Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast

5.0 (2)
HOME & GARDEN
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

Our motto at Peskies Pest Control Is 100% Guarenteed Or You Don’t Pay a Penny for pest problems in Montgomery, Alabama! Monthly discussions on how to have a pest free home with pest experts Michael Wienecke and Travis McGowin

4D AGO

Mosquitoes Are Already Back in Montgomery Alabama!

In today’s episode of the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, Michael and Travis discuss mosquito treatment and prevention for your Montgomery, Alabama property! Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke Hey. So here today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, we are talking about mosquitoes, I feel like spring is in the air. I woke up for the last couple of days with my nose a little snotty and sniffly, and it’s just getting hot. Travis? Travis McGowin Don’t even I’m not ready. No, I’m not I refuse to give up winter. You know, no matter how brutal it actually was at times over the last couple of weeks, I’m still holding on to hope that there’s some kind of residual that’s going to come back and, you know, actually show itself again. Because I, spring and summer are not my most favorite times of the year. Michael Wienecke I am feeling that right now. I was taking my kids to school this morning, and I just, it just feels a little humid out, a little too humid for what it what it should be. Travis McGowin For February. Yes. Michael Wienecke Yes, yes. So you said we were, I know we were talking earlier. You said you saw some mosquitoes yesterday already. Travis McGowin Right, right. I had a customer whose house I went to shortly after four o’clock yesterday afternoon. And as I was getting my products ready and my sprayers to go treat their house, yes, I had mosquitoes buzzing around my head already. And like I said, it’s only February. Michael Wienecke Well, as we’ve seen them, we’ve seen them in December. You know, I’ve been deer hunting before and seen them in a climber so, you know, right there in December, so perfect. I mean, even even in February. Let’s talk about some ways to just help customers, not get rid of them, but just stop them from from being so so bad at their property, far as you know, getting the water, you know, diverted away from their house, like all that kind of stuff. Travis McGowin Right, so, you know, for those that may or may not know, mosquitoes breed in standing, stagnant water. So they, you know, they land on top of the surface of the water surface. Tension holds them so they don’t sink, and they basically deposit their eggs onto the stagnant water. And it can be, you know, as much water as inside of a tire that’s been left there and filled up with water from rain for a while, or it can be as little water as a cap full from, you know, a soda bottle. It doesn’t take a whole lot of water for them to actually be able to reproduce and so it really takes a lot of diligence on part of the customer, a lot of effort on part of the customer to make sure that they do not have standing water sources in their yard, and you and I have both seen it before, these things can range anywhere from, like I said, tires to just trash that’s holding water. Got a lot of customers that live around the lake that cover their boats or their jet skis with tarps. Yeah, the tarps just completely hold the water, and they don’t go drain the water off after a rain, and it just collects and then leaf litter, and that leaf debris that gets in there just makes it even more attractive for them. For a stagnant source, just five gallon buckets full of rain water, rain barrels. People that have rain barrels that collect water from their gutters. Clogged gutters. That’s another big one. Leaf litter and gutters clogs it and it holds water. You know. Just think about it, if you had a gutter on the edge of your porch where you like to go and enjoy yourself and sit out in the evenings or what have you, and you’ve got standing water because it’s not draining Well, the mosquitoes are just breeding right there and then coming down and eating you alive. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Like you mentioned earlier, incomplete drainage in yards. Maybe it’s also an area that not only does it not drain, but it doesn’t get a lot of sunlight, so it never dries out. French drains in yards where you’ve got the drain in the ground, some of those don’t empty all the way, and you just, I mean, you just be creating the next breed of mosquitoes coming through your property. Michael Wienecke Well, that’s what I was going to talk about, hidden, hidden places that people wouldn’t think about. I mean, we’ve seen problem accounts, or, you know, what we’d consider a problem account, where they have a bunch of basins in their yard, all that water is going in there, and it’s hidden. You don’t see all the water that’s just caught in that basin, where it’s, you know, a slow drain and all that kind of stuff. I’ve never understood why they did that. I don’t know why it wouldn’t just be a faster drain, to keep it from