Pest Control Bakersfield CA includes managing plants and animals that damage our fields, orchards, landscapes, wildlands, buildings, and yards. It also means preventing or controlling diseases they cause.
Scouting and monitoring are important first steps. They help us determine whether a pest needs to be controlled. Natural forces, including weather, competition, disease, natural enemies, and barriers, affect pest populations.
Knowing what kind of pest you are dealing with is important for managing them. This will allow you to determine whether the pest can be tolerated or should be controlled. It will also help you choose the most effective control tactics and determine when to apply them.
Pest identification is determining what organisms are causing damage to crops, landscapes and other areas. A pest may be a weed, vertebrate (bird, rodent, or other mammal), invertebrate (insect, tick, mite, or snail), nematode, or pathogen (bacteria, virus, or fungus).
A number of resources are available to assist with pest identification. These include websites that provide photographs and information about specific organisms, or printed references like field guides that are available in libraries or Cooperative Extension offices. The best resource for identification is a qualified expert. If you are unsure of what kind of pest you are dealing with, consult with a local weed or insect specialist or entomologist.
Many pest species go through dramatic changes in appearance as they develop and mature. This is particularly true for insects as they enter and leave their adult forms. It is therefore essential to be able to accurately identify pests at each stage of their life cycle. Incorrect identification can lead to poorly chosen management tactics that waste time and money, or even put people and the environment at unnecessary risk.
Identifying pests is especially critical for IPM because it allows you to select an appropriate tactic for each stage of the pest’s development and life cycle. This will help you avoid the use of more toxic chemicals and achieve successful outcomes for your control effort.
In addition, pests need to be identified in order to determine which agricultural products are at risk and to assess the impact of a particular pest on water quality and wildlife habitat. Identifying pests can also enable you to meet legal obligations for product labelling, food safety and health standards. For example, in the case of commercial pests such as cockroaches or termites, pest identification will ensure that an approved insecticide is used to control them and that it is applied at the correct rate.
Using pesticides, in addition to other control methods, is often essential to protect people and property. However, a few simple precautions can help reduce the risks associated with these chemicals. Use nonchemical controls (such as traps or baits) whenever possible and only apply a pesticide when absolutely necessary. When a pesticide is used, choose the safest formulation available (e.g., a bait or a liquid spray with low volatility) and read and follow all label instructions and safety warnings. Avoid spraying over large areas, as the spray can drift and deposit residues in unintended locations. Consider fogging devices only in confined spaces with hard-to-reach areas, such as along skirting boards.
Always wear protective clothing when mixing and applying pesticides. These include long sleeved shirts and pants, heavy work gloves and face masks or respirators. Protective gear may also be required for specific tasks, such as cleaning up and disposing of baits or opening and closing bags or containers of sprays. Applying a pesticide indoors should be done in a well-ventilated area. Shut off gas and electric services to the treatment area if necessary, especially when using solvent-based products. Do not make a spray application in wall voids where heat or hot water pipes are located; solvent fumes can ignite and explode these pipes.
Be sure to thoroughly clean equipment and utensils after using a pesticide and before eating or drinking anything that was in contact with it. Before beginning a pesticide application, make sure children and pets are removed from the area. Remove or cover food and cooking utensils in kitchens, and close the door before spraying. Thoroughly clean surfaces and vacuum floors prior to treatment. Do not open windows until after the spray dries, unless recommended by the product label.
The word pesticide refers to any substance or mixture that kills a pest, prevents its growth or reduces the damage it causes. There are many different kinds of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and wood preservatives. These are formulated into liquid, solid and gaseous forms. Insecticides, for example, kill pests by acting on the nervous system and disrupting nerve-impulse transmission. Herbicides, on the other hand, stop plants from growing by killing the roots or inhibiting their growth. Fungicides control fungal diseases by damaging the plant cells, or by preventing the production of nutrients.
Pests pose a health risk to humans and animals, such as rodents and cockroaches that carry diseases, and fleas and ticks that can transmit tapeworms or Lyme disease. Moreover, certain pests like termites and carpenter bees can create substantial damage to homes and businesses. Fortunately, there are some preventive measures you can take to avoid pests and the problems they cause.
Prevention focuses on stopping pests before they start damaging crops or structures. This includes sanitation, harborage elimination and inspection to identify conducive conditions that must be corrected before a problem develops. Prevention also involves preventing or eliminating the use of pesticides.
A good pest control program combines monitoring, pest identification and prevention with nonchemical control methods. Identifying the pest allows you to select the best management method. This may include introducing predators or parasites to kill the pests, or it may involve using nontoxic controls like baits and traps that are targeted to the specific pest and minimize risk to humans and beneficial organisms.
Monitor your property regularly to determine if pests are present and what damage they have caused. This information will help you decide whether to use suppression, which reduces pest numbers to an acceptable level, or eradication, which destroys the pest population.
Inspecting your property for signs of pests, such as holes in walls or floors, will allow you to prevent infestations before they get out of hand. It’s also important to keep trash receptacles covered and to wash or rinse all food containers before putting them away. Eliminating roosting sites and hiding places by keeping woodpiles, tall grasses and shrubs cut back can also prevent pests from finding shelter close to buildings and plants.
Prevention is often a part of integrated pest management (IPM). IPM is an ecosystem-based approach to managing pests that uses a combination of techniques to keep pests from damaging plants and structures and reducing their impact on the environment. It emphasizes monitoring, correct cultural practices, and preventive tactics such as habitat manipulation. In addition, IPM incorporates the proper timing and application of chemical pesticides. These are used only when monitoring indicates that they are needed and according to established guidelines.
For those pests that do make their way into our homes, commercial or residential, there are a number of treatments available to help. These may include physical traps, baits and even some targeted spraying. However, preventive measures are often the best option. These include removing sources of food and water, making it harder for pests to gain access into buildings or plants and blocking their entry points.
Keeping a clean property will also help. This includes regularly removing trash, sealing food and cooking utensils in containers and fixing leaky plumbing. The use of rat or rodent deterrents for indoor environments can also be useful, as can installing gnaw resistant material on any doors or windows that pests are known to shim or chew their way through.
It is also worth mentioning that cultural practices, which can be used in conjunction with prevention, are important for managing some pests. This is because, for example, good sanitation, removing debris and infested plant material, planting competitive species, cultivating, soil solarization and heat treatments all can help to control pest populations.
In addition, the climate has a direct influence on some pest populations. Temperature and day length affect activity, while moisture and humidity may have an effect on growth rate. In the case of plant-eating pests, a decrease in rainfall and/or an increase in temperature may cause them to move to other areas or to die.
Another method of controlling pests is biological control. This is a process of encouraging natural enemies to control pest populations. These natural enemies may be predators, parasites or pathogens. In addition, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals may be used to control pests.
Before a professional pest control treatment is carried out, it is recommended to remove any food items from kitchen benches or cabinets and store them safely away. It is also helpful to give the affected area a thorough cleaning and to remove any boxes, tin cans or other materials that could get in the way of your technician’s application of the pest control treatment. This will enable the specialist to reach into tight corners and crevices where many pests hide.