Termites vs Carpenter Ants: What’s the Difference?

How termites (above) and carpenter ants (below) look in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

Telling the difference between flying ants vs termites can be difficult if you don’t know what to look for. You might actually be dealing with carpenter ants. The size, habits, and qualities of carpenter ants could lead to you calling a termite exterminator when an entirely different pest control protocol is necessary. Whether your property in Wisconsin has termites or carpenter ants, our exterminators at Batzner Pest Control will teach you how to identify them and prevent them on your own. Read on to learn!

Carpenter Ant vs Termite: How to Tell Them Apart

The first step to getting rid of the wood-boring insects in your home to discern which ones you’re dealing with. Here are some features to look for to tell apart termites vs flying ants:

  • Bodies: Carpenter ants are larger than termites with a pinched “waist,” longer antennae, and forewings that are larger than their hindwings. With a broader body and even wings, termites have more consistent features.
  • Visibility: Termites are very discreet about their infestations, but carpenter ants are more likely to be seen and leave evidence of their presence. When carpenter ants bore through wood, they leave wood shavings and discarded wings near their holes.
  • Diet: Carpenter ants don’t eat the wood that they drill through, which is why you’ll see wood shavings near their nesting sites. Termites eat the cellulose within the wood, leaving infestation sites with a stripped, striated appearance.

Carpenter Ant Damage vs Termite Damage Signs

It is helpful to know the difference between carpenter ant damage and termite damage to quickly assess which pest you have on your property. Carpenter ants often find their way into buildings through decayed wood, working their way to sound wood. Finding a lot of ants near damaged wood outside your home or business is usually an indicator of a carpenter ant infestation.

Termite damage is usually prefaced by mud tubes popping up in the soil around your building. Once inside, termites eat away at the cellulose within sound wood, creating a thin, layered appearance. Carpenter ant damage looks more holey and cavernous than termite damage.

How to Get Rid of Wood-Destroying Insects

The best pest control is always proper prevention, which means keeping a tidy yard and keeping constant watch for insect infestations. However, if you’re already dealing with insects tearing through the wood in your home or business in Wisconsin, you can always reach out to the team at Batzner Pest Control. Our technicians can provide advice to help you find evidence of all kinds of destructive pests. Contact us today!

What’s That Animal in the Attic?

Inspecting an attic for pests in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

Are you hearing scratching or scurrying noises from your ceiling? There are several kinds of evidence that animals might be living in your attic or walls, but noises are usually the most apparent and first noticed. The problem with having an animal in the attic is that without experience, it’s hard to tell what it is and how many of them there are. That’s where the experts at Batzner Pest Control can help. We’ve seen all kinds of home-invading wildlife here in Wisconsin and can help you with both identification and safe removal. Read on to learn more!

Signs of an Animal in the Attic

When you hear scampering noises or other foreign sounds coming from your attic, it’s important to look for other signs of animal activity on your property to determine the source and scope of your problem. Here are some signs of animals in the attic:

  • Droppings or urine in crawl spaces and corners of your home
  • Destroyed or nested-in insulation
  • Torn up paper, twigs, or leaves around roofing or inside attic indicating nesting
  • Bite marks from animals gnawing on structural materials or your stored belongings

Noticing any of these kinds of evidence of animals could mean that animals are living in your attic, walls, crawl spaces, or more places on your property.

Which Wild Animals are in the Attic?

Now that you’re sure there are animals upstairs, it’s important to identify them in order to deal with them safely and effectively. These are the most common attic invaders living in Wisconsin, along with the signs that give them away:

  1. Rats and mice: Rats and mice often tear up insulation to build nests in our attics. They also have to constantly gnaw on things in our homes to keep their incisor teeth from overgrowing. When paired with frequent scampering sounds, you can be sure you have rodents up there.
  2. Raccoons: Raccoons are strong enough to rip off shingles from your roof or chew holes in your building. Loud bumps during the night could indicate raccoon activity.
  3. Squirrels: Squirrels usually enter our homes through roof vents and eave gaps, as opposed to the more destructive raccoons. Squirrel noises are usually lighter and more rapid than raccoon noises, so you can tell these pests apart through the differences in sound and damage.
  4. Birds: Chirping sounds in the attic are a dead giveaway that birds are around. Nuisance birds will spread filth and diseases with their nesting and droppings, but fortunately, they make themselves known very quickly in most cases.

How to Safely Get Rid of Animals in the Attic

The best way to prevent wildlife problems is to constantly monitor your property for activity and seal off holes that could lead into your attic and walls. However, once wild animals start to nest or reproduce inside your home, your best bet is to get your local pest control company involved. At Batzner Pest Control, we train our technicians to remove all kinds of animals with safe and humane strategies, teaching our customers how to avoid similar situations in the future. Reach out today for a free quote!

Where Do Bees Go in the Winter?

Honey bees in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

Spring brings so much to look forward to. However, in addition to the blooms and warm weather, spring also brings all kinds of insect population resurgences in Wisconsin. We often associate spring with bees, as they are important pollinators that facilitate plant growth and sustain all kinds of animals through the fall. But where do bees go in the winter? Keep reading to learn more about what happens to bees in the winter with Batzner Pest Control!

Do Bees Hibernate Like Other Animals?

It’s likely you’ve noticed a considerable reduction in bee activity around your home during the winter if you normally see them in the spring and summer. You might wonder, where do bees go in the winter if there is nothing to pollinate? This actually depends on the species of bee! These are three ways that different kinds of bees cope with cold weather in Wisconsin:

  • Bumblebees: When the weather becomes inhospitable, bumblebees die off, but the queen survives the winter to repopulate in the spring. Overwintering queens dig holes in the ground or find shelter in hollow logs, nests, and compost piles. Each spring, they have to start over from scratch, building a new colony.
  • Honey bees: The male honey bees die off during the winter, but the female bees return to their hive to huddle around the queen and vibrate to keep warm. They survive off the honey gathered during their active seasons.
  • Carpenter bees: Carpenter bees are more solitary bees that attempt to survive the winter through hibernation. They wait out the winter in abandoned nest tunnels from spring.

How to Prepare for Bees During Winter

Having bees around your yard is sometimes a pleasant experience, but if you have too many, they might nest in your home’s structure or build nests very close to your door, which can be problematic. In order to keep bees from entering your home during the spring, here are some preventative measures you can take during the winter:

  1. Seal cracks around the outside of your home that lead to the attic or openings in the walls
  2. Consider planting flowers further away from your home
  3. Keep your lawn and plants cut short to avoid overgrowth that bees can nest in
  4. Fill in holes animals dig in your yard so bees and other insects can’t nest in them
  5. Keep outdoor trash and recycling bins covered, preferably with sealable lids

Need Help Preventing Bees?

If you suffer from bee problems in Wisconsin year after year, it’s time to contact your local pest control company. During the winter months, our bee removal professionals at Batzner Pest Control can inspect your property to identify vulnerable spots you missed, and during the spring and summer, they can visit to remove unsafe nests. Contact us today for a free quote on stinging insect control!

Rats in Residential Areas

Rats in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

No one wants to have to share their home with rats. Unfortunately, all through the colder months here in Wisconsin, rats are looking to make their way into our homes for food, warmth, and shelter. If you don’t take steps to prevent their arrival before the cold sets in, you may find yourself amidst a bustling rat infestation. Whether you think you’ve heard rustling in your walls and crawl spaces or you have already found evidence of rats living inside your house, it’s important to learn all about the ways that rats operate to keep them out of your house going forward. Read on to learn more about how rodents infest residential areas and where they like to hide from the Batzner Pest Control team!

Why Are There Rats in My House?

Although rats in Wisconsin are capable of growing larger than we would like them to, they still have the ability to squeeze through tiny holes—sometimes as small as a quarter! If they can’t find a good gap in your walls and windows or any cracks in your foundation and siding, rats can rely on their climbing skills to get into our houses. Rats are capable of scaling wood, concrete, drywall, stucco, and many more surfaces. Roof rats are particularly notorious for climbing up our walls and jumping onto our roofs to find ways into our attics. Because of their ability to sneak inside from above, rats can establish a breeding population in our attics and crawl spaces without us even noticing.

Where Do Rats Hide Inside?

We’ve established that rats are able to sneak inside with ease, but where are their most common hiding places? These are the 5 most likely places you’ll find rats inside your home:

  1. Attics and lofts: Your attic likely has insulation for rats to make nests out of.
  2. Kitchens: Our kitchens provide rats with heat from many different electrical appliances.
  3. Laundry rooms: Laundry rooms can provide warmth and moisture for rats to capitalize on.
  4. Walls: This is usually a sign of a larger infestation.
  5. Garages: Rats find easy nesting opportunities among clutter and stored items.

Rodent Season in Wisconsin

In the cold of Wisconsin, rodents are left looking for warm places to take shelter for many months out of the year. As we get closer to spring, we still have to watch out for rats looking to infest our homes. Whether your home is teeming with rodents or you’re just looking for prevention advice, reach out to your local pest control company. Our team at Batzner Pest Control has decades of experience defending residential properties from rodent infestations. Contact us today for a free quote!

How a Dehumidifier Can Prevent Silverfish, Centipedes, and Cockroaches

A silverfish in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

There are many reasons why a pest infestation might develop inside your home, but one of the main contributors to bug outbreaks is excess humidity. Some of the main culprits that hang around in humid environments are silverfish, millipedes, centipedes, and cockroaches. In extremely humid cases, mosquitoes and fleas could also start to breed in your bathroom, crawl spaces, or other places where standing water pools up. In addition to setting up a dehumidifier, having a pest control company come and treat your property is the best way to attack a humid pest breeding ground. Read on to learn more with the expert technicians at Batzner Pest Control!

How Does a Dehumidifier Help with Pests?

Humidity levels and excess moisture may increase the number of pests you see crawling around your house. This could come in the humid summers or the rainy winters. If you’re currently experiencing pest problems stemming from unknown causes, one thing you can consider is investing in a dehumidifier to keep the humidity level down in your house. Here are four things a dehumidifier will do for your home:

  1. Prevent mold growth inside your home
  2. Minimize condensation contributing to pest infestations
  3. Deter bugs that breed in standing water pools
  4. Alleviate allergies triggered by pests that moisture attracts

Professional Advice: Do Dehumidifiers Really Work?

Karl Rowell, Quality Assurance and Safety Manager, explains, “Moisture, in general, can be a very conducive environment for bugs. Running a dehumidifier reduces the favorable conditions in your home.” Placing a dehumidifier within your home can alleviate pest activity, especially in your basement, bathroom, and even crawl spaces. Dehumidifiers work to remove moisture from the air, creating a drier environment that is less conducive to pest survival. This will keep out pests like silverfish, roaches, and more that are attracted to moisture, and it will also prevent these pests’ predators from developing a presence in your home.

Moisture Pest Control in Wisconsin

If you’re dealing with pests and can’t figure out where they’re coming from, a likely cause of your outbreak is moisture buildup. If you can’t find your infestation’s source or your dehumidifier is failing to protect your home from pests, reach out to your local exterminators. At Batzner Pest Control, we train our technicians to conduct exhaustive inspections, checking for every possible contribution to your pest problem. For a free quote, reach out to our team today!

Guide to Hotel Bed Bug Inspections

A bed bug found in a hotel in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

Bed bugs are the bane of the hotel industry’s existence. A bed bug problem in your hotel or bed and breakfast can lead to poor reviews, lost business, and even temporary closure. What’s worse, bed bugs have improved chances of spreading around in the conditions that hotels provide them. It’s the perfect storm that creates a nightmare for many hotel owners every year. If you’re looking to learn the best ways to get rid of bed bugs in your hotel in Wisconsin, read on for advice from the Batzner bed bug removal team!

Why Do Bed Bugs Love Hotels?

Hotels are the perfect place for bed bug populations to grow and spread for a few different reasons:

  • Hotels are usually packed with people. More people means more potential hosts to feed on.
  • People come in and out of hotels frequently. Bed bugs have the opportunity to sneak into peoples’ luggage when they feel overcrowded, effectively giving them free transportation to a new home to spread and thrive in.
  • There are lots of places to hide in hotels. Despite what some believe, bed bugs hang out in many places other than your mattress. You might find them in upholstered furniture, carpeting, baseboards, or even light switches and electrical outlets.

5 Places to Look for Bed Bugs in Hotels

To inspect a hotel room for bed bugs, there are 5 main places to look. Here is how we recommend you go about checking:

  1. Mattress, box spring, and bed frame: Inspect the entire bed, paying special attention to connection points like the joints of the frame, zippers and seams in the mattress, and along the rails or slats of the frame.
  2. Furniture: The same protocol goes for furniture. Seams and joints in furniture often provide bed bugs with access to secluded hiding spots.
  3. Wardrobes, dressers, and baseboards: Check for bed bugs where dressers meet the wall and where the walls of your closet meet the floor. Bed bugs might also be living in the carpet pile.
  4. Nightstands and wall fixtures: Anywhere that the wall meets furniture or a fixture is a great place for bed bugs to hide. You might even find them in shelf joints or behind paintings.
  5. Closet items: Any luggage left in the closet or the luggage stands themselves could be infested with bed bugs.

Click here to read our full guide to hotel bed bug inspections.

Professional Hotel Bed Bug Inspections with Batzner

To ensure that your guests are living in a safe, clean, bed bug-free environment, you’ll want to invest in regular bed bug inspections from your local pest control company. At Batzner, we have decades of experience conducting hotel pest control in Wisconsin. We can apply targeted spot treatments or all-encompassing heat treatments depending on your needs. Contact us today for a free quote from our bed bug control team!

How to Prevent Pantry Pests—Baking Bug-Free in Wisconsin

When you’re ready to hit the kitchen to whip up some of your favorite baked goods for the holiday season, the last thing you want to discover is a cupboard full of bugs! Unfortunately, there are several species of insects that wreak havoc in homes, grocery stores, and food processing plants all over Wisconsin, breaking into and eating away at our stored dry foods. These are called “pantry pests,” a term encompassing many kinds of insects only related by their food preferences. Those who have dealt with pantry pests know how can difficult it can be to get rid of them entirely. To learn the best ways to prevent them from infesting your home to begin with, read on for advice from the Batzner Pest Control technicians!

Common Pantry Pests in Wisconsin

Learning more about the common types of pantry pests in Wisconsin will help you recognize the signs of an infestation early on. These are the most common pantry bugs in our area:

  • Indian meal moth: These tiny moths love to eat and live in our stored flour, cereal, and cornmeal. They have a range of tan hues across the backs of their wings and produce yellowish larvae with pink heads.
  • Cigarette beetle: At only 2 to 3 mm in length, these tiny beetles can be hard to catch. They have a dull brown color and are known to infest tobacco in addition to all sorts of dried food products.
  • Drugstore beetle: These beetles are hard to tell apart from cigarette beetles, although they do have a slightly brighter coloration and thinner bodies. Drugstore beetles are sometimes called “bread beetles” for their love of infesting bread products.
  • Weevil: Weevils are small brown insects with a distinctive snout. They commonly infest pantry products such as flour, pasta, rice, and nuts.

Some Tips for Preventing Pantry Pests

As is the case for avoiding many kinds of insects, the best pantry pest control starts with prevention. Working to stop infestations before they start will end up saving you time and money in the long run, as well as the hassle of pulling out your baking ingredients to find them teeming with pests. Here are some tips for keeping pantry pests out of your home:

  • Inspect any food you purchase at the grocery store to ensure the packaging isn’t damaged.
  • Don’t leave any food out in the open for too long.
  • Keep your food stored and sealed in airtight containers.
  • Keep your pantry closed as much as possible.
  • Check around your home to ensure that your door and window screens are intact.
  • Seal off any gaps or cracks that could provide pests entry points into your home.

Professional Help Preventing Pantry Pests

If you feel that you’re at the end of your rope trying to get pests out of your pantry, talk to your local pest control company about your problems. At Batzner Pest Control, we have seen every kind of pantry pest living in Wisconsin. We can safely remove them from your home and identify the reasons for their appearance, helping you avoid them in the future. Contact us today for a free quote!

Rodent Snap Traps vs. Bait Stations

Rodent bait station in Wisconsin home - Batzner Pest Control

Few pests pose the threat during a Wisconsin winter like rodents. The last thing you want is a mouse or rat infestation in your home this time of year, making it important to know how to prevent them. If you’ve already found the signs of rodents in your home, you may be looking for the easiest way to get rid of them. While it’s best to enlist the help of a professional, it’s also important to learn about the most effective treatments you can get on your own: snap traps and bait stations, to be specific. In an effort to help educate our communities about rodent control, Batzner Pest Control’s experts are here to give you the rundown on using snap traps vs. baits to get rid of your rodent problem.

Traps vs. Baits: What Controls Rodents Best?

Rodent bait stations and snap traps are two of the most popular choices that home and business owners make when trying to get rid of rats on their property. While they both have the possibility of solving your rodent infestation, they also each have drawbacks that are important to take into consideration. Here’s how they work:

  1. Snap traps: This traditional trap makes use of a simple mechanism. The device holds some form of bait attached to a pressure-sensitive plate or rod that releases a bar on contact, delivering a fatal, trapping blow.
  2. Bait stations: These work by luring rodents in with a fake piece of bait. They smell and taste like enjoyable food to the rodent, but they are laced with toxic chemicals that will kill the rodent within a day or two.

What are the Best Rodent Traps or Baits?

Deciding to go with snapping rodent traps or toxic rodent baits depends on a few different factors. If you know exactly where the rodents are in your home, setting traps will help you tell right away when they have been caught. Rodent bait stations can work better for less accessible areas, but you won’t be able to tell exactly when they have been dealt with because it takes a day or two for the rat or mouse to process the poison. The downsides to these DIY options however are having to deal with the toxic materials or the dead rodents themselves.

Best Rodent Control Option in Wisconsin

If you have even one or two rodents in your home, it’s always best to contact your local rodent control experts. Dealing with DIY methods like snap traps or bait stations can be dangerous and ineffective. At Batzner Pest Control, our team will not only get rid of active rodents in the home, but also implement measures to prevent future infestations. Contact us today to get started!

Look Out For Rodents in Wisconsin this Winter

Mouse in Wisconsin home in the Winter - Batzner Pest Control

Wisconsin’s winters render it nearly impossible for many types of pests to live outdoors as they normally do. While many pests disappear this time of year, there is one in particular that can actually increase in activity: rodents! In partnership with PestWorld, the NPMA recently released their 2021 Fall & Winter Bug Barometer® predicting a significant increase in rodent activity this time of year due to the cold temperatures and below-average precipitation.

With our coldest months still ahead of us, now is the time to learn everything you can about winter pest pressures and what you can do to prevent an increased risk of a rodent infestation. The experts at Batzner Pest Control are here to help—read on to learn more!

Wisconsin Winter Pest Problems

Although many types of pests go away in the fall and winter in our region, there are a few that stick around. In fact, the NPMA reported an increase in prolonged stinging insect activity in our region due to the warm summer. However, with a bitterly cold winter predicted, the most concerning pest prediction is the expected increase in rodent activity. More than any other pest, rats and mice are known for heading indoors this time of year to wait out the cold months ahead. No one wants to share their home with rats and mice over the holiday season, making it important to implement winter pest control before they get indoors.

NPMA Bug Barometer 2021

Where Do Rats Live Inside in the Winter?

To get inside, rats and mice can squeeze their bodies through the tiniest of cracks and crevices. After they’ve made their way inside, rodents can cause a lot of damage. Rats and mice use all types of materials to build nests, chew on everything nonstop (electrical wires included), and can create a health hazard with their droppings. Rodents will choose to live in the following areas of your home during the winter:

  • Rats: Norway rats are known to burrow beneath the very foundation of your home, and are thus found in basements, crawl spaces, and more. Roof rats, however, prefer to live in higher areas of a property, including inside of wall voids or inside attics and chimneys.
  • Mice: House & deer mice alike will seek out dark, undisturbed places in the home to nest. With their small size, they can nest in rooms, inside of furniture, and even behind warm appliances in your kitchen or laundry room.

Winter Rodent Exclusion Services

Especially with NPMA’s prediction of increased rodent activity this year, now is the time to implement rodent exclusion services to keep rats and mice outside. The rodent exterminators at Batzner Pest Control will work with you to prevent rodent infestations this winter and year-round. Contact us today to get started!

How to Rodent-Proof Your Home

Mice living in someone's home in Wisconsin - Batzner Pest Control

Wild animals in Wisconsin can sense when summer comes to an end. To prepare for the harsh, cold winter ahead, all kinds of wildlife look for reliable winter-long shelters. Unfortunately for us, this means that rodent problems are inevitable. Because mice and rats can be so sneaky and adaptable, it can be hard to tell if you’re in the middle of an infestation, let alone where they are nesting. To learn more about rodent infestations and how you can prevent them, read on for the expert advice of our rodent exterminators at Batzner Pest Control!

Why Do Rodent Infestations Happen in Fall?

Just like everyone else in Wisconsin, rodents have to take precautions in the warmer parts of the year to prepare for the freezing winter to come. It’s usually quick work for rodents to find everything they need in our homes. These are the three things they need to survive:

  1. Warmth: Mice and rats do not hibernate, so they need to find a reliable source of warmth to help them through the winter.
  2. Shelter: Some rodents, especially mice, are essential to their ecosystems as prey. They need a good hiding place for the winter and can often find it in our walls.
  3. Food: Although rodents can go for longer than you would expect without food, they are always on the hunt for a meal, preferably one loaded with carbohydrates.

How to Keep Rodents Out

Rodents can be one of the most difficult pests to control by yourself, but their inconspicuousness makes them much more difficult to remove from your home than to keep out in the first place. Here are some prevention strategies you can take at home to avoid a mice or rat infestation this fall:

  • Block off any easy access points—this could mean fixing screens on windows and vents, applying weather stripping on doors, and filling cracks in your plumbing fixtures and roofing.
  • Clean dishes and spills right away and store your food properly, sealed in airtight containers.
  • Keep your grass cut short, clear out your yard waste often, and refrain from using mulch near the foundation of your home.

Get Ahead of Rodent Control in Wisconsin

There’s no better time than the fall for rats, mice, and more to figure out where they will be staying through the winter. This also means that there’s no better time for us to start working on preventing infestations. If you need help making your home completely rodent-proof this fall, reach out to your local rodent control experts. Our technicians at Batzner Pest Control have been helping Wisconsin homeowners protect their properties since 1946. Contact us today for a free quote!