Pest Library

Cockroaches are scavenging pests that have learned our properties provide them with the food and moisture they require. These pests are often associated with filth, but the truth is any home or business could become home to cockroaches. All it takes is a bit of standing water and a few crumbs for these pests to thrive. The German cockroach is the most common roach to be found indoors as it has primarily become a pest that lives inside with people. German cockroaches are small, quick-moving roaches that find their way indoors in multiple ways, making them difficult to keep out. They can move inside in things like deliveries, grocery bags, furniture, and appliances. In multi-unit buildings or inside a home, they will travel with ease to different areas through wall voids and spaces under floors or above ceilings.

German cockroaches and other cockroaches are problematic and dangerous to have in our homes for many different reasons.

• They are prolific breeders and will take over many areas of the structure they have decided to invade.
• Their excrement stains walls, floors, and clothing. 
• They produce foul-smelling secretions that also affect the flavor of foods. 
• They carry and transmit disease-producing organisms.
• They are known for causing various diseases that affect the gastric system, including food poisoning, diarrhea, and dysentery. 
• As roaches travel throughout your home, they contaminate food and surfaces with diseases they carry on their bodies.

Let the professionals at Infinity Pest Solutions, LLC help protect your property against cockroaches through our effective cockroach control services and the following prevention tips. In order to avoid a large infestation from developing in your home, regularly inspect the areas they like to hide, such as the backs of drawers, under sinks, inside boxes, and in closets and pantries. Maintain a clean kitchen, keep lids on trash cans, remove trash regularly, and wash dishes daily to limit their food access. Cockroaches are highly attracted to moisture. Fix leaky pipes, ventilate your home correctly and make sure sinks aren't leaking. Always check deliveries, secondhand items, and grocery bags for German cockroaches before bringing those items into your home.

Fleas are ectoparasites that feed on blood, transmit diseases and parasites, and take over outdoor spaces in the blink of an eye. Though fleas are tiny in size, they are incredibly hearty. They have a hard shell and body, flattened from side to side, making it almost impossible to squish them. They also are equipped with large back legs that make it easy for them to jump out of the way of danger or onto a host to begin feeding and breeding. Some believe that only pet owners have to deal with flea problems, but the truth is any indoor, or outdoor space could become overrun by fleas because of their prolific breeding habits. While fleas do live and feed on cats and dogs, they also feed on many other hosts, including rodents, wild animals, and livestock. They prefer animal hosts, but if people are around, they will also feed on our blood.

Usually it's wild animals, rodents, or stray pets that introduce fleas onto a property. As they travel across your lawn or forage for food in trash cans or gardens, flea eggs will drop off the host and onto your property. Fleas develop best in shady, damp areas. They are often found in tall grass and under things like shrubs, decks, woodpiles, and leaf piles. It is common for you or your pets to come into contact with fleas when spending in your yard or other outdoor spaces (parks, fields, wooded areas) and then bring them into your home. A rodent infestation is another common way an infestation occurs; rodents will bring fleas with them into homes they are nesting in. Fleas will also hitchhike into homes on things like secondhand rugs and upholstered furniture.

Let the professionals at Infinity Pest Solutions, LLC help protect your property against fleas through our effective flea control services and the following prevention tips. Make your yard less conducive to flea activity by keeping the grass mowed short and removing grass, leaf, or brush piles from your yard. Keep shrubs and bushes cut back to help the sundry out the ground around your home. Reduce wild animal and rodent activity on your property by keeping lids on trash cans, picking up uneaten pet food, and removing bird feeders. To keep fleas out of your house, regularly inspect your pets and yourself for fleas before coming inside. Always check secondhand items for fleas before bringing them into your home.

In Oregon, we have many different species of rodents living outside, taking advantage of the plentiful outdoor spaces our state offers. However, rodents don't just stay out in wooded areas, fields, and parks; they have learned the benefits of moving into places where people live. House mice, Norway rats, and roof rats are examples of rodents that have discovered our yards can provide them with food and shelter, and if necessary, our homes can also provide them with safe shelter. Some of their favorite places to forage for food in our yards include trash cans, pet food bowls, gardens, and bird seed. Favorite nesting sites include woodpiles, fallen trees, and dense vegetation. Inside our homes, they choose dark, quiet areas like attics, crawl spaces, basements, and wall voids.