getting clogged, I guess. Travis McGowin Yeah, there’s, there’s just so many places that water can be, water can stay and be held in people’s property, and a lot of them can be just overlooked. You know, we’ve got some storage buildings in my yard. I don’t go behind them very often. And and so if I were to stick a bucket back there, even a bucket flipped over that will hold water on the bottom of the bucket that’s sitting up in the air. I mean, that’s enough water to breed hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes and to really cause a problem, and to really make control efforts a little more challenging, Michael Wienecke 100%. @ell, and I’m glad you said the control. So let’s talk about one way that we, you know, help with controlling the water that we can’t control. So we’re flipping over buckets. We’re moving over. You know, I always bird bass need to be changed out. I would say, you know, weekly, every two weeks, something like that, so it doesn’t build up a stagnant pool. But the control with that IGR is really key on the drains in the yard, such such as that matter of getting rid of that problem, because you can’t control that. Travis McGowin Right, And for those watching listening, IGR stands for “insect growth regulator”, so we use a mixture that has a couple of different active ingredient products in there. And what that IGR does is it is a long term game in terms of mosquito control. So picture, you have a technician come to your house. They treat your lawn and landscape areas with a liquid mosquito treatment that’s got that IGR in it. And so let’s say, after that treatment is dry, the technicians gone, the mosquito lands on the underside of leaves that has this IGR on it. Well, not only is that mosquito now contaminated with that IGR, which is going to take an effect on that mosquito and slowly mess with it to where it can’t breed anymore, but then it’s going to go land on a water source, and it’s going to contaminate that water source too, so that other mosquitoes that touch it could be contacting the IGR, and then those mosquito larva that are already in the water, it should mess with their development, so that they don’t even develop all the way into a biting mosquito as they go and continue to develop. So it’s a great product, and it’s a great addition to a mosquito control program. Michael Wienecke Oh yeah, I’d say its a must have, because if you’re not controlling that, that life cycle, if you’re just killing the adult mosquitoes as they buzz around and get under this shaded area, these trees and, you know, decks and all that, then you’re only taking care of one half of it, or not even less than one half. Travis McGowin Right, and we’re, you know, not only were we applying the IGR in our mixture that we’re using along with an adult aside that’s going to kill mosquitoes on contact as well, but we’re also going back to those stagnant water sources our technicians actively are looking for those stagnant water sources. And yes, you know, you know how it is that there’s some times where those sources can’t be drained or dumped, or, you know, the water be removed so that they’re no longer a breeding site, especially when you talk about areas of a yard that hold a lot of water, that don’t drain properly, or don’t dry. So we also use another product called a larvicide. So Michael, elaborate for the listeners, about a larvicide. Michael Wienecke Yeah, so a larvicide. So you’re going to go around the property, and you’re looking for any areas that you cannot control the water flow, you know, like we said, if you see a bucket, we’re going to can flip that over a bird bath, we can change that out, but something that we can’t, such as a drain in your backyard, front yard, we’re going to put that larvicide in there. It’s good for 30 days. So any breeding mosquitoes that breed in that water, those eggs will never develop into a lot of mosquitoes. Travis McGowin Right, and so all these things are things that can be done on your property. But Michael, as I’m sure you’ve seen before, I and I can give an example, I had a customer who we were trying to do mosquito control at, and it was okay, but it wasn’t as great as it could be. And what we discovered is that the neighbor directly behind that customer’s property, who we weren’t treating, we didn’t have any mosquito service at that customer’s property behind them, they had an old above ground swimming pool. Michael Wienecke It’s always a swimming pool. Travis McGowin It is with about maybe, I would say, a foot or so, maybe a little more of water in it. And the water was a beautiful shade of green, with all types of leaf litter and trash and debris in it. And so, I mean, it was just a haven for these mosquitoes to breed in. And, you know, unfortunately, we can’t control what it is the neighbors doing. Michael Wienecke That’s true. So in terms of control, you know, we like to say an 85 I like to say an 85% to 95% reduction of mosquitoes is a win, because you can still have some mosquitoes, but you’re going to get rid of the majority of the mosquitoes and be. Able to enjoy that backyard. I

