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Gophers may have been a cute little annoyance in the movie “Caddy Shack”, but they aren’t nearly so funny when they are making your lawn their home. There’s nothing more unsightly than those distinctive lumps of soil that indicate the presence of a gopher.

What can you do to get rid of gophers? You can spend a lot of time and money trying out various strategies that don’t work. For instance, devices that cause vibrations are supposed to irritate the gopher into leaving – but they don’t seem to work. Likewise, gas bombs aren’t effective by themselves because gopher tunnels are too long – the gas dissipates before it reaches the gopher.

Some people opt for traps. However this takes too long and considerable damage to the lawn will occur before the problem can be resolved.

The best way to remove gophers permanently is with poison. While gophers may seem like cute little creatures, they do a lot of damage to your property, and usually affect your neighbors as well. By simply putting poison bait and strategically placing gas bombs in the gopher tunnels, we can get rid of your problem permanently.

For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Southern Californians may not have to worry about cold weather the way the rest of the country does, but we still have to deal with one of the side effects of winter weather – pests seeking shelter indoors.

There are a few things you can do to make sure your home stays pest free for the winter:

• Cover up outside vents. Your home has several plays with vents to the outdoors – your dryer vent, attic vents, and others. Make sure that these vents are covered with screens, which will prevent pests from coming into the house.
• Look for cracks and holes in the foundation of your home and in the exterior walls. Seal up the cracks and holes.
• Keep your trash sealed up. Take the trash out of your home on a daily basis and make sure your garbage can seals tightly. Pests are looking for alternate food sources and garbage or debris makes a great food source.
• Keep your counters and floors clean. Again, pests will look for whatever morsels of food they can. Also keep cereal and crackers in air tight containers.
• Consider implementing an integrated pest control solution to your home. We’ll help you determine if there are any access points that are allowing pests into your home and help you manage pest problems. You’ll be surprised at what turns up with an inspection, and how we can help you eradicate winter pests.

For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Are you looking for non-toxic flea prevention strategies? Lots of people want to treat fleas in their home without dangerous toxic chemicals. There are some techniques that help get rid of fleas, but they require careful application.

For instance, Boric Acid has long been touted as the wonder cure for many pest infestations. Boric Acid, found in the soap Borax, will certainly kill fleas when they come into contact with it. Boric Acid acts as a desiccant – it dehydrates fleas to the point that they die.

Unfortunately, Boric Acid works best when spread all over the surfaces that may harbor fleas. This can be a difficult challenge to get adequate coverage. You may have to cover every rug and floor in your home, as well as liberally coating your yard. Also, Boric Acid works by killing the flea larvae. You still have adult fleas present, and they can simply lay additional larvae.

There are a number of easier ways to get rid of fleas, and a many that offer low-toxicity. Your best bet is to consult with a professional to put together a plan to rid your home of fleas for good. For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Nobody wants termites in their home. But if you ignore the signs of termites, you could be missing an opportunity to clear them up before your home suffers too much damage.

Termites love wood. Any part of your home that has wood could be susceptible to termite damage –fences, tree stumps, flooring, trim and window sills. Home owners should routinely inspect their house, fences and yards for signs of termites.

What exactly do you look for?

• First step is to check for mud holes that indicate a termite nest.  These bumps in the ground are larger than ant nests and usually bumpy and muddy.
• Look for fecal signs. Termites leave behind termite feces pellets that are long and cylindrical. Of course, these are small bugs, and feces pellets tend to be extremely small – looks like piles of sand.
• Check your molding and window sills for small piles of saw dust. Those small piles indicate that termites might be present.

If you suspect that you have termite infestation, call us for a thorough inspection. We’ll look through your home for places the termites may be entering, as well as signs of infestation. Based on our inspection, we can recommend a treatment plan that will get rid of the termites from your home permanently. For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

You’ve probably heard of dust mites and the problems they can cause related to allergies. Actually, dust mites are often called spider mites because they are in fact part of the arachnid family. These mites are off-white and so small you can’t see them without a microscope.

For such small creatures, dust mites can do a lot of damage. Dust mites feed off of dead human skin cells. It’s one of the reasons that dust mites can be routinely found in blankets, pillows, mattresses, and sheets. Dust mites cause very common allergic reactions, such as itchy red bumps on the skin. Unfortunately, they also cause a more intense reaction for asthmatics.

Dust mites are also incredibly prolific. Female dust mites lay eggs 1 to 3 times each day, producing more of these noxious critters. If you want to get rid of dust mites, you have to stay on top of cleaning areas that attract them. For instance:

• Wash all bedding – covers, blankets, sheets and mattress pads in hot water once a week.
• Put pillows in the dryer for 15 minutes on high heat cycle every other week.
• Cover your mattress with a plastic cover – this keeps dust mites from burrowing into the mattress.
• Replace feathers or down pillows with synthetic materials.
• Replace wool blankets with cotton or nylon materials.

