Cowleys Termite and Pest Services Reminds Homeowners to Join the Fight Against Mosquitoes This Summer by Eliminating Any Standing Water

Neptune City, NJ (PRWEB) July 11, 2011

There is nothing quite like summers in New Jersey. Once again residents are enjoying the outdoors from hikes and barbeques to local town fairs and, of course, spending relaxing days at the beautiful Shore beaches and boardwalks. Unfortunately, along with summer, comes something quite serious. Monmouth, Middlesex and Ocean counties are in the middle of their heated annual battle to control our nj mosquito population. With one of the wettest springs in recent memory, mosquitoes are out in full force. According to State entomologists, the summer of 2011 will be a challenge to stop these annoying, disease-transmitting pests that are hell-bent on ruining our summer.

According to Deepak Matadha, an entomologist with the Middlesex County Mosquito Commission, the mosquitoes being targeted right now are the coastal salt-march mosquitoes. Adult females deposit their eggs on the marsh surface and when the monthly high tides flood the marsh the larvae hatch and rapidly develop. For the local commissions, time is of the essence. They must take immediate action because mosquito levels rise each time a new batch grows -- and it only takes a week for a mosquito to develop from a tiny egg to a buzzing, biting adult.

Cowleys Termite & Pest Control reminds homeowners to do their part to support the hard work of their local NJ county mosquito commission by reducing mosquito problems on their property. NJ Mosquito control requires a coordinated effort by everyone. One mosquito breeding ground on the property of a homeowner can infiltrate the entire neighborhood as the adult mosquitoes travel away from their larval habitats.

And it?s easy to do. Residents can reduce mosquito populations by reducing standing water, their breeding habitat. Cowleys, in support of our state- and county-wide mosquito efforts asks homeowners, especially this summer when the conditions are ripe for high insect populations, to inspect their property for any standing water. Even the smallest amount of standing water is enough for a mosquito to lay her eggs. And lay she does! A single female mosquito can lay 100 to 300 eggs at a time and she capable of producing 3,000 offspring during her life span. Depending on temperature, a mosquito can develop from egg to adult in about a week. Given those breeding rates and days to full maturity, to say that mosquito populations can quickly escalate doesn?t quite capture the severity of the problem.

So where can water collect? Here are the most common troublemakers:

Buckets
Used tires
Tree holes
Bird baths
Bottles and cans in recycling bins
Plant pots
Child toys
Wheelbarrows
Cisterns and rain buckets
Trash cans
Overgrown ponds,
Tarps and pool covers

A pest control professional can also assist homeowners in reducing the mosquito population. If water can?t be drained, a licensed pest control operator can apply an approved larvicide to wipe out the next generation. Chemical control of adult mosquitoes will not rid a property of mosquitoes as long as there are larvae waiting to hatch or the mosquitoes are coming from somewhere else. However, a pest control professional can apply a one-time treatment when a wedding, family reunion, or some other outdoor activity is being planned and you don?t want mosquitoes spoiling the occasion.

As New Jersey residents, all of us should be proud of the work of the local mosquito commissions and the entomologists at Rutgers. They are all doing a yeoman?s job in battling what is considered to be the world?s deadliest insect. Often, residents take things for granted when the behind-the-scenes system works so well.

Founded in 1991, Cowleys Termite & Pest Services has been helping homeowners deal with mosquito problems and a full range of pest infestations. Cowleys also offers bird, rodent, and wildlife removal. For more information visit http://www.cowleys.com or call 866-9-COWLEYS.

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Are Bats Driving You Batty? Cowleys Termite & Pest Services Advises Homeowners that August and Early Fall is the Ideal Window of Opportunity to Safely Remove and Exclude Bats From Your Home

Neptune City, NJ (PRWEB) August 20, 2011

Afraid of bats? You are hardly alone. Perhaps no creature is misunderstood and shrouded in mystery as bats. With their bulging eyes, pushed-in snouts, vampire-like incisors, vein-covered translucent wings, and alien-like ears, bats have always been burdened with centuries of misinformation. Many believe that bats thrive on human blood. In fact, there are only three species of bats that live off the blood of cattle and they all reside in Latin America. Compound all this with the myth of Dracula and it?s hardly surprising that, along with ghosts, goblins, and spiders, bats have become a staple of spooky Halloween d?cor.

So, what?s the reality of these nocturnal creatures? Bats are neither birds nor rodents. They are mammals that produce only one or two offspring per year. There are nearly 1,000 species of bats and New Jersey is home to nine of them. Six are year-around residents and three are migratory. If you run into a bat in New Jersey, it is likely to be the insectivorous Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus). Bats do far more good then harm. At night, they become nature?s vacuum cleaner, sucking up the insect population, especially annoying adult mosquitoes. They are vital to our ecosystem and conservation groups are active in their protection.

According to Drew Cowley, a wildlife removal specialist, ?I often receive frantic phone calls from homeowners who have found a bat suddenly appearing in their kitchen or living room. I hear a litany of common questions: ?Is it rabid?? ?Will it attack me?? ?What should I do?? Often, I hear something with a bit more urgency like ?Get someone over here now. I want this disgusting thing out of my house!?

Continued Cowley, ?Perhaps, the most important place to start is what you can?t do. Bats are a protected species. It is illegal for anyone, including animal control officers and professional wildlife removal specialists to kill bats. Terminal traps and poisonous bait traps should never be used.?

A wildlife control specialist has the training and experience to remove bats safely and humanely. More important, after eviction, a home needs to be made ?bat proof? to prevent later reentry. Eviction, followed by exclusion, is the only safe, permanent remedy.

Close inspection of entry points usually reveals brown stains caused by body oils where the bats squeeze in and out and possibly a few mouse-like droppings adhering to the building just below. Bats must eat and drink daily. When they emerge at dusk to feed, homeowners should watch their home to see where the bats leave. This information will greatly assist the bat removal specialist who, upon closer inspection, will locate the holes or cracks allowing the bats access the structure.

Common access routes are:

under the eaves
behind a chimney or loose board
beneath a roof?s ridge cap
inside an opening made by squirrels or birds
loose-fitting screen doors

Once exits have been located, the bats can be excluded. However, this should not be done when flightless young may be present which is usually in June and July. Excluding the parents will starve the young, creating an odor problem from the decaying carcasses. Bats leave their roosts starting in August and into the fall. This is the ideal time to set up physical barriers, mostly netting, permitting exclusion during their winter absence. Bats are extremely roost-faithful, returning year after year to the same building sites. If exclusionary measures are not implemented, the bats will likely return.

Said Cowley, ?Never forget that bats are wild animals. The same health concerns and precautions that we take with other wild animals like raccoons, opossums and skunks, apply equally to bats. Bats that can be caught, especially those found on the ground or are unable to fly should be assumed to be sick and treated with caution. Children, in particular, should be warned to never pick up bats. If you have to remove a sick bat from the house, use thick leather work gloves and make sure the bat is disposed of in a place where it will not be found by pets or other animals.?

Bats are carriers of rabies. If you suspect you may have been bitten, or a bat was in the room with you while you were sleeping, contact your health professional immediately. Bat bites and scratches are often not noticeable. Bat teeth are tiny and razor sharp, leaving a mark the size of a pinprick.

Cowleys Termite & Pest Services, founded in October 1991, helps homeowners deal with a full range of pest infestations. Through its Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife Removal Division, Cowley?s offers bat, bird, rodent, and other wildlife removal. For more information visit http://www.cowleys.com or call 866-9-COWLEY.

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Cowleys Nuisance Wildlife Removal Services Now Brings Advanced GPS Technology to Make Animal Trapping More Humane

Neptune City, New Jersey (PRWEB) December 15, 2011

The trapping of wildlife has been around since the dawn of man. And over the millenia not much has changed. Trappers had to make their daily rounds to inspect the traps that they had set. Delays in inspection often meant needless suffering for the trapped animal. Cowleys Nuisance Wildlife Removal Services recently began using a new application of GPS technology, called Trapsmart, which offers real-time notification of trapped animals through a combination of sensors and GPS technology. It removes the guesswork and get the animals removed from the cages and relocated as quickly and as humanely as possible.

With Trapsmart, cage sensors trigger an email or text within minutes of the trap door closing. The wildlife technician, who may be miles away, knows that the cage has a new tenant -- a squirrel, raccoon, opossum, or some other wildlife. These instantaneous alerts minimize the amount of time that an animal spends in the cage. And that translates into less chance of injury and a more humane removal process.

