With a warm climate, beautiful beaches, and vibrant natural surroundings, Whitefield is an ideal place to live and raise a family. However, this idyllic town’s year-round hot temperatures are also conducive to pest infestations. With the lack of winter temperatures commonly seen in the northern states, unwanted pests often find their way into numerous Whitefield households.
Simple pest infestation treatments often don’t solve the issue. Pests can create holes in wood, electrical problems, uneven floors, mud tunnels in the yard, and much more. More importantly, uninvited pests pose serious health risks to people exposed to the viruses, germs, and bacteria these intruders leave behind. Health concerns include infections, allergies, skin rashes, and asthma.
The diverse pest population in Whitefield makes it essential to know how to deal with a pest infestation effectively. Professional pest control services provide year-round extermination across the area. Ideally, area residents should perform ongoing quarterly checkups to prevent property contamination.
Whitefield, Florida
Whitefield is a small Florida town in Manatee County and arguably among the best places to live in the Sunshine State. Residents are rewarded with a rural feel and surrounded by a magnificent natural environment.
In the early 1900s, a corporation headed by Louis Broughton Whitefiled purchased a 682-acre wooded space once owned by John Riggin, Ulysses S. Grant’s aide-de-camp. Within the property was the 218-acre bayfront estate of Alfred Ringling.
The property was transformed into a modern city, better known as Whitfield Estates. Many streets were named after members of the Whitefield family. The plan was to create a housing development, a hotel, yacht basin, an 18-hole golf course, and man-made islands. After World War II, the town thrived as many families settled in the area in the post-war housing boom.
Today, Whitefield is a charming town known for its beautiful beaches and ocean views, natural beauty, and year-round tropical climate. Its vicinity to the urban Florida coastal cities makes it ideal for those looking for small-town living but who want to stay connected to city life.
Common Pests in Homes in Whitefield
The Sunshine State hosts an array of pests due to its hot climate, especially during the summer. Typical residential and commercial property intruders include ants, spiders, mosquitos, wasps, fleas, ticks, mice, and rats.
Ants often look for shelter on higher ground once the rain starts and often head indoors searching for food. Fire ants belong to the most commonly found ant types in Florida. These ants create dome-like nests up to three feet in height, and their colonies can reach over 250,000 worker ants. Common places for ants to nest include windows, driveways, and yards.
Stinging insects such as mosquitoes, wasps, and bees make it hard to enjoy Whitefield’s open spaces. Their bites can spread serious diseases to humans and pets. Their highest population is in summer when the insects can create nests in a home-opening, near the foundation, or under overhangs. It’s essential to watch out for the nests to avoid getting stung.
Other insects that cause concern are fleas. Fleas can jump tremendous distances, often propelling their tiny bodies up to 200 times their length. It’s simple for them to move from one host to another and into the environment. Their bodies have evolved to endure harsh conditions, and the hard outer coating makes them hard to crush. Fleas typically hide in the floor cracks, furniture, or bedding.
Spiders are among the most feared pests in Whitefield homes. They prefer dark, cool places that make it convenient to spin webs and hunt for food. Except for the brown recluse and black widow spiders, most Florida spiders are harmless. Bites from either of these spiders can cause muscle pain, paralysis, and even death.
COCKROACHES
Cockroaches reside in cool, dark places and can live up to one year. The bugs spend most of the time in garbage cans, sewers, and similar areas where they pick up on germs, parasites, and bacteria. Whitefield residents find cockroaches both inside and outside of their homes. Water and dampness attract the roaches, and homeowners can often find them under the kitchen sink, bathroom, or basement.
Leaving garbage cans open invites cockroaches, so it’s best to cover them with tight-fitting lids.
This pest typically heads indoors looking for water and food. Droppings inside the home resemble ground pepper and pose a health concern for the property residents, including the pets. Cockroaches can also cause dysentery, roundworm, viruses, fungus, tapeworms, and allergies. These bugs impose a particular risk for people with asthma.
BED BUGS
Bed bugs reach peak activity during summer as they thrive in hot, humid weather. They can lay colonies in mattresses, beds, cracks, or crevices inside a home. Since the insects are skilled at hitching rides in luggage, clothing, and shoes, they travel far and wide during peak vacation seasons. Common signs of bed bug infestation can include:
Small, red bites found in clusters
Blood spots
Brown streaks on fabrics
Casings lying between the mattresses or the head- or foot-board.
These common Whitefield pests require immediate attention. Their bite makes the skin itchy and can also cause welts. Bed bug infestations take time to make their presence known, and the fall is the busiest time for their extermination.
TERMITES
Termites top the list of Whitefield’s most common and dangerous pests. There are two types of termites common to the area.
Drywood termites live in dry wood above the ground.
Subterranean termites typically seek water-damaged areas of wood.
Both types destroy wood, resulting in uneven floors, warped walls, sagging ceilings, or bubbled wallpaper and paint.
Ridding a building of termites calls for the most aggressive termite solutions available, often only available through professional companies. However, due to the nature in which termites invade and the amount of damage they can cause, prevention is essential. That’s why professional pest control and extermination services should perform regular termite and other pest checks.
Signs You Need Immediate Pest Control in Whitefield, FL
PROPERTY DAMAGE.
There are many sure signs of property damage. It may be gnawed rugs, furniture, clothes, or walls. There may be thin tunnels that appear along the walls. In the best pest infestation scenario, Whitefield homeowners only have to get rid of a chewed sweater. However, far greater damage can occur once rodents gnaw on the electrical wires, creating a potential fire hazard.
URINE AND DROPPINGS.
Traces of urine and droppings in the pantry, kitchen, or other rooms in the house means there may be rats or mice present. The infected urine and droppings of the rodents can carry deadly diseases. Therefore, it’s essential to have a pest control professional ensure the rodents or pests are eliminated and their waste safely removed.
RUSTLING OR SCRATCHING SOUNDS.
The most common reason for rustling and scratching sounds in a house is a pest invasion. Often, a rodent invasion reveals itself with scampering noises across the ceiling or the walls.
PEST SIGHTINGS.
Whitefield homeowners who see a cockroach, mouse, termite, or a bed bug anywhere in the house should know that there is most likely more than one on the property. Once infestations grow, colony members are forced out of the nest, ultimately appearing around the property.
UNUSUAL RODENTS.
Rats and mice are the most common home invaders, but larger rodents such as squirrels can also find their way into a house. The frightened animal can cause severe damage to the property and injury to the homeowner. A pest control professional knows how to deal with all types of rodents.
The nuisance of pest infestation doesn’t have to last forever.
Kinder Safe Pest Solutions provides reliable pest control to residential and business customers.
Give us a call, and our professional team will get down to solving your pest issue quickly and effectively.