17 min
5D AGO

Detecting and Defeating Bed Bug Reinfestations in Montgomery Alabama!

Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:00 Hey, and thanks for listening to the Peskies Pest Control Podcast. I am Michael Wienecke, owner and operator of Peskies Pest Control, and I have Travis McGowin. How we doing Travis? Travis McGowin 0:12 I’m doing well, how are you doing? Michael Wienecke 0:14 Great man, waiting on the freezing storm to get here. Travis McGowin 0:19 You know, I all the projections early on were completely devastating, and now it’s like North Alabama. Sorry, but everybody else, you’re going to get wet. It’s going to be rainy. So we’ll see what happens this weekend. Michael Wienecke 0:34 Well, and then they’re talking about next week. Could be even worse. So we’ll see. Michael Wienecke 0:38 Yeah, good times. Michael Wienecke 0:42 Well, today we want to talk about something that hasn’t come up very often, and that’s reinfestation of bed bugs. So we had a customer, after what about eight months of doing a heat treatment, reinfested her home? Right? Travis McGowin 0:57 Exactly. So initially, the customer believed that they brought bed bugs into their home by purchasing a quilt from a thrift store, I believe is what it was. I think her daughter had gifted her a really nice, handmade quilt that somebody had donated, and she got it home, took it out of whatever packaging was there, and just immediately laid it across the bed. And that’s the only thing that she can think of that was the reason why she was dealing with bed bugs in the first place. And so, of course, we came in, we did an inspection. She had a fairly significant infestation at that time. It’s a two story house. The, you know, the lady lives by herself, so the upstairs really not even utilized. So we, we treated the first floor. And you know, for all intents and purposes, everything was was really good after treatment up until now. Michael Wienecke 1:57 So let’s talk about the initial so you said she brought a she bought, or she thought she bought a quilt, brought it in and it had one bedbug on it. How? How bad was the infestation when you inspected the first time? Travis McGowin 2:11 So I can’t confirm or deny how many bedbugs were possibly on that quilt when it was brought in. However, I can say that when we did the inspection, it was, it was fairly significant with bed bugs in cracks and crevices on the headboard and the frame of the bed, as well as on the box springs and the mattress. So, you know, it’s, it’s possible that she may have had them and not known it prior to the actual quilt itself being brought in. But you know, it’s hard to tell, especially if you, you know, haven’t paid attention to it, or hadn’t noticed it until it was too late. Michael Wienecke 2:48 Well, I mean, they’re, they’re designed to hide in the tightest crack and Travis. I mean, you’ve seen them, you know, at the gas station, between the little pump joints before. Travis McGowin 3:00 I mean, I have seen them at a gas station, inside of the little booth where the the cashier sits, you know, and rings people up for gas and for convenience store goods there inside a cracker Travis, where a lady that worked there had brought them in her purse and set her purse on the counter, and someone had complained about getting bitten by a bed bug there at the gas station, and lo and behold, there was one bed bug in a very little crevice in the countertop. So they do get around. Michael Wienecke 3:31 Well, and that’s what I kind of wanted to talk about, how hard they are to detect. I mean, you know, one or two bed bugs within not knowing that and then a month goes by, and then you start, you’re starting to multiply, get bit all that. I mean, it can turn into a pretty quick, or I would say, a slow infestation, but you’re just not realizing it while it’s happening. Travis McGowin 3:52 Right, and so, you know, bed bugs can range in size, from the eggs, which are really, really tiny, and then the multiple, you know, nymphal stages, where they grow and then they shed their skin or molt, and then they grow again all the way up into the adult stage. I mean, so they can be a varying range of sizes, I would say, anywhere from the size of a mustard seed all the way up to even maybe close to the size of, just to give people an idea, a watermelon seed. I mean, some of these female bed bugs, especially after feeding and being engorged, can be rather large. So you could see where transferring these bed bugs, you know, from one place to the next, if you came in somewhere and sat down at a restaurant where potentially someone had sat with them in their purse or on their clothing, and they fell off in the restaurant booth, and then you came in next and sat down. I mean, it might be very easy to not even notice that you had transferred these little insects in with you and then inadvertently taking them home. So it’s fairly common and easy to get a bed bug infestation. I mean, bed bugs aren’t selective on whose house they go to. They just know that they need a host, and if they can attach on to someone’s clothing or, you know, say, luggage in a hotel or Airbnb or something like that, then they’ll do it. It doesn’t matter if you live in $100,000 house or a million dollar home. They’re, you know, they don’t discriminate. Michael Wienecke 5:23 No, not at all. I mean, we’ve seen them in Mountain Brook, Hoover, Birmingham, Montgomery, Helena. Travis McGowin 5:32 Wetumpka, Prattville, Deatsville. I mean, they’re like I said, they they can be widespread. You can have the cleanest house on the block or the dirtiest house on the block. It really doesn’t matter. Now, you know, with this particular individual we came in, heat treated the first floor of the home, you know, so that included the master bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, the dining room area, all of that we actually, you know, cooked it really, really well, of course, up to the manufacturer’s recommendations for the system that we use. And then everything was perceived by the owner of the home to be fine for, you know, a very, very long time. And then what basically happened next is, you know, eight months later, we have this. She said that she had went to get a blanket and change her sheets out on the bed, and she noticed a bed bug at that time. She kind of was speculating whether the bed bugs could have been hiding in the sheets in the closet or something like that. But what I’d like for people listening to realize is that it’s not likely that that would have been, you know, the issue of reinfesting because they were hiding in the closet or something, eight months later. So, you know, of course, bed bugs, depending upon their size and how long they are in their development, bed bugs can last a decent amount of time without feeding on a human or having a blood meal. You know, for everywhere from the this sounds terrible to say, but the newborn stage and the younger nymphal stages all the way up to the adults. The younger nymphal stages aren’t going to last without a blood meal more than probably, like, two weeks, give or take. And as they grow in size, they’re they’re gonna last a little bit longer to where the adults, you know, may last. Let’s just say six weeks, eight weeks, something like that. But definitely not to the tune of seven or eight months before they feed again. I mean, most of that population would have have died off, even if they were in the closet. So, you know, we kind of ruled that out, you know. And it was frustrating because, of course, you know, we go to do the inspection, and she’s got another significant infestation of bed bugs. So, you know, it does lead us to believe that it was more of an issue of reinfestation, where, I mean, maybe they were in her chair at work, or maybe, you know, in the car. But you know, it’s anybody’s guess as to where they came back from. Michael Wienecke 8:15 Well, and that’s why we always recommend, you know, leave your purse, leave everything you can in the house that we’re heating because that’s going to give us the best chance to get rid of those bed bugs. So let’s talk a little bit about the heat treatment. You know, how it works, all that kind of stuff. Travis McGowin 8:28 Yeah so we use a propane fired heater, and that heater goes, you know, outside of the house. So, you know, we don’t ever bring propane tanks or the actual unit with the heating element inside, inside your home, but we set up where we have access to run duct work. So of course, we set the heater up connected to all of the propane tanks, and then we run big mylar duct work into the structure, whether it’s through a window or a door, and we circulate that heat into the structure, and then we run mylar duct work from a different point of the structure out back to the back barrel of that heater to recirculate that heat. It’s more efficient. It maintains heat at a better rate. We use less propane, and we heat faster that way. But basically, we run that heat in through the mylar duct works, and then we bring in large fans inside of each room that we’re treating, and we circulate that heat and think of it like an, you know, essentially creating an oven inside your home. Okay, so let’s just say it’s the holidays. It’s Thanksgiving, and you go to put a turkey in the oven. You know that heat is going to be circulating around and moving around inside that oven and cooking the, you know, that Turkey, or whatever it is you’re cooking, and it’s going to slowly absorb into the food that you’re cooking. And, you know, increase the temperature of that to, you know, whatever the set temperature or your desire to. Temperature is to cook at, and it’s very similar that heat is going to be absorbed by anything inside the room, the contents that could be couches, chairs, you know, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, anything in between. And after those items reach the appr

