors attempting to use store-bought pesticides can easily put themselves and their loved ones at risk!

In addition to being safer than spray treatments, natural pest control is also a great way to save energy. This is because it avoids multi-day treatments or applications. Instead of having to pack away all your things and spend days in an expensive hotel while other exterminators spray away bed bugs, all-natural bed bug heat treatments can get rid of the pests in a matter of hours without disrupting the comfort of your home.

Whether you need to get rid of bed bugs or remove raccoons, Terminix Canada offers natural pest control solutions for all kinds of infestations. For Canada’s top eco-friendly pest control, call us today.

How Terminix Stands Out From The Competition

Terminix Canada lives and works in the same neighbourhoods as our customers, who trust us with their homes and businesses. Each day, Terminix teammates and our partners serve more than 50,000 customers around the world. These customers have come to trust us because our frontline cares deeply about the quality of their work and the relationships they have built.

But this trust depends on our commitment to protect the health and safety of our teammates, customers, and communities. As well as creating a healthy and sustainable environment. We value that trust, and it’s our responsibility to live up to these commitments.

QualityPro Mark

Terminix Canada takes great pride in ensuring our products meet the highest standards. That’s why you’ll see the QualityPro mark on our website. This mark designates that our technicians ascribe to professional pest removal standards. These standards far exceed the requirements of provincial and federal regulations. QualityPro is considered “the mark of excellence in pest management”. This is because it is designed to increase professionalism in the pest removal industry. As a QualityPro employer, Terminix Canada undergoes extensive background checks including driving and criminal history. Additionally, we strive to maintain a drug-free workplace to ensure a healthy, safe, and secure work environment.

At Terminix Canada, We:

  • Comply with all laws and regulations.
  • Empower all teammates at every level within the organization to:
  • Take personal responsibility for their safety and the safety of others.
  • Stop work immediately to avoid the risk of injury or environmental harm.
  • Actively share ideas to continuously create a safer place to work.
  • Design products and services to provide maximum benefit with minimal environmental, health and safety impacts.
  • Hold ourselves and our stakeholders accountable for the quality and safety of the products and services they provide to us and to our customers.
  • Strive to continually improve the safety of our processes, tools, and technology with the goal of being incident-free.

When You Need Safe And Effective Environmental Pest Control, Call The Experts At Terminix Canada

Terminix Canada is one of the most respected providers of pest control services nationwide. We offer 24/7 services coast-to-coast with over 90 years of experience.

Our government-licensed technicians use tried-and-tested techniques to get rid of pests and stop them from returning. We 100% guarantee results with our pest control services. If not, we’ll give you your money back. We safeguard residential homes and commercial businesses throughout Canada with effective pest control. That means offering effective protection against ants, birds, cockroaches, and other pests threatening human health and safety.

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How To Identify Signs Of Pests In Your Home

Residential Pest Control / April 04, 2022

It might sound like a no-brainer but identifying signs of pests in your home means getting rid of them quicker. While Terminix Canada has many more years of experience than your average homeowner in dealing with pest infestations, learning the common signs of pests living in your property is always beneficial.

Ever found yourself playing detective as you hold up a magnifying glass to pieces of dust? Chances are you were trying to determine whether you just encountered rodent droppings or not.

We understand that it’s easy to get paranoid about signs of pests in your home when you don’t know what to look for. However, once you know the real signs of common household bugs and rodents, you’ll be better equipped to quickly identify any infestation before calling your local pest exterminator. Ultimately, the faster you call for pest removal, the more effective it’ll be.

Signs Of Pests – This Blog Covers:

1. Bed Bugs
2. Cockroaches
3. Rodents
4. Silverfish

Signs Of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are one of the tiniest pests around, but this doesn’t mean you can’t successfully identify them. Firstly, you should inspect your skin for red, itchy bites. Bed bugs don’t spread disease to humans, but their bites can be rather irritating. If these bites develop after a (bad) night’s sleep, chances are you have bed bugs. These thirsty bloodsuckers like feeding on exposed skin with arms and shoulders commonly under siege.

