The perfectly round holes in the wood just under my neighbor’s gutter were a dead giveaway. I didn’t even have to look for the telltale signs of “sawdust.” Of course, the appearance of the impossibly fat, round “bumblebee” emerging from the hole did confirm my suspicions. My neighbor has carpenter bees.

Looking just like big, fat yellow and black bumblebees, carpenter bees start to hover around homes in late-spring to early summer in search of mates and nesting sites. If you look closely, you’ll see that unlike their nectar-seeking cousins, carpenter bees have a bare, shiny, black upper abdomen whereas bumblebees have a hairy abdomen with some yellow markings. Unseasonably warm weather is bringing carpenter bees out early in many areas.

Tunneling deep into wood eaves, fascia, siding and decks to lay their eggs, carpenter bees can do extensive damage to your home. Like a precision drill, they leave perfectly round holes as they excavate deep into the wood to build their nests. Their tunneling carves long, deep grooves into the wood, destroying it and allowing water to enter and eventually rot the wood. They are a serious pest, not easily discouraged, and difficult to get rid of. Their deep tunnels are not easily penetrated by your average can of Raid and their aggressive nature makes most homeowners unwilling to get within shooting distance.

Females will return to reuse old tunnels year after year, continuing their earlier excavations and further damaging your home. One female attracts another which can lead to rather extensive damage in just a short time. Creating enough ruckus to make the area uninhabitable for the unlucky homeowner, the aggressive males hover around the tunnel entrance while the female lays eggs and tends the nest. Complicating the problem is fact that woodpeckers consider carpenter bees a tasty snack and can do significant damage to your home chiseling at the wood to get to their treat.

Carpenter bees are not a wait and see, maybe they’ll go away problem. Once they start to tunnel, they’ll be back each spring to further damage your home unless the nests are destroyed and the tunnels sealed off. If you suspect you have a carpenter bee problem, call the expert pest control experts at Stern Environmental Group. Click the post title to learn more about carpenter bees and other insect pests. Visit our website to learn more about our complete pest control and pest management services. You’ll sleep better tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.

The stench is nauseating. My eyes won’t stop tearing. Each breath is painfully permeated with noxious odor. Even with the windows tightly shut, the foul smell permeates our house. This is the third night in a row that a skunk has bombed our yard.

Unlike Flower, the skunk in Disney’s Bambi, real skunks don’t exactly have a delicate perfume. As anyone knows who has driven through skunk territory, the malodorous odor permeates a wide area and lingers an unconscionably long time. Skunks seek out comfy accommodations, using their sharp talons to dig under porches, decks and backyard sheds, undermining foundations in search of a cozy shelter.

They’ll munch on your plants, plunder your garden, dig up your lawn searching for grubs, snack on pet food left out for the dog or cat, even sample the garbage. They can douse you or your pet with their penetrating spray from a distance of 7 to 10 feet, quite a feat for a critter the size of a large house cat. Their dens harbor disease, breeding fleas, ticks and mites which can threaten the health and safety of your household pets and even your children.

I can tell you from personal experience that no amount of tomato juice or douche will completely eliminate skunk odor on a dog — and after you wash your pet, on you. Skunk odor clings to skin and hair and fur for long, suffering weeks, no matter how many times you shower. Having barely survived a skunk bombing two years ago, our poor old pooch is confined to a short leash on well-supervised walks until we can locate and roust the skunk from our yard. No more romps around the backyard for awhile, a disappointment for both Rascal and our children.

Getting rid of a skunk is no job for amateurs. If someone’s going to wind up on the wrong end of an angry skunk, you want it to be a professional, paid to take the hit! That’s what we’re here for. If you have a skunk problem, call the wildlife control experts at Stern Environmental Group. To find out more about our superior wildlife control services, click the post title. Visit our website for more information about our complete professional pest control and pest management services. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.

When the creepy crawlies come out from their hiding places and threaten to run you off your property, you need help fast. Call the Stern Environmental Group. Our pest control and pest management experts provide emergency 24-hour service seven days a week in New Jersey, New York City, Long Island, and parts of New York State and Connecticut.

We understand the negative impact a pest problem can have on your business and the need to correct it promptly. We know you want immediate action. At Stern Environmental Group our professionally trained and highly skilled technicians will come to your aid and run the pesky varmints out of town. We may not wear white hats, but you’ll definitely think we’re the good guys.

If you are having a problem with cockroaches, ants, carpenter ants, spiders, bees, honey bees, carpenter bees, bed bugs or nuisance wildlife, call the pest control experts at Stern Environmental Group. Click the post title for information about our commercial pest management program, and visit our website to find out more about the pesky outlaws that are invading your turf. If you need help and you need it fast, call the good guys at Stern Environmental Group. You’ll sleep well when you get “Stern” with your pests.

The little darlin’ is pregnant again! Not much bigger than a kitten herself, she seems to be “in a family way” two or three times a year. She and her broods take refuge under the porch of the rental house across the street. From my front windows I can see her slip furtively through the crack between the concrete steps and the warped wood siding to tend to her kittens. As the kittens get a little older, it’s fun to watch them tumble around on the grass, running to hide under my neighbor’s car when anyone approaches. The lady next door — in our neighborhood we call her “the cat lady” — feeds her and her growing number of offspring as well as at least eight or 10 other “regulars” all year. In her backyard she keeps a huge dish of kibble and another of water filled year-round. Her heart is in the right place, but her humanitarian actions have created a serious problem in our neighborhood.

The cats that now populate our street regularly pee on our front doors and porches to mark their territory. The paint is peeling off my neighbor’s newly painted siding, from the height of two feet down. They soak the cushions of our porch furniture with urine. They defecate and pee in our gardens, repulsing unwary gardeners. They stalk our bird feeders and hide in our garages, swiping and hissing when we try to shoo them away. I don’t open my kitchen window anymore because the odor of cat urine is so strong. The bushes under my kitchen window seem to have become a public urinal for the neighborhood colony. Their shrieks and cries pierce the night. And sometimes I find one torn, bloody and dying in the street, not fast enough to dodge the cars that pound up our hill despite the speed bumps.

I love cats. I have adopted four of my own. But feral cats are a menace to our neighborhood. Feral cats are non-domesticated cats that are born and live in the wild. Unlike domesticated strays, they have never had a home and are considered wild animals. Self-sufficient hunters, feral cats often live in colonies of 10 or more, adapting efficiently to the “wilds” of our neighborhoods. Colonies can seriously deplete natural wildlife populations, feeding on songbirds, rabbits, chipmunks, rodents and other small animals. They pose a serious threat to domesticated pets who encroach into their territory.

Most seriously, feral cats can transmit to humans and domestic pets diseases such as rabies, the plague, ringworm, toxoplasmosis, mumps, cat scratch fever, feline leukemia and feline distemper. You don’t have to come into contact with an infected cat to catch some of these diseases. If your child mistakes cat feces for a lump of sand while playing in his sandbox, he is at risk. If you unwittingly expose yourself to cat feces while digging in your garden, you risk contracting or spreading disease to your family and pets.

The removal and control of feral cats is a job for professionals. Wily and fierce, they will protect themselves, their broods and their territory with tooth and claw. You put yourself at serious risk if you try to trap them yourself. If you have a feral cat problem, call the pest control and pest management experts at Stern Environmental Group. Our skilled and experienced professionals can solve the problem without risk to your family’s health and welfare. Click the post title to find out more about our wildlife control services. Visit our website for information about our full scope of pest control and pest management services. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests.