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Residential Pest Control
Pest Control Service Plans
Commercial and Industrial Pest Control
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Key Benefits
"Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a decision making process that anticipates and prevents pest activity and infestation by combining several strategies to achieve long term solutions. Components of an IPM program may include education, proper waste management, structural repair, maintenance, biological and mechanical control techniques, and pesticide application", According to the National Pest Management Association Urban IPM Handbook. Integrated Pest Management Changes Pest Control We know that our job is to protect the environment and yet control troublesome pests in and around your home. That’s why we’ve adopted many methods of pest control service. We believe this is a very intelligent approach to a complex problem. We call it Integrated Pest Management or IPM. IPM puts together many pest control practices, which prevent, suppress and eliminate pest problems. These include physical, sanitation, mechanical and chemical methods. Our IPM techniques eliminate the requirements that support an insect population: food, shelter, and water. In fact, removing just one of the requirements can disrupt the balance and help control pests. That’s where the term “integrated” comes in. It integrates many pest control methods into one service. In order to protect the environment and your home at the same time, we may not use as much chemical as we used to. And we may be inspecting and monitoring more. In addition, we may ask that you help by disrupting the needs of the insects by removing harborages (sealing cracks and crevices), food (cleaning in “hidden” areas) and water (removing sources of moisture). Although IPM has become a popular term, especially with the public and media, it is really a return to the way people have successfully managed pests throughout history. Cultural wisdom tells us we must discover a pest, identify it, find out where and how widespread its population is, then deny that population access to food, water, and harborage; then catch, trap or somehow kill off some of the pests, if we want to bring pest numbers down to acceptable levels. Today, IPM means using two or more of those same steps of surveys, identification, sanitation, exclusion, physical methods (like trapping, swatting, glue boards, vacuuming, etc.), and when needed, resorting to chemicals (as baits, attractants, repellents, growth regulators, etc.). Science has given us a wide range of excellent pest management tools along with more knowledge about the pests themselves. That gives our pest control professionals a lot of choices. We will plan an IPM Program that is the most effective, specific for you and the environment. Our IPM approach involves a lot more surveys, uses a lot less chemicals, and requires you, the customer, to do your part through good sanitation, fixing leaks, fixing structural problems, and telling us what you see when we’re not there. It’s a partnership. Neither you, nor we, can possibly solve any pest problem for very long without our partner’s help. Our Five Step IPM Program 1.) INSPECTION AND IDENTIFICATION Thorough inspections reveal pest harborages and correct identification provides the basis for the development of the most effective pest management strategies. Threshold levels are established for each pest so unnecessary control measures are eliminated. Our report clearly identifies pests observed, harborages and conducive conditions. 2.) PREVENTION Educated service technicians and homeowners can prevent further infestations by improving sanitation, repairing structures and sealing off pest entry paths from outdoors. Our report lists any structural and housekeeping deficiencies and recommendations. 3.) MONITORING Careful monitoring of pest activity detects population increases or decreases, as well as previously undiscovered food sources and travel paths. We use glue boards and pheromone traps to help with the inspection of pests that may enter the structure. When threshold levels are exceeded control measures are increased. 4.) CONTROL Appropriate mechanical traps, baits, biological controls, physical barriers or pesticide treatments are used to control pest populations both indoors and out. The outside perimeter and harborage sites are treated to help keep pest populations low. Our optional report lists all actions, mechanical, chemical or otherwise, taken by the technician. 5.) EVALUATION The technician and the homeowner evaluate the program's effectiveness and make adjustments to the program if needed. |