Said Drew Cowley, ?Those in the nuisance wildlife business don?t get to see that many advances in new technologies. Traps are traps and the capturing of wildlife isn?t on anyone?s list of high-tech enterprises. However, the Trapsmart GPS technology is a welcome exception. It has allowed us to do our job more efficiently and with better results. The objective of any good wildlife tech is to capture and relocate the animal as humanely as possible. And with these devices, we are able to electronically observe every trap we set. The sooner these animals are relocated, the better it is for animals and for the homeowner. There is less opportunity for the animal to hurt itself and the onus is taken off the homeowner to keep an eye on the cages between technician visits. Quick removal and relocation benefits everyone.?

Continued Cowley, ?No animal should needlessly suffer. Certainly, no homeowner wants to hear the desperate sounds of a struggling animal. Our expedited response rates from this GPS notification system have enabled us to do our job more efficiently and more effectively. It?s a great example of how a new technology can be creatively applied to improve even an endeavor such as animal trapping that has been around since time immemorial.?

In 1991, Cowleys Termite & Pest Control Services was founded by Drew Cowley. For 20 years, Cowleys has continued to expand, helping businesses and homeowners resolve a full range of pest infestations. Cowleys offers bird control services through Cowleys Bird Solutions and wildlife removal through Little Rascals Nuisance & Wildlife Services. For more information, visit http://www.littlerascalsbycowleys.com or call 866-9-COWLEY.

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Cowleys Termite & Pest Services Now Turns Up the Heat on Bedbugs with a Heating System that Fries Bed Bugs Dead

Neptune City, NJ (PRWEB) December 28, 2011

Blood-sucking parasitic bedbugs are an incredibly difficult pest to control. They are masters of the art of stealth with an amazing ability to hide in the smallest of cracks and crevices. Bedbugs are so resilient and so tenacious that professional pest control operators view these formidable enemies as ?Superman? bugs. Finally and fortunately, we have found their ?Kryptonite?: Heat! Heat has proven to be one of the most effective weapons in the bedbug war.

For any living creature on this planet, extreme temperatures can prove fatal. Bedbugs are no different. Studies have shown that bedbugs have high sensitivity to extreme heat. Heat disrupts their lipids, denatures their proteins, damages their cell structures, and affects their water balance. In short, heat liquidates them. And bedbugs can?t develop heat resistance. If you apply enough heat for enough time, bedbugs die. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Cowleys Termite & Pest Services is now proudly offering the BedBug Chasers ? Heating System to distressed homeowners and businesses looking for an immediate way of frying these little bloodsuckers dead. Heat treatment is a green, non-toxic treatment, 100% chemical free. Properly applied heat treatments will quickly and effectively rid your home or business of any bedbug infestation. The BedBug Chaser? heating system kills all stages of bed bugs: egg, nymph and adult. So, gone means gone. There are no hidden eggs waiting to hatch. Bedbugs start to die at 113? degree and their eggs require a little more heat. They become non-viable in 10 minutes at 122? degrees. The bedbug chaser heaters were specifically designed for bedbug infestations rather than generic heaters retrofitted for bedbug applications. With bedbugs and heat, the objective is quickly get to the required lethal heat levels and evenly heat the room so that the bedbugs don?t have time to relocate to a safe location. The heat must be a surprise attack of deadly force with the heated air well circulated to penetrate into hidden cracks and crevices.

Said Bill Cowley, ?We now offer one of the best ways of locating bedbugs -- trained bed bug sniffing dogs ? and the only two proven effective long-term treatments for killing them -- traditional chemical applications and a high heat blast.? Continued Cowley, ?With bedbugs, you don?t want to be limited to one approach. Often, resolving bedbug infestations is a multi-tactic strategy. Because we have the complete tool chest, we are able to customize our treatment plan according to the specific situation and work with the customer. The objective is to get rid of the infestation by whatever means necessary so they don?t become further entrenched.?

?A bedbug infestation wreaks havoc on a families? life. I?ve seen first-hand the psychological and emotional effects of an infestation. They are very real and should not be underestimated. Nervousness, jumpiness and experiencing phantom itching along with acute stress and anxiety are all common byproducts of an infestation. By giving customers choices, it puts them in control. Instead of them feeling helpless, powerless and at the mercy of the bedbugs, we want the customers to know that they now have the upper hand. For the bedbugs, it?s game over,? noted Cowley.

In 1991, Cowleys Termite & Pest Services was founded by Drew Cowley. For 20 years, Cowleys has continued to expand, helping businesses and homeowners resolve a full range of pest infestations including bedbugs. Cowleys offers bird control services through Cowleys Bird Solutions and wildlife removal through Little Rascals Nuisance & Wildlife Services. For more information, visit http://www.cowleys.com or call 866-9-COWLEY.

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