Besides your own body, bed bugs leave behind blood stains on beds. As you inspect your bed, look out for small rusty coloured spots, often found near the edges of your mattress. Bed bugs molt (shed their skin) too, so you may also find disgusting oval-shaped exoskeletons in your discoveries.

Did you know that you can also smell bed bugs? Bed bug infestations leave behind a strong and musty odour from the release of pheromones. It’s just like that wet towel smell – nasty! Lastly, you should also inspect the clothes in your closet. Bed bugs have mastered the art of travel and will have no problem clinging to your clothing. Grab a magnifying glass and brush any invading insects away.

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Signs of Cockroaches

The insidious thing about a cockroach infestation is that it’s easy not to notice you have one. This is until their numbers explode! These tenacious pests can take refuge in the deepest nooks and crannies, beneath floorboards, and behind cupboards. Reproducing rapidly, a single cockroach egg capsule contains between 30-40 eggs!

However, the good news is that roaches tend to congregate in areas near water. The areas worth paying attention to are your kitchen and bathroom. If you start to notice reddish-brown smear marks on your tiles, then you can be sure you have a cockroach infestation.

Other signs of cockroaches in your home include finding shed skins and egg sacs, as well as an increasingly musty odour in your kitchen and/or bathroom.

You should remove food from countertops, ensure dirty dishes aren’t in the sink, and remove crumbs from your floor to dissuade cockroaches from getting comfortable. As a nocturnal pest, roaches are notoriously evasive and require persistent vigilance to remove them.

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Signs Of Mice And Signs Of Rats

Fall might seem like a long way away but it’s never too early to learn about rodent vigilance. As Canada cools down, armies of mice and rats seek shelter from the freezing cold temperatures of winter. Dozens of them could have already spent time living in your walls and foundations rent-free. Makes you shudder, right?

Luckily, the signs of a rodent infestation are relatively obvious. The first thing you might notice are mouse or rat droppings in cupboards and underneath cabinets. You should also look out for bite marks on cables, insulation, and food containers, like bags of pet food.

If you wake up in the night to the sounds of scratching inside your walls, don’t dismiss it as a nightmare. Mice and rats are most active at night, and the more intense the scratching, the larger your rodent infestation is.

The biggest problem with rodents is that they can cleverly sneak through the smallest spaces, holes, or cracks. If you have a crack or space in your structure that’s any bigger than 1.75 cm wide, you may be susceptible to a rodent infestation.

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Signs Of Silverfish

Don’t be fooled. Silverfish aren’t fish-like but take their name from the pest’s silvery scales that are metallic in appearance.

Silverfish constantly search homes for moisture and food sources high in sugars and starch. Nevertheless, these pests can survive for weeks without food or water. Entering homes through door gaps and foundation cracks, silverfish infestations can start from simply leaving dirty dishes out too long.

Common signs that you have a silverfish infestation include holes in wallpaper, books, or cardboard storage boxes. Additionally, fecal matter resembling small peppercorns suggests silverfish have breached the perimeter. Elsewhere, yellow stains on clothing, wallpaper, books, and papers are sure-fire signs of silverfish.

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Remove Pests Professionally With A Little Help From Terminix Canada

Have you found these or other signs of pests in your home? Call Terminix Canada for rapid, effective pest removal near you. Backed by over 90 years of professional pest control experience, our teams can identify and rid you of all common household bugs plaguing your property. Visit our Branch Locator, find your nearest Terminix Canada branch, and give them a call today.

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The Difference Between Bed Bug Bites And Scabies

Bed Bugs / November 22, 2021

Scabies and bed bug bites: neither are pleasant to think about nor are they something you’ll want to brag about. However, waking up from your slumber to itchy, uncomfortable red spots on your skin is something you’ll want to get to the bottom of quickly.