17 min
09/11/2025

Fire Ants Are Invading Montgomery, Alabama Lawns!

Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:23 Hey, and thanks for listening to the Peskies Pest Control Podcast. I’m Michael, and we’ve got Travis here, and we are going to be talking about the fire stinging insect that is in your front and backyard that creates unsightly mounds and just causes lots of problems. Travis, what are we going to talk about today? Travis McGowin 0:47 Well, fire ants, just to put it blatantly for everyone, fire ants is the scourge of most people’s lawns, sometimes the scourge of the structure that you know you live in. They they range everywhere from, you know, East Coast to West Coast, and you know, as far up as, say, Virginia and down towards Florida. So I mean, they’re very wide area that they live in, and that that means that, you know, a large amount of people you know across the globe are affected by these insects. Michael Wienecke 1:22 100% you know, they’ve come in from boxes over centuries, from other countries. I would say just, just like any other pests that we have in the United States, it came from Asia. Travis McGowin 1:35 Yeah. So actually, I was reading about that and the they believe that. I think the red imported fire ant was actually originally from Brazil, Michael Wienecke 1:45 Brazil. Okay, I know, I know other ants have come in from from Asian areas and all the shipping containers and all that. So another fun fact about fire ants, they are called fire ants because when they bite, it is like fire. It feels like fire. Travis McGowin 2:02 Yeah. You know, instantly, when you get when you get hit by one it’s, it’s not some delayed thing, it’s, it’s instant pain. And you know, think it’s estimated that one to 2% of the population in the United States is actually allergic to fire ants, which, when you think about the population of the United States, 1 to 2% that’s a pretty decent sized Michael Wienecke 2:24 chunk. So I’m glad you brought that up. So a couple months ago, we were gardening in the backyard, and I turn around and see my two year old rolling around in the in the grass. Well, he was covered in fire ants from about feet to waist, so ripped his clothes off, hosed him down. He was probably stung. It’s funny, I was about to say bit, and that’s something else we’re going to talk about too. But he was stung about, I would say, 20 something times monitored. Monitored him for any kind of, you know, anaphylaxis or anything like that. Did not have any issues, thankfully. But yeah, they can definitely be a safety concern. Travis McGowin 2:56 My brother has a similar story. When he was around the same age, he actually, he actually sat on top of a fire ant mound accidentally. And to this day, even as an adult, you know, in his late 30s, he is still allergic to him. If he gets stung by a fire ant, he swells up in the side of the sting. And so, yeah, that that one encounter as a child still lingers with him, even as an adult today. Michael Wienecke 3:26 Well, my son loves ants now. He tries to find him wherever he can. He hasn’t been stung again, so we’ll see how that goes. But I I certainly hope he’s not in the same boat as your brother. So let’s talk about what to look for like, What? What? What are fire ants compared to other ants color wise. So you’re looking for more of a yellowish, reddish, brownish color. And of course, the mounds. So the where they nest is going to be those unsightly mounds like we talked about. You know, I’ve got one right now popping up in my driveway between the cracks and crevices of the driveway, leaf debris, rock debris, anything that can kind of give them a good harborage area. Travis McGowin 4:05 And they will shelter up under things too. And here’s the crazy part. You know, people may not realize just how big of a problem and how invasive these insects actually are, but to put it into perspective, those properties that have a significant problem can actually have upwards of 30 to 100 mounds per acre. So that’s that’s a significant amount of ants, when you consider that the average colony size for a decent sized ant colony, and remember, 30 to 100 mounds, so potential colonies per acre and a colony size of 80 to 250,000per colony of ants. Michael Wienecke 4:54 And that’s, that’s one queen colony. Travis McGowin 4:56 Right, Exactly. So, I mean, when you, when you really think. About it, if you had it on the high end of 250,000 ants, and let’s just say you had 80 mounds, you’re talking about 20 million ants in one acre of property. Michael Wienecke 5:13 That’s that’s a lot of ants. Travis McGowin 5:14 Just, just to put it into perspective, right? Michael Wienecke 5:17 Well, that’s why I try to let people know if you have one fire ant bed. Typically, there’s going to be more, whether it’s on your property or your neighbor’s property. But again, that’s a lot of ants. And the crazy thing too, is, is that that queen is producing upwards of 1500 ants per day. Travis McGowin 5:34 Right. That’s a that’s a significant amount of population ballooning in a very short amount of time. Michael Wienecke 5:41 That’s right. So let’s talk about some other we talked about the safety aspect of it. Let’s just talk about the yard. So I know, you know, I’ve got Bermuda grass in the front yard, and I’ve had, we actually just did a fire ant treatment at my house, and starting to see results within about three days. But they will ruin your grass, Travis McGowin 5:59 Right, especially if you you know those people who really take a lot of time and effort on their lawns. You know that you you may have a fertilization or a weed and feed treatment that you do, or that you have someone come out and do on a regular basis. And so, you know you pay to have a nice lawn. You want to enjoy that lawn in your outdoor areas, and then you have something that comes and just constructs this big, huge mound of, you know, dirt or sand, and then it, of course, leaves a dead spot in your yard, you know. And then other other problems with them too. I mean, they can, they can also destroy vegetation, if you have, you know, plants and different things, they can also be detrimental to that too. And I think it’s estimated that fire ants have an actual economic impact of I want to say it was like $6 billion per year from from damage and treatment costs. Total was like $6 billion. Michael Wienecke 6:58 Well, I mean, they have the ability to chew on wires. I mean, if you know, if they want to, you know electrical wires, that’s that’s another one of the biggest routes we see as far as a building, is, you know that AC line going into the building, or those electrical lines, and they just follow that path to reach least resistance, and then they’re in your home or your building. Travis McGowin 7:17 Well, not only that, too. I had a customer that, not long ago, called us in reference to fire ants, because they ended up having a mound that destroyed their air conditioner unit. They had to have things replaced inside. And what happened was, when these ants get inside of these air units and these electrical components of different like I said, not even just air units, but different products. You know, they may contact, some sort of electrical contact, which inflicts a shock on the ant, and that causes the ant to release a like an alarm pheromone or an attack pheromone, and then it just brings more ants. So then you have this huge cluster of ants that are attacking this electrical component that shocks the, you know, the ants in the first place, and they can just cause extreme damage, you know, even up to the point where you might have to replace components of a unit, or a whole unit, which can cost thousands and thousands of dollars for a homeowner. Michael Wienecke 8:14 I’m glad you brought that up, because, you know, same with the, you know, calling each other with the pheromones they do. The same with stinging. So that’s why, in that story with my son, he got stung 20 times, because when one ant stung him, they all released a chemical response to sting at the same time, Travis McGowin 8:29 Right, so, I mean, you know, with allergic reactions, a lot of people may not realize this. They say, Oh, well, I’ve been stung by ants, stung by a wasp, stung by whatever X amount of times throughout my life, I’ve never had a problem, but you can be stung by something 99 times, you know, just as an example, and never have a reaction. But that next time, that 100th time, may be the time when your body no longer has the ability to withstand that. You know that foreign body from a sting anymore, and then you know that can lead to an allergic reaction Michael Wienecke 9:01 100%. Well, we always talk about on this podcast as far as helping people and things that they can do themselves, but I personally would not recommend doing a fire ant treatment yourself. I’ve heard so many customers tell me that they get that, you know, white powdery stuff from the big box store, and two weeks later, you know, they’ve moved over into the left hand side of the yard, where they were in the right hand side of the yard. Travis McGowin 9:24 Absolutely. You know, DIY is great. I DIY a lot of different things, fire ants, or just ants in general, can be something that are that are difficult to just tackle on your own. Because if ants know that something is a killer to them, or something is a danger to them, then they just may up and relocate. So you know, some of these products that I’ve said it 1000 times on this podcast and to many other my customers, is that just because something says it can be used to kill an insect doesn’t mean it should be used to kill an insect. So, you know, whereas, if you. Some sort of drench on a mound with something that says it kills ants, and then all of a sudden, you know, a couple days later, here’s this new mound popping up, you know, X amount of dis

13 min
07/14/2025

Tips to Keep General Pests Away in Montgomery, Alabama!

Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:00 Steve, hey, so today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, we would like to talk about solving pest issues without chemical application. So we’re seeing a lot of especially this month, last month, with the amount of rain we’ve had Travis, I think you can, with Montgomery, I think you can attest to that, that it’s just rained every other day, Travis McGowin 0:24 Every single day, and it’s and it’s unseasonable. I mean, realistically unseasonable for, you know, May into June and then even into July. I mean, this is just not something that we typically have. It’s just pretty much downpours and heavy downpours every single afternoon. But, I mean, on a side note, my yard looks great. Michael Wienecke 0:46 Well, I can’t cut my grass, so my yard, it’s cut now, but you know, it’s hard to cut it in the rain, which also leads us to, you know, the whole issue of pests. If you if your grass is, you know, knee high, expect to have some pest issues, Travis McGowin 1:02 Right. So, you know, when you talk about rain and home ownership, the first thing that comes to mind, I mean, when we’re just kind of talking about a broad overview of things and a broad overview of pests and pest problems that you can, you know, potentially solve yourself. I know I can speak for my yard and my house. When I tell you that they’re right off hand, I can think of right now, there’s two pretty much clogged gutters right now on my house. And knowing that clogged gutters mean that it’s got leaf debris, it’s got different tree you know, pine needles, different things from trees, the debris is there, meaning that it’s not draining properly. It’s holding water. So Michael, what? What insects am I having a problem with from my gutters that I have not cleaned because I’ve just frankly, been lazy. Michael Wienecke 1:53 I can think of a few, but the main one would be mosquitoes. Travis McGowin 1:55 Right! So we have a large amount of mosquitoes now. Granted, our houses, our lot is kind of low lying. We do get a lot of drainage off of other lots around ours that comes through our house. So we do get a lot of standing water, especially when it rains day after day after day. If we don’t cut our yard, then we get a lot of standing water. So we’ve kind of remedied that. But mosquitoes, I mean, that leaf debris is going to bring roaches, things like that, that. Yeah, people don’t realize how much standing water is actually left in your gutters when you don’t actually clean them out. And then, you know, mosquitoes can breed in as you know, think the size a container, the size of a bottle cap. So think how much water is actually up there. It’s more than a bottle cap. Michael Wienecke 2:35 That’s right. And I mean, it’s, it’s hard to clean your gutters out when it’s been raining every other day, because can’t get up there and do that. So it’s just been, it’s been a very hard, I would say, two months. Travis McGowin 2:46 It has. It’s just been out of the norm for Alabama. But I’ll tell you one thing that has continuously been coming to my houses or my house, is cardboard boxes with the word Amazon on the side. So we get deliveries every single day. So we take the items Michael Wienecke 3:07 Can we say Amazon? Travis McGowin 3:08 I don’t know. I think we just did. I don’t think it really matters. Amazon, Walmart, their Target. Okay, I got a bunch out of the way. So Amazon boxes are a staple. I see Amazon delivery drivers come through. You know, our area all the time. We’re in a rural area, so Amazon’s really just everywhere. But we pulled the item we ordered out of the box. We throw the cardboard box on the back porch, and Michael, what happens next? Michael Wienecke 3:31 Well, I’ve got the same issue right now. Spiders, ants, millipedes, roaches, silverfish, earwigs, wasps, bees, Travis McGowin 3:43 Small children. Michael Wienecke 3:45 Just about anything that likes a warm environment. Travis McGowin 3:50 Well, not only that, but what happens with all the rain we’ve had the the boxes get soaked. They absorb water. They never dry out, and it just creates this nice little habitat for for pests that, you know, you wouldn’t normally have out there, but there again, we didn’t, you know, throw away the boxes. We didn’t burn them. We just decided we needed to stack them on the back porch. Michael Wienecke 4:09 Well. And that brings up a great topic is, how do they breed roaches when they’re, you know, in a lab, or something like that. What do they use to breed roaches? Travis McGowin 4:18 Oh, certainly, cardboard or other types of paper material. I mean, it absorbs and holds moisture. It’s good cover for them. It packs down good, and it just gives them a perfect environment. Michael Wienecke 4:29 And one of the worst outside termite issues I’ve ever seen was a customer that