Silverfish

www.silverfishbugs.net

So let's chat about silverfish.

Silverfish are scaly, usually gray insects that crawl around (or scurry really) around your home. They prefer damp areas such as the bathroom, basement, or areas of your kitchen that are wet (think: under the kitchen sink). As you can see by the picture, silverfish actually do kind of, if you squint, resemble a fish. They have scale like covered bodies and a rounded face. When they move, silverfish are incredibly fast and the shake back and forth, much like a swimming fish.

Silverfish will eat almost anything in your house or business that contains sugar or starch. This includes books, paper, sugar, coffee, and even clothing and glue! When a silverfish has been eating something of yours, it will often look like a caterpillar has eaten it instead: envision a hole in a leaf where a caterpillar has eaten and that's what your book or starchy food will look like. 

It's hard to tell how many silverfish you have in your home or business because of how quickly they can multiply. If you find a silverfish, make sure that you move the items that it was eating to a dry area. These insects are nocturnal, so it's not very likely that you'll see them during the day unless you move something that they are living in.

If you suspect an infestation, call your local pest control company. If you're in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, visit www.allwaypestcontrol.com for more information!

Firewood Pests

Here's a fun tip. Pests can hide in firewood EXTREMELY easily. If you are someone who often brings in firewood for burning in your fireplace here are some easy ways to make sure that you don't have pests roaming around your home in a short time!

Information from pestcontrol.about.com/od/diyanimalcontrol/tp/10-Top-Tips-For-Control-Of-Firewood-Insects.htm -- Please visit the link for 6 more tips plus more information on the ones I've provided! 

1. Store firewood off the ground
    - If you keep the wood on the ground, pests are much more likely to crawl in to the wood. Easy      access to warmth = easy home to live in for the winter!

2. Eliminate surface pests
    - Eliminate by shaking the wood before bringing it inside, hitting it together, and looking at it. Do not spray the wood with any chemical!

3. Burn wood immediately
    - When you bring the wood into your home, make sure that you immediately burn it.  This way, if you miss anything after you've hit it together and shaken it, it'll burn in the fireplace!

4. Removal
    - If you happen to miss or forget to do some of these steps and locate bugs in your house, do not fear! Most of them are just annoying, not destructive pests and you'll be able to easily eliminate them from your home. If, however, you fear that ants have been brought in to your home via firewood, call a professional immediately,,,, These could be wood-boring pests like carpenter ants that cause damage to your home.

Like I said before, please visit the pestcontrol.about.com link for more information.

Hello Mr. Squirrel

Today's post is about the lovely Gray Squirrel. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel found in the Eastern United States.


Here are some really cool squirrel facts!

1. Squirrels are blind at birth but develop perfect vision as adults

2.  Squirrels have been around for over 35 million years

3. We mostly see gray squirrels in the United States, however there are also black squirrels as well as white ones (which are super rare!)

4. A squirrel can fall 100 feet and live to tell the tale!

5. Squirrels mate in the winter. You'll often see two squirrels chasing each other in the trees or in the snow. They are doing more than just playing....