New Jersey pest control experts are often contacted when surprised homeowners find evidence of mice in their homes.  Mice enjoy the same comforts that humans do…food, water and a warm place to live.  Once they find a nice place to live, they will not be leaving of their own accord.

Signs of infestation of mice include gnaw marks on wood cabinets or furniture, track marks, nesting material, mouse droppings, and dribbles of urine.  Mice constantly need to file down their incisors so they gnaw on wood.  Nesting material can consist of sticks, leaves, fabric, hair, paper, cardboard, string, or anything that a mouse can forage and shred.

Mice are most active at night.  They prefer to eat grains, but they are scavengers and will feed upon any food source that they come across.  Not needing much food to survive, crumbs or pet food that is left unattended can feed hungry mice in a home.  Because mice have strong sharp teeth, they can easily rip open sealed packages of food and eat undetected in cabinets.

Mice infestations are difficult to control because they multiply very quickly.  Female mice can have from five to ten litters of pups in her lifetime.  Each litter has on average between five or six mice babies, which are born approximately 21 days after mating occurs.  Those babies reach reproductive maturity in six to ten weeks depending on the environment that they live within.  It’s easy to see how a single pair of fertile mice can multiply out-of-control and cause a full-blown mouse invasion in no time.

The pest control technicians at Stern Environmental Group are trained to look for the signs of mice activity and can find their nesting spots so that they can be safely eliminated in homes, garages, sheds, attics, and all types of businesses.

They look relatively harmless at first glance.  They have large rounded ears and big dark eyes.  Their fur is soft and their whiskers are long.  The long skinny scaly tail is what turns most people off and scares others beyond belief.  The house mouse is a common home invader report New Jersey pest control professionals.

The house mouse is a native of Asia that was spread throughout Europe.  Humans helped the house mouse spread throughout the rest of the world.  Like other types of insects and animals, mice need food, water and shelter to survive.  Human habitats provide the perfect environment for mice to thrive.  Once they have moved into your home, you’ll need help from a NYC pest control professional to eliminate the pesky critters.

The house mouse will eat crumbs, food scraps, or pet food that is left out.  They will also gnaw into boxed or bagged food with ease to gain access to sealed food products.  Mice constantly dribble urine and leave a trail of feces behind in their wake which will contaminate any surface that they walk upon as well as any food product that they are near.

Mice tend to stay within 10 feet of their nesting site and they typically follow the same path to and from food or water sources over and over again.  Trying to remain undetected, mice will travel from place to place along the walls.  In addition to a dirt or oil type smear left on the wall.  You may also notice gnaw marks on the wood baseboards or furniture as mice are in constant need of filing down their incisor teeth.

Stern Environmental Group provides commercial and hospitality industry rodent extermination services to businesses in New York and New Jersey.  Call us today for help with your mice or rat eradication needs.

New Jersey rat populations do not slow down in the winter months report New Jersey pest control professionals.  In fact, locations that were previously rat free might experience sudden rat infestation issues when environmental changes occur.  For example, if an area did not have ample water to support a rat population previously, but was subjected to a period of continuous wet weather, rats may indeed move into the area because they suddenly find it to be a suitable living environment.  In addition, if rats were previously located in an area that was subjected to high amounts of rainfall where flooding occurred, it would not be uncommon for rat burrows to become flooded.  Rats are very intelligent creatures.  Sensing the danger of high waters, rats will instinctively head for higher ground, thereby infesting previously rat-free areas.

Ridgewood-GlenRock Patch reported on December 16, 2011 that 20 rat burrows have been found in three areas within one block in Ridgewood in Bergen County.    Reports are that rats have not been a problem for the Village in the past and these burrows are located in the Central Business District of the Village.  Unlike other cities where rat infestations are found, this NJ rat infestation is located where a minimal amount of restaurants are located.  The Village Manager is hopeful that the pesticides combined with the cold winter months ahead will wipe out the rat population that have moved into the Village.  You may read the article here.

