CritterChatter™ Blog
JAMESTOWN, N.C. —Recent waves of warm weather are tricking typically spring critters to start moving in early, generating reason for concern as to how to keep them out of one's home.
The Piedmont Triad is still weeks away from the official start of spring, but already the pest control industry is busy.
"You could hear it just right in the ceiling. You couldn't miss them," Tracey Tadros said about the starlings that she first noticed up in her Jamestown home ducts last April.
"We noticed there were babies and they were feeding, so we didn't want to kick them out and we allowed them to stay all summer. Then it got cold, so we allowed them to stay all winter. Now it's time for them to find a new home," Tadros said.
After deciding that it was time for the birds to go, Tadros called Critter Control. "I just didn't want animals crawling around in the house," Tadros said.
Wildlife specialist Tim Penhollow said he is getting several calls a day for birds in vents. Eighty percent of those are starlings, Penhollow said.
For starlings, he removes the nest and implements simple screens over the vents. The screens prevent the birds from returning.
"If you are hearing them now you have about two or three weeks before the nests are solid. And then you have other problems," Penhollow said.
The warm weather has pests and critters like starlings busy early. Black birds are known for occupying in dryers and bathroom ducts while spending the warm weeks looking for a place to nest.
Warning signs, such as bird droppings around ducts, is often a sign that the birds are here and it's time to act if you want to get rid of them.
Such birds can create a mess by their droppings and clogging up vents, which can potentially start fires.
For little pests like ants, box elder bugs and stink bugs: "They are now emerging and they are trying to build the colony back up and gather food for their brood. Unfortunately, inside a house is a great place for them," said Frank Fowler with McNeely Pest Control.
Fowler said that the most calls he is receiving right now, thanks to the warm weather, is for ants.
Fowler said you can prevent ants by creating a clean zone around your home, including getting rid of cob webs and brush.
"Cut the ivy back, trim the bushes back, and anything else that's touching the structure," he said.
Even better yet, Fowler said, is to treat your home in the fall, as pests like ants sometimes enter a home during the winter and often don't actually appear until the spring.
The Piedmont Triad is still weeks away from the official start of spring, but already the pest control industry is busy.
"You could hear it just right in the ceiling. You couldn't miss them," Tracey Tadros said about the starlings that she first noticed up in her Jamestown home ducts last April.
"We noticed there were babies and they were feeding, so we didn't want to kick them out and we allowed them to stay all summer. Then it got cold, so we allowed them to stay all winter. Now it's time for them to find a new home," Tadros said.
After deciding that it was time for the birds to go, Tadros called Critter Control. "I just didn't want animals crawling around in the house," Tadros said.
Wildlife specialist Tim Penhollow said he is getting several calls a day for birds in vents. Eighty percent of those are starlings, Penhollow said.
For starlings, he removes the nest and implements simple screens over the vents. The screens prevent the birds from returning.
"If you are hearing them now you have about two or three weeks before the nests are solid. And then you have other problems," Penhollow said.
The warm weather has pests and critters like starlings busy early. Black birds are known for occupying in dryers and bathroom ducts while spending the warm weeks looking for a place to nest.
Warning signs, such as bird droppings around ducts, is often a sign that the birds are here and it's time to act if you want to get rid of them.
Such birds can create a mess by their droppings and clogging up vents, which can potentially start fires.
For little pests like ants, box elder bugs and stink bugs: "They are now emerging and they are trying to build the colony back up and gather food for their brood. Unfortunately, inside a house is a great place for them," said Frank Fowler with McNeely Pest Control.
Fowler said that the most calls he is receiving right now, thanks to the warm weather, is for ants.
Fowler said you can prevent ants by creating a clean zone around your home, including getting rid of cob webs and brush.
"Cut the ivy back, trim the bushes back, and anything else that's touching the structure," he said.
Even better yet, Fowler said, is to treat your home in the fall, as pests like ants sometimes enter a home during the winter and often don't actually appear until the spring.