That’s why in this blog we’ll go over what exactly bed bugs and scabies are, how to differentiate which one is plaguing you, and what your next steps should be.

What Are Scabies?

First things first, there is a pretty big difference between scabies and bed bug bites. One is well, a bite, that you get from an insect that has made your house their home. Scabies on the other hand, is an infestation of human itch mites (Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis) on your actual skin.

Scabies mites are microscopic and can burrow into the upper layer of your skin, where they live and lay their eggs. Eek!

Common symptoms of scabies include pimple-like skin rashes and intense itching. Scabies are usually contracted from prolonged skin-to-skin contact with a person who is infected with scabies. In adults, scabies is often spread through intimate partners or household members, as it requires prolonged contact.

Scabies can be found across the world, similarly to bed bugs. Additionally, just like bed bugs, crowded institutions such as prisons, hospitals, childcare facilities, nursing homes and extended care facilities are often common locations for scabies outbreaks to occur.  

It’s important to note that if you are immunocompromised (have a weakened immune system), you may not develop the same rash that others would. Immunocompromised people are more likely to develop what is known as crusted scabies. Crusted scabies is thick crusts of skins that develop on your body that contain large numbers of scabies eggs and scabies mites. Crusted scabies spreads much easier than regular scabies. If you develop crusted scabies, it’s important to receive prompt and aggressive treatment.

Common Symptoms Of Scabies:

  • Extreme itchiness
  • Pimple-like rashes
  • Rashes are usually constrained to one area and are commonly found on wrists, elbows, armpits, webbing between fingers, waist, beltline and/or buttocks
  • Rash can sometimes include small blisters or skin sores that can then become infected
  • Occasionally, tiny burrows can be seen on the skin appearing as tiny raised, greyish-white or skin-coloured lines
  • Rashes in infants are often seen on the head, face, palms, soles or neck

How To Treat Scabies

If you’ve never had scabies before, it can take a long period from time of the initial infestation for symptoms to appear. Symptoms can take 4-8 weeks to show, however even without displaying symptoms, you can pass scabies onto others.

If you’ve already had scabies once before, symptoms will appear much quicker the second or third time around. You will likely show symptoms within 1-4 days of exposure.

Different from bed bugs, scabies does not require a bed bug exterminator to solve the problem. It actually doesn’t require a pest control specialist of any kind. Scabies is treated medically, requiring creams and lotions, such as permethrin. However, before running out to your local drug store to pick up lice remover, it’s important you get your scabies infestation properly diagnosed by a medical professional, as your rash may be the result of something else. Additionally, proper scabicides require a doctor’s prescription.

It’s important that you follow all the instructions on the medication and wear clean clothes while applying the medication, so scabies infested clothes cannot re-infest you. Do not use scabicide intended for agricultural or veterinary use on humans.

If you live with anyone else, it’s important that other members of your household also use the medicated creams, even if they’re not yet showing symptoms. It’s important to eradicate all of the infestations at once, so they don’t continue to spread throughout your household.

What Are Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are small, reddish-brown insects that feed on humans and animals. They are quite small, 4 to 5 mm long or about the size of an apple seed and are extremely good at hiding from the human gaze. They often hide in cracks and crevices of mattresses, beds, headboards, bed frames and any other objects around your bed during the day, sneaking out at night to feed on humans’ blood. A meal for a bed bug usually takes about three to ten minutes, leaving the human or animal host with an inflamed and itchy bite.

Generally, bed bugs only live for four to six months, however they can live up to five years and go months without feeding. The main issue with bed bugs is that you’ll never have just one, or even two. A female bed bug can lay anywhere between 200 to 500 eggs in their lifetime. Eggs hatch in seven days, fully developing in 21 days.

Bed bugs cannot fly, but they can move very quickly over ceilings, walls or floors. However, bed bugs usually travel from place to place on clothing, bedding, furniture and other fabrics or soft materials. They do not live in nests, instead hiding in crevices in groups of bugs.