Rats live in burrows outdoors so the cold winter weather does not affect them.  They are however on the constant hunt for food, which is not aplenty during the winter months.  Normally dining on seeds and plants which are gone during the wintertime, rats will turn to homes, businesses, and trash receptacles as a means to gain a meal.  Rats are excellent at climbing and can enter a structure via the soffits or attic vents.  They have powerful teeth and can chew their way through a variety of different building materials to reach their desired food sources as well.  Rats are so resourceful that they can squeeze their body through a hole the size of a quarter.

Rats can be dangerous pests to contend with as they are known disease carriers and can cause fires when they chew on electrical wires.  A NJ pest control professional can help you keep rats out of your home or business.  Call Stern Environmental Group today for expert rat removal services.

Like New York City bed bugs, bed bug infestations in Canada have proven to be a difficult pest for home and business owners to eradicate.  Like NYC pest control professionals, Canadian pest control experts have had to come up with creative ways to try to combat the bloodsucking parasites to stop them dead in their tracks.

Many libraries in the United States and Canada have suffered from bed bug infestations.  Libraries are particularly susceptible to bed bugs because people often read books in their bed and place the book on the bed, nightstand, dresser or other nearby furniture piece.  If a home has an ongoing bed bug infestation, it is very easy for tiny bed bugs to crawl into the book binding area or between the pages of the books.  These books are then transported back to the library where they have infested books, pictures, tables, chairs, and upholstered furniture.  Additionally, females could easily lay eggs within the book that would not be detected by untrained personnel.  Those eggs would have the opportunity to be delivered back to the library, hatch, and then venture out to bite other library patrons, or even hitch a ride home with another host thereby spreading the infestation.

A Library System in Canada, which shares books and other materials among 18 libraries, spent several months battling bed bugs that were inadvertently transported from one library location to several other library locations.  In an effort to avoid that bed bug nightmare from occurring again, they have decided to use the NightWatch Bed Bug Monitor reported The Globe and Mail on December 12, 2011.  The monitors/traps will be used in the trucks that transport library books and materials between the different libraries within the system, but are not designed to work in a space as large as the libraries.  In addition to using the NightWatch Bed Bug Monitor, bed bug sniffing dogs will be called to root out the bloodsuckers if there are any bed bugs that the NightWatch captures.

Stern Environmental Group offers the NightWatch Bed Bug Monitor in our online Marketplace as well as many other fantastic bed bug products for both home and business owners.

New York City pest control professionals report that rats continue to thrive on the streets of New York. Rats are so common of an occurrence within the city that some people estimate  that there are more rats living in NYC than there are humans. As darkness falls, the rats  come out to play. They scurry up and down streets and alleys, looking for a tasty morsel of food that was dropped by humans.

Not fearful in the slightest, you can find rats foraging in trash cans and large garbage bins throughout the city. They inhabit playgrounds, parks, apartments, homes, restaurants, offices, and of course the New York City subway system.

The mere sight of a rat can bring fear and often flight when a person sees their budging eyes, long scaly tale, large body, or pointed teeth. The fear of rats is real. Called Musophobia, it is one of the most common phobias in the United States. Musophobia can be triggered by a variety of different experiences with rats or mice. People report having this phobia when they see a rat or mouse on the television or in the movies, when they smell rats or mice, when they hear jokes about them, or when they are in the same room with the pests.

Just as people vary, so do the symptoms and reactions for those that suffer from this phobia. Some folks are mildly bothered while others suffer from sweating, rapid heartbeat, shaking, nausea, and shortness of breath.

Rats can become dangerous when they enter your home as they are known disease carriers. Additionally the razor sharp teeth of a rat are able to chomp into sealed food sources. Rats will contaminate food and food preparation areas as they leave urine and feces behind in their path. A NYC pest control professional can help determine where the rats are gaining entry and will provide fast rat removal services.