put cardboard as their weed control. So instead of using the plastic, it’s a, it’s great, it’s it’s eco friendly, but it’s also a great food source, Travis McGowin 4:47 Right, exactly. And, you know, that brings up another thing, not even just cardboard, but talk about things like scrap wood around people’s houses all the time. I see where, you know, I get it in the wintertime. You. If you got a fireplace, a wood burning fireplace, you want that firewood close to your structure. No one likes to run out outside in the cold and try to get a couple more logs for the fire. Totally get that was the same when I grew up, too. But inevitably, you stack wood on the outside of your house and you’re going to have a nice habitat for it. There again, general household pests, things like roaches, earwig, silverfish spiders, black widow spiders, brown recluse. Yes, large cockroaches, like American roaches, are going to love that. And then, of course, a homeowner’s worst nightmare, termites. Michael Wienecke 5:35 Well, and we’ve seen that firsthand. You know, we had a customer a couple of years ago that she was storing firewood in her garage, and found a termite, you know, infestation in the garage due to the firewood, Michael Wienecke 5:46 Right, good point that you don’t even have to have it stacked along the outside of the structure. If there’s gaps, cracks, crevices, you know, damage or cracks in the foundation, they can come up right through that from underneath the house and go straight up into the firewood. It could be sitting in your living room, it could be sitting in your garage, and you could still be susceptible to that. So wood, scrap, pallets, like I said, firewood, any type of boards where you’ve done remodel or construction and you just discarded them out of the side of the house. All of that stuff needs to be moved away from the house. Michael Wienecke 6:19 100% and I mean, when we go to our, you know, a new start, or someone that’s having an issue, that’s something we look for, you know, we’re looking for mulch bags that are sitting right up against the house, that have been sitting there for a couple months, or leaf debris stacks of pallets in the backyard. The other day, a rotten door was in somebody’s backyard. Michael Wienecke 6:42 If you recall you, and I actually went out on a termite inspection. This has been months and months ago that had a crawl space, and you went into the crawl space and lifted a piece of scrap wood under the house, and there were live termites, actually, and eating the scrap wood underneath the house in the crawl space. Michael Wienecke 7:00 Oh yeah, I’ve seen that with wooden ladders. I’ve seen it with pallets. I’ve seen it, you know, having wood under your house in a crawl space is is not a good idea. Travis McGowin 7:07 Well, I like what you said, too, about bags of mulch or different types of ground cover that people use underneath their shrubberies and in their flower beds. I can’t tell you how many times. I mean, we all have good intentions. We’re going to go, you know, we’re going to go to, oh, I’m going to say some more box stores. We’re going to go to Lowe’s or Home Depot or Marvin’s or Tractor Supply, or wherever it is that we go and we shop, and we’re going to buy the mulch that’s on sale. It’s like, Oh, great. I’m going to go get X amount of bags of mulch. We’re going to get this done, and you spread one or two the rest of them. Sit there and sit there and sit there because you run out of time, or you got to go to the ballpark, or whatever it is that eats your time away away from your home. And then I can’t tell you how many times I’ve moved on these bags, and there’s like a gigantic ant infestation all wrapped up inside of these bags because they’ve just sat there. Michael Wienecke 7:53 Yeah, and it doesn’t even have to be mulch bags or wood a ladder. I had a customer the other day having ants all over the property, inside, outside. And they were coming from more than just the ladder. They were coming from a lot of the crape myrtles around, but the ladder was giving them that, you know, that warm environment under, under where the ladder was, was resting on the ground. And they were just going right in the house, between the ladder and the house, Michael Wienecke 8:19 Right, and we’ve talked about ground but people don’t realize, not even just around the, you know, the lower portion of your house, but things that they can do to keep pests, such as, you know, carpenter ants, things like that, off the side of their house is trimming your trees back. Like I I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen these improperly trimmed crape myrtles, or, you know, these large, healthy, grown trees around the outside of the house with the limbs overhanging and eventually touching the eaves of the roof of the structure. You know, just a couple weeks ago, I had two basically back to back calls for carpenter ants from t