The secret of getting rid of any pest is to be diligent and keep on top of the problem. Dust mites are a great example of just one pest that can cause difficulties in your home. You may be living with more than one obnoxious pest – an inspection will help you keep your home healthy. For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

One of the pleasures of living in Southern California is that you can enjoy year round gardening, even when most people are celebrating Christmas. But it’s hard to spend much time outdoors when you have to deal with pests.

There are some garden pests that are dangerous, and some that are simply annoying. Either way, you want to have a fun experience enjoying your garden. Some of the pests you may encounter in your garden are:

Mosquitoes – Mosquitoes are more of a problem in summer, but they are a big problem. Mosquitoes can carry dangerous viruses like the West Nile Virus. Keep standing water out of your garden; always check ponds or water features to make sure they aren’t becoming nesting grounds for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes also don’t like citrus or geranium scents. Keep citrus candles, citrus tree, or planted geraniums to help keep mosquitoes away. 

Bees/Wasps – Some bees are helpful to have in your garden, you need them to pollinate your flowers or fruit trees. Pollination is done by good old honey bees, which aren’t aggressive. However, if you have wasps, such as Yellow Jackets, you have a far more difficult insect. Africanized honey bees are slowly entering the country. These bees are very aggressive and will sting in swarms if someone gets too close to their hive.  For Africanized bees or wasp hives must be removed from your home to prevent problems.

Some simple preventative steps can help you enjoy your garden any time of year. For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Cockroaches are hard to avoid. They certainly tend to flourish in warmer climates. But did you know that cockroaches can be hazardous to your health? Not only do these critters track in bacteria, but they are causing allergic reactions.

Many people are familiar with dust allergies or reactions to pets, but few people realize that cockroach allergies are even more prevalent. In fact, increased contact with cockroaches causes an increased sensitivity to cockroaches, which is especially problematic for children. Asthma is now considered one of the most common childhood diseases, and exposure to cockroaches isn’t helping.

Roaches produce a protein which is found on their bodies, in their saliva and in their droppings. Allergic reactions occur when someone comes in contact with this protein. Inhaling the protein can cause asthmatic attacks.

If you or someone in your family suffers from allergies or asthma, you should take an aggressive approach to make sure that your home is cockroach free.  Of course, making sure your home is clean, your trash containers are closed, and that there are no grease or food items that will attract cockroaches is essential. You also need to take a very proactive approach to getting making sure there aren’t entry points for cockroaches.

A home inspection can help eliminate your cockroach problems and prevent them from coming in to your home. We’ll indentify problem areas – cracks, wall holes, etc. – that could allow these pests into your home.

Cockroaches don’t have to cause health concerns for you or your family. For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Are you finding pin-point holes in the wood surfaces of your home or furniture? You may think that you have a termite problem. You could be right, or you could be facing a problem with Powderpost Beetles.

Powderpost Beetles are a wood boring beetle that attacks both hardwoods (oak, maple, etc.) and softwoods (pine, fir, etc.). These beetles bore into the wood and their larvae feed on the wood. The beetles can thrive in a piece of wood for successive generations. Given enough time and the right conditions, Powderpost Beetles can reduce a piece of wood to mere dust.

Powderpost Beetle damage is often found in wood furniture. Powderpost Beetles prefer a damp or moist environment, which is good news in California. While you may have a Powderpost Beetle infested piece of furniture or wood, there’s a good chance that the damage was done from past generations. Our dry climate typically will not support successive generations of Powderpost Beetles.

Powderpost Beetles and Termites do not resemble one another. It’s easy to distinguish between the two with a visual inspection.  Both insects are small and may be hard to see. When we inspect, we’ll look outside your home for evidence of termite mounds, as well as examining the wood to inspect the type of damage.

Termites are more likely to represent a larger problem for a home owner, and may infest important structural wood components of your home. That’s why it’s so important to get a pest inspection – so you know whether you have Powderpost Beetles or Termites. Either way, we can help you get rid of your pest infestation permanently.

For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Are you seeing a lot of hornets or wasps around your home? There could be a good reason. You may have a wasp or hornet nest around your house.  These nests can be found under eaves, attached to trees or shrubs, sides of buildings, or even hollow walls.

Hornet nests look like an inverted tear-shaped ball. Their nests are made of chewed plant fibers, which give the nest a brown color. Wasp nests are constructed from finely chewed wood fragments, and are a grayish color.

A wasp or hornet nest will contain thousands of very angry and aggressive wasps – especially when they are disturbed. If you locate a wasp or hornet nest, you could end up with some nasty stings if you try to get rid of it.

The best way to get rid of these nests is to have a professional remove them. We have the equipment and experience to protect ourselves and rid the home of the nest completely.  We’ll remove the nest from your home and treat the nearby area to keep wasps and hornets from returning to build another nest in the same area. We can also inspect walls, attic spaces, or crawl spaces to find other areas that may be prime nesting spots.

For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.