The problem with rodents being so willing to live where we live is that not only are they annoying, prolific breeders, and challenging to prevent, but they are also dangerous and damaging. All rodents have continuously growing front incisors that they are constantly sharpening in order to keep their chisel-like shape and to prevent them from overgrowing. When rodents get into your home, their constant gnawing on objects results in damage to wires, pipes, cables, trim, furniture, cabinets, and flooring. This activity can cause fires and water damage. These creatures also carry and pass on various bacteria and diseases, contaminating surfaces and food with their saliva, excrement, shed fur, and pathogens they have on their bodies. When it comes right down to it, rodents are unwanted, dangerous pests that don't ever belong living with people.

Let the professionals at Infinity Pest Solutions, LLC help protect your property against rodents through our effective rodent control services and the following prevention tips. If rodents aren't easily finding food on your property, they will usually move along. Keep lids on trash cans, pick up uneaten pet food, remove bird feeders, and maintain your gardens to reduce a rodent's access to food in your yard. In your home, keep a clean kitchen and regularly vacuum to pick up crumbs. Make it a habit to regularly inspect the exterior of your house and repair any holes or openings you find using materials tough enough to stand up to a rodent's sharp teeth. Out in your yard, remove things like fallen trees, tree stumps, woodpiles, and other unnecessary debris that rodents can hide or nest in.

Spiders are arachnids and mainly live outdoors. These creatures often find a way onto our properties after being attracted by the food, water, and food they provide. Spiders are predators and feed on insects and other spiders. Grass, gardens, flowerbeds, and other vegetation provide both spiders and their prey with plenty of food and shelter. For the most part, we don't even know that these pests are in the yard; their shy, reclusive nature keeps them hidden. It is only when spider populations grow very large or they move into our homes that we begin to notice them or their webs.

Spiders catch prey by actively running after them or capturing them in their webs. The more insect activity you have on your property, the more spiders you will have. Spiders don't usually move indoors on their own to nest or escape harsh weather as other pests do; more often than not, they find their way into your home following their prey. Once inside, if there is plenty of prey to keep their bellies full and dark, quiet places to lay their eggs, they will stay. Some of the most common spots to discover spider activity in your home include the basement, attic, crawl space, cabinets under sinks, and the corners of rooms and windows. While finding spiders in our homes tends to be startling due to their quick movements and appearance, most of the spiders we encounter aren't dangerous. All spiders have venom they use to paralyze prey, but luckily only a couple of species in the U.S. have venom strong enough to affect human health.

Let the professionals at Infinity Pest Solutions, LLC help protect your property from becoming overrun by spiders through our effective spider control services and the following prevention tips. Maintain the lawn, gardens, and trees on your property. Overgrown vegetation attracts both insects and spiders. Help to keep spiders out of your home by making sure screens are tight-fitting in windows and doors, caulk gaps in exterior walls and the foundation, and place covers on vents and chimneys. Reduce areas of standing water near your house to prevent attracting many of the insects that spiders like to hunt. It is also a good idea to keep your yard and the inside of your home free of clutter; clutter provides these reclusive creatures with lots of places to hide and lay their eggs.

Many different types of pests live in Oregon and regularly invade our properties, and some are more of an issue than others. Stinging insects are one group of pests that most people find problematic when they set up nests in our yards or on our homes. They pose health and safety risks to people and our pets. Bees, wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets all have a stinger extending from the hind end they use to paralyze prey and as a means of defense. When stinging insects live in our yards, it is easy for you, your kids, or pets to be viewed as a threat and end up on the receiving end of a painful sting. Not only does getting stung hurt, but if you are allergic, more serious consequences can occur, including anaphylaxis. While stinging insects are an essential part of our ecosystem, they are unwanted and dangerous when nesting near people. 

Stinging insects look for places to build nests that protect them from predators, shelter from the elements, and easy access to food and water. Common nesting sites for stinging insects include:

• Trees and shrubs
• Utility poles
• Fences and play structures
• Roof eaves and under decks
• Behind shingles and shutters
• Ground holes and under areas of dense landscaping

Some species are very aggressive, and some only sting when they feel threatened, but either way, the more close contact you have with these pests, the more likely a sting will occur. 

Let the professionals at Infinity Pest Solutions, LLC help protect your property against stinging insects through our effective stinging insect control services and the following prevention tips. Though stopping stinging insects from nesting on your property is difficult, you can make your yard less appealing. Make sure to trim tree branches, limit the amount of flowering vegetation you plant, remove old fences or play structures, and fill in ground holes. It is also important to keep your grass cut short and rid your lawn of flowering weeds. Remove areas of standing water from your property by keeping gutters clear of debris, repairing low-lying areas, and storing containers upside down when not in use. Most stinging insects are attracted to and feed on many of the same things we do, including proteins and sweets. Placing lids on trash cans and recycling bins, keeping outdoor eating areas free of food debris, and maintaining garden areas are easy ways to avoid issues with stinging insects.