15 min
07/01/2025

Crane Flies Are Not Mosquitoes in Montgomery, Alabama!

Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:03 Hey. So here today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, we’re going to talk about crane flies or Skeeter eaters. What are some other names, mosquito Hawk, tarantula flyer. I’ve heard all kinds of names, Daddy Long daddy, long legs, all that kind of stuff. Travis McGowin 0:23 So I feel like in Alabama, it’s getting harder to differentiate between real mosquitoes and crane flies, because I feel like the real mosquitoes are getting bigger. But that’s a conversation for another day. Michael Wienecke 0:35 Well, let’s see, may it rained, I think, every other day. Travis McGowin 0:39 It’s still raining every other day. Michael Wienecke 0:40 Yes, it is still raining every other day. So I think the biggest takeaway from here with mosquito hawks or crane flies are that they are not mosquitoes. They do not bite, they do not cause any issues. Like mosquitoes, they just kind of buzz around and are extremely annoying. Travis McGowin 0:58 Yes, but unlike mosquitoes, they like you said, they don’t bite, they don’t consume, you know, human or animal blood as their primary source of food. And even after, you know, the larva emerge into adults. The adults really don’t even they hardly consume anything before they, you know, do their reproductive cycle and then basically just die. Michael Wienecke 1:22 Yeah, what 10 to 15 days, and they’re, they’re goners, and really, they’re just kind of bouncing around, you know, like we get calls from customers, they’ll say, Hey, I’ve got a very large mosquito I’ve never seen before, or very large mosquito buzz around the house. And that’s typically what it turns into is a crane fly issue, which there’s no treating an adult crane fly. It’s just they fly around, they die, and then they start back over spring to fall, Travis McGowin 1:48 Right, and I mean, honestly, their primary focus, or primary, I guess, benefit to the environment, is that they’re basically one decomposers, so, and I’m going to assume that’s probably more on the larval side, where they’ve, you know, laid whatever eggs are going to lay, the larva hatch and probably feed on organic matter around the soil, decomposing things, probably very much like a termite does, just returning those items into the soil and enriching the soil. Other than the other thing is like just being a food source for other animals, for things such as, you know, fish, other insects, birds, bats and just other animals. I’m sure, probably, you know, lizards and things like that too. So when they emerge in large numbers, and like you said, customer calls, they’re flying around inside your house, because inevitably, once you open the door, they’re going to come flying in. You know, in those times when they’re kind of ballooning in their population, that’s when other animals get to feed on them and use them as one of their food sources. Ecosystem, yep. And it works out. It works out really well for everybody involved. Well, I guess, except for the crane fly. Michael Wienecke 3:01 Except for the crane. Well, let’s talk about the damage that they do cause. So one thing that they can cause damage to the grass, the larva. The larval stage, you know, which, that’s where they spend 90% of their life, is underground. They can destroy root systems and cause a little bit of damage to your grass. Travis McGowin 3:19 Right, and the larva actually look like, I guess you could say little, you know, little worms or or really, really small, thin grubs. Maybe some people would describe them as that, but a lot of people refer to them. I guess because of their they’ve got, like, a darkish brown color. But a lot of them refer to the larva as leather jackets. And like you said, the adults really don’t damage anything, but leather jackets can certainly hurt lawns and gardens. They’ll feed on plant roots. And you know, I’m sure it could either kill kill your grass, or kill your plants, or definitely make your yard, you know, off colored, or something like that too. So certainly could become a nuisance to someone who really likes a very manicured, well watered and lush lawn, or or lush, you know, group of plants in a garden. Michael Wienecke 4:11 Yeah, definitely. I was just lost with my train of thought. So we’re talking about the larval stage. Oh, where they like to breed. So biggest thing is going to be always a water source, major water source, marshes, ponds, they’re always going to lay eggs kind of near that area. That’s going to help those eggs thrive. And of course, you’re going to have a a lot of crane flies during the the spring and fall. Travis McGowin 4:36 Right, and it just depends on what breed of crane fly. There are, you know, here in Alabama, most of the time, like you said, spring into summer, you’re going to get your biggest group of population. But there’s even a European crane fly that will actually start to hatch and grow, you know, from the August to September, sliding over from. Late summer into early fall as well. So, you know, there’s really a large time block when you’re, you as a customer, may actually see them. Just know that they could be different species, but they’re, they’re about the same in terms of what they do, how they act, how they reproduce and that sort of thing. So really, not, you know, not one species to be alarmed about more than any other. I mean, it’s, it’s about the same across the board. Michael Wienecke 5:25 Right, and they all kind of look similar, like you said. But there are, they are size comparison. So I’ve seen some that are almost half the size of what, you know, I guess our standard crane fly, you know, I would say probably, what, two inches long, roundabout. Travis McGowin 5:25 Right, probably on the high end. And I know that, you know, makes people, makes people a little nervous to see that sitting on their wall, or, you know, to come essentially swooping down while you’re trying to walk through a doorway or walk outside. And kind of their erratic flight behavior, you know, may especially scare your kids or something and then they’re walking by em, but certainly harmless, certainly can’t do anything to you, and other than just really being more of a nuisance than than anything. Michael Wienecke 6:10 Well, so I think the takeaway is, is if you see a bunch of crane flies buzz around your house, just watch the ping pong effect, and they’ll go away in about 10 to 15 days. Travis McGowin 6:19 And they are not mosquitoes. Michael Wienecke 6:23 Not mosquitoes, yes! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR PEST CONTROL SERVICES! CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL! The post Crane Flies Are Not Mosquitoes in Montgomery, Alabama! appeared first on Peskies Pest Control Montgomery.