[LEARN MORE: 10 NIGHTMARE-ISH FACTS ABOUT BED BUGS]

Identifying Bed Bug Bites

Bed bug bites are characterized by harsh red bumps in groups of three or four on the arms, back, shoulders and/or neck. Unlike scabies, bed bugs don’t live on the human body, but nest in hiding places near couches and sofas where they can sneak up on unsuspecting blood bags (re: you).

When you call in an expert bed bug exterminator like Terminix Canada, they’ll be getting rid of bed bugs either by using safe, ethical pesticides or a totally non-chemical bed bug heat treatment.

Common Symptoms Of Bed Bugs:

  • Blood stains on your pillows or sheets
  • Dark or rusty coloured spots on your sheets, mattress, clothes or walls
  • Fecal spots, egg shells or shed skin in hiding spots (sheets, mattresses, bed frames, etc.)
  • A musty odour that bed bugs excrete

What Do Bed Bug Bites Look Like?

  • Itchiness
  • Inflammation
  • A burning or painful sensation
  • Red, itchy bumps with clear centres
  • Small red welts or bumps in a zig zag or line pattern
  • Red bumps surrounded by hives or blisters
  • Small spots of blood from the bites left on your skin or sheets

While bed bug bites are uncomfortable, they do not regularly harm your health. However, in rare cases, some people may develop serious symptoms such as:

  • Fever
  • Swollen tongue
  • Irregular heartbeat
  • Nausea or flu-like symptoms
  • Blisters
  • Difficulty breathing

If you experience any of these symptoms, it’s important to seek medical attention promptly.

How To Treat Bed Bug Bites

Once you’ve figured out that you are suffering from a bed bug infestation instead of scabies, it’s important to act fast. As we’ve stated above, female bed bugs lay many eggs in their lifetimes, so a few bed bugs can quickly turn into a huge infestation which can be difficult to get under control. Call a professional pest control company, like Terminix Canada to quickly and efficiently exterminate bed bugs from your home. Additionally, Terminix Canada will act as a bed bug cleaning service, removing any traces that bed bugs were ever in your home.

Do not rely on DIY bed bug control, as it can only make matters worse and help aid bed bugs in becoming more resistant to traditional bed bug pest control methods. However, here are some steps that you can take to help control your bed bug infestation while you’re waiting for the experts to arrive.

Bed Bug Prevention Tips:

  • Remove any clutter from your home, especially in areas where you strongly suspect bed bugs.
  • Move your bed or mattress away from walls and other furniture.
  • Vacuum every part of your home every day, but you must empty the vacuum bag immediately after cleaning any infested areas of your house. Otherwise, you’re more likely to spread the infestation than you are to fix it.
  • Wash all clothing and bedding in hot water, and then put them in the hot dryer for at least 30 minutes. You should also be washing mattresses and box spring covers.

When dealing with bed bugs, it’s as important to know what not to do as it is to know what to do.

Terminix Canada Bed Bug Exterminators Can Help You

If you have bed bugs, you need affordable and effective professional pest control to quickly fix your bed bug infestation. Terminix Canada utilizes Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to ensure the problem is taken care of.

On your initial service, our trained and licensed technicians will hunt high and low for any bed bugs or bed bug eggs, documenting all of our findings in a comprehensive inspection report. Using both chemical and steam bed bug treatments, we’ll effectively reach even the tiniest of crevices, ensuring that all bed bugs and their eggs are wiped out.

Usually, only one visit is required from Terminix Canada to properly eradicate your bed bug infestation. However, at your request, we will return to treat the inside of your home again. Terminix Canada 100% guarantees all of our services.

What are you waiting for? Find your local Terminix Canada branch today!

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Bed Bug Sniffing Dogs: Man’s Best Friend Is A Bed Bug’s Worst Enemy

Bed Bugs / November 01, 2021

Discovering a bed bug problem in your home is as inconvenient as it is unsettling.

