Belmar, NJ Experienced Wildlife, Bird & Pest Control Contractor

Recently, I went out on a service call for a homeowner in Belmar, NJ who was having an issue with mice in his basement. Mice invading your home presents a number of health risks — the biggest being mouse droppings. The accumulation of mouse droppings can spread bacteria, contaminate food sources and trigger allergic reactions in humans. Additionally, mouse droppings contain the Hantavirus, which is a potentially life-threatening disease to humans. The virus lives inside mice feces and, when disturbed, can become airborne. Humans that inhale the disease are most at risk for transmission. 

Mice generally enter homes through gaps or cracks in the foundation when entering the basement, which is exactly where I began my inspection. Within minutes, I found a tiny hole in the wall about 7 inches deep. Upon closer inspection, I found mouse hair and nesting material inside the hole.

For treatment, I sealed both openings with copper mesh and placed RTU (Ready-to-Use) rodent bait stations throughout the basement. I used copper mesh because the mice hate the taste of it. Mice are no longer an issue for this homeowner.

A new residential client in Belmar, NJ was having an issue with squirrels in their attic. He knew it was squirrels because he saw a few of them running across his roof one day and heard them wrestling in the attic during the daytime. Even though the homeowner assumed it was squirrels, I still needed to conduct a thorough inspection.

As I began my inspection I came across a huge hole in the roof edge that leads right into the attic. I took a closer look and found squirrel hair inside the access point. Squirrels are excellent chewers and love to make a new home inside an attic. Once they gain access, they create a mess with their constant gnawing on structures and fittings. The roof edge is a great entry point for squirrels because the materials under the edge tend to degrade faster than any other part of your roof, due to harsh exposure from the weather, and provides an angle for them to work and chew at until they can create a space large enough for them to enter.  

In order to safely reach the access point, I had to be a bit creative and install ladder brackets on the rooftop. A ladder bracket will safely hold the ladder in place and prevent any damage to the homeowner's roof. Next, I placed three baited traps near the access point to entice the squirrels. Within a short amount of time, the squirrels were safely caught. Once I finished setting up the traps, I reported the damage I found to the homeowner. He informed me that he already hired a contractor to repair the damage to the roof.

Recently, I received a callback from one of our long-time customers, a homeowner in Belmar, NJ, who wanted us to remove a hornet’s nest that had formed on the front porch. As you can see from the photos, this nest was well on its way to becoming a large, mature colony of wasps. Wasps that live in colonies (social wasps) are highly territorial and will not hesitate to sting if they believe that their nest is being threatened. A wasp does not lose its stinger and can sting multiple times, so being attacked by a swarm of wasps can easily result in dozens of painful stings. Removal of a mature active wasps nest is a potentially dangerous undertaking.

First, I treated the nest with an application to knock down the population so that I could safely remove the nest. While removing the nest, I noticed that there were active maggot-like wasp larvae, the stage of development right after the eggs hatch, inside the nest. 

This, at least to me, was quite interesting to observe. The wasp grubs are fed by the adult worker wasps until they are ready to pupate. The pupal stage is when their larval structures break down and the adult structures such as wings appear for the first time. In the pupal stage, the larvae encase themselves in their cells by spinning a silk cap over the top of their cell. They later emerge once they develop into adult wasps. Hornets take about one month to go from egg to full-grown wasp. Although nobody likes having wasps forming nests on their property, observing their developmental stages and the transformations that they must go through in order to become an adult wasp is pretty fascinating. 

Whenever I’m called in to resolve a bed bug infestation, I’m inevitably asked how bed bugs were brought into their home. The answer is always bed bugs infestation have nothing to do with sanitation. The only way bed bugs can get into a home is if someone inadvertently let them in. These parasites are stealthy hitchhikers that can hide in the smallest of locations. If you are unlucky enough to be next to someone carrying bed bugs, whether seated next to someone in public transportation or at the movies, or you check into a hotel where the previous guest carried them into the room, these insects are always on the lookout for a new food source — you! They hide in your belongings or on your clothing and these bugs follow you right into your home.

Fortunately, this customer in Wall Township did the right thing and contacted us early, before the bed bugs had time to settle in and multiply. This particular infestation was caught early and handled quickly. I pointed out to him, common habits that can spread bed bugs to others. Here, this customer kept his work boots at the end of his bed every night. What a wonderful dark, quiet place for the bed bugs to hide during the day. Bed bugs would be happy to use the cozy toe box of the she as a "bus stop,” waiting to be transported to their next destination. Wherever the customer and his boots went the next day, the bed bugs would come along for the ride, get off at a new destination, and look for a new victim, continuing the cycle of infestation.

To help reduce bed bug infestations, we all need to be conscious of what we are bringing into our homes, especially after overnight trips sleeping in other locations. And if someone has a bed bug infestation, he should be aware of what is leaving the house to help avoid others from becoming infested.

Cowley's received a call from one of our commercial accounts located in Belmar, NJ. When I arrived at the account I did an inspection of the exterior of the building, and did not find any pipe chases or holes along the foundation. I then inspected the exterior rodent bait box (LP) located by the rear door. I refreshed the bait in the box.

Still looking for the source, I did an interior inspection and started under the equipment, seeing if there was any evidence of rodent droppings. I then checked the metal catch boxes (Tin Cat) and snap traps under the equipment.

Heavy rodent activity was observedby the ice machine at the rear of the building. Rodent bait boxes (RTUs) previously placed in the basement had no activity. We added an additional Tin Cat and snap traps upstairs under equipment where rodent activity was observed by customer.

When I discussed the rodent problem with the customer, she said that her
parents had started the business 23 years prior and had never had a rodent
issue.

Problem:  Due to the extremely cold weather, a higher than normal rodent activity has been observed. While doing the interior inspection, found the rear door has been damaged, with a slight bow at the bottom leaving a slight gap at the bottom of the door. That’s all it takes for rodents to find a way inside. We suggested that a door sweep be installed on door to prevent
access to rodents and we will return in two weeks to evaluate the progress.