The Goal of Pest Control is to Minimize Humans Damage

Pest control is the activity of managing unwanted organisms, such as plants (weeds), vertebrates (birds, mammals, and reptiles), invertebrates (insects, ticks, mites, and nematodes), or pathogens (bacteria, viruses, and fungus) that affect human health or property, damage landscapes, disrupt natural habitats, or harm the environment. Pest management often involves using natural methods such as monitoring, manipulation of habitats, and cultural practices to reduce the number or severity of pests before resorting to chemicals. When chemical controls are used, Residential Pest Control Whittier applied according to guidelines that minimize risks to humans, beneficial organisms, other pests, and the environment.

Pests usually cause damage by directly eating or contaminating crops, interfering with production in industries such as agriculture and food services, and damaging homes and other buildings. Regular pest control can help prevent the loss of inventory, spoilage of food, and damage to structures such as roofs and walls, preventing expensive repairs or replacements.

Insects, rodents, and other pests can spread diseases by carrying bacteria on their bodies that can make people sick when they eat infested foods or come into contact with open wounds. They can also damage homes by chewing through wires, causing fire hazards, and destroying insulation and wood. Pests can even be carriers of more dangerous parasites like fleas and ticks that can transmit disease to pets and people through bites.

Rodents and insects seek out warm, safe, calm environments where they can reproduce and feed. Your home provides all of these things, and offers many places where they can hide and breed, including crumbs and spills, crevices in the foundation or siding, and cracks around doors and windows. The best way to keep pests out of your home is to provide a hostile environment for them, but this can be difficult because they are so small and sneaky.

The first step in pest control is monitoring. This can be done by checking fields, orchards, gardens, forests, or other areas to see which organisms are present and what damage they've caused. It can also be done indoors by looking for signs of pests, such as droppings or damaged materials. Monitoring helps determine whether pests are at unacceptable levels and what control measures are needed.

Monitoring can also be done with tools such as traps and baits, which are designed to kill or capture pests, or with pheromones, which are natural insect hormones that can confuse males and prevent mating. Other methods can include the use of juvenile hormones to keep earlier stages of an insect from changing into normal adults, and the release of predators that will kill or eat the pests.

Once a pest problem is detected, the most effective control method is normally removal of the pests themselves. This can be accomplished by removing the conditions that allow them to thrive, such as storing food in sealed containers or removing garbage regularly, fixing leaky pipes, and sealing cracks and other openings. A pest infestation may require the use of chemical treatments, but these are always used in conjunction with nonchemical methods and are never applied to the whole ecosystem.