And it’s more unnerving considering us humans almost wiped out bed bugs in the 1950s via pesticide treatments. The wily household pests developed a resistance to pesticides, allowing them to aggressively reproduce their populations and torment homeowners and tenants worldwide once more.

So how can humans get rid of bed bugs that have evolved beyond man-made pesticides? Well, that’s two ways. You can hire pest control experts who utilize Integrated Pest Management (IPM), such as heat treatments and chemicals to effectively rid your home of bed bugs.

However, the second solution is a four-legged friend who knows how to sit, stay and come on command.

According to a study conducted by the University of Florida, trained and certified bed bug sniffing dogs are nearly 100% successful at detecting infestations.

This is opposed to the approximate 35% accuracy rate of even the best-trained human bed bug inspector. In short, a trained bed bug control technician can only detect visible signs of bed bugs in a room, however a dog can literally sniff them out, even if there are no signs available. Carry on reading to discover just how incredible a bed bug sniffing dog’s nose is!

Bed Bug Sniffing Dogs Are Beasts Who’ll Remove Your Burden

It only takes one pregnant bed bug hidden in your home to create a full-blown bed bug infestation.

Utilizing their heightened sense of smell, a bed bug detection dog can track as little as one bed bug. This is even in the most unlikely of places through walls, floors, and even underground. Whether they’re hiding behind an outlet, under a baseboard, or inside your child’s stuffed animal, no bed bug is safe when sly bed bug sniffing dogs are on the job.

Ultimately, dogs have smell receptors that are 10,000 times more accurate than a human. In other words, their nose is strong enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion.

A bed bug detection dog can successfully identify bed bugs at all phases of their life cycle, from eggs to nymphs to adults. In addition, they can crawl into tight spaces that human inspectors cannot.

Ultimately, a K9 inspection can be far more thorough and accurate than alternative bed bug removal methods. So how does a bed bug dog inspection work in practice?

A K9 inspection involves bed bug dogs alerting pest removal technicians. After this, technicians have a good idea whether the removal of mattresses and box springs is necessary. Once intruding bed bugs have been identified in any area, bed bug sniffing dogs will perform what is called a ‘passive alert’. This is where a bed bug detection dog points out any infested area to the technician they are working with.

Expertly trained, these bed bug dogs can also differentiate live bed bugs and bed bug eggs from the markings of an older infestation, for instance, empty egg shells and caste skins. This all helps to determine the severity of a particular bed bug infestation.

A Dogged Training Regime

Bed bug sniffing dogs aren’t simply recruited from the street and hired on the spot. They undertake rigorous certification and training programs to ensure their aptitude.

Did you know it takes at least 600 total hours of training before a single K9 is eligible to perform a proper bed bug dog inspection? Typically, training is spread over two months and it costs approximately $10,000 for a dog to be able to detect bed bugs. Once fully trained, bed bug dogs can smell through walls, floors and even underground long before humans can see any visible warning signs.

So there you have it – man and dog working in unison like a well-oiled, bed bug extermination machine!

Leave Bed Bug Control And Bed Bug Removal To The Professionals At Terminix Canada

When a bed bug infestation is wreaking havoc in your home, you need a permanent, safe solution that guarantees results.

Select Terminix Canada locations nationwide have access to their own bed bug sniffing dogs. Terminix Canada’s trained K9 inspection team and their handlers have certification from the National Entomology Scent Detection Canine Association (NESDCA).

The locations that don’t have a trained K9 inspection team aren’t any less effective however. All of our technicians are expertly trained and licensed to spot bed bug infestations and effectively clear your home of them using our Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

To find out more about the bed bug removal options available in your town or city, visit www.terminix.ca/branch-locator, find your nearest Terminix Canada branch and give them a call. Now you’ve discovered the power of a bed bug dog inspection, give this foolproof solution the green light, get rid of bed bugs, and love your space again.

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