8 min
05/30/2025

Fleas Can Turn Into A Problem in Montgomery, Alabama!

Podcast Transcript: Hey everybody, welcome back to the podcast. Today, I wanted to discuss something that seems to have been kind of on an increase in terms of phone calls that we’ve been receiving on our phone lines, messages that we’ve been receiving through our website from customers. So I felt like it was something that needed to be addressed again, and wouldn’t hurt to give you some information. On but today we’re going to talk a little bit about fleas. Now fleas are, unfortunately, a very common pest a lot of people have experience with a lot of people have difficulty with at some point or another. You can have difficulty with fleas if you have pets of your own, and even sometimes, you can run into situations where you have problems with fleas, even if you do not actually own any pets. And I’ll discuss a couple of those situations. But just a couple things about fleas to make you think about the fact that they can actually balloon from a very small problem initially up to something that seems like you just cannot get rid of them. And this is because, for example, if you have pets, dogs, cats, if you have those animals living around your house or inside of your house, a domesticated animal, those fleas typically like to feed on the animal. Not saying that you wouldn’t see a flea in your house. You wouldn’t see a flea on your body at some point or another. It’s definitely possible, but as long as there’s a host food source, such as your pet, to take the brunt of the problem, most of the time, you may go a long time without really even noticing that you have a problem or that your pet has a problem. A lot of times, people discover it, though, when something happens and the pet is removed from an environment, say, the pet passes away. You know, something happens where you have to rehome that pet. You know, just various different reasons why you may no longer have that cat or dog inside your house, but as soon as the food source that pet is taken away, now, all that the fleas have left to feed on, unfortunately, is you so, you know, like I said, a lot of times, it balloons into this big problem, or people don’t even know that they have the problem until it’s a little bit too late. But female fleas alone can lay anywhere between four to eight give or take eggs after each time they feed on your pet or you. And in the grand scheme of things, they can lay somewhere between four to 500 eggs throughout their entire life cycle, and that’s just one female adult flea. So if you have multiple you can see where it could just seem like something that you may not ever be able to get rid of. And that’s not true. There are definitely methods that are successful in getting rid of fleas, but it definitely feels like a mountain that’s a little bit difficult to climb. So let’s talk a little bit about this. What are some ways that we can get rid of fleas? There are a lot of DIY people in the world, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I am on that same Avenue with many different projects around my house that I try to protect into and saving some money and that sort of thing. But if not done correctly, you can actually exacerbate the flea problem and you can actually make it completely worse. You’ve heard me say it on the podcast many times. This will not be the last time I say this. I tell my customers all the time. Just because a product says you can kill fleas with it, or you can kill roaches with it, or any of those pests, doesn’t always necessarily mean that that product should be used to kill that particular insect. So sometimes these products actually have an effect on making the insects seem like it’s worse inside your home, for example, if you use a product labeled for cockroaches on certain types of roaches, like German roaches, and it’s. Wrong style of product, you may actually cause those roaches to relocate to a different room in your house that you never actually had a roach problem in up till that point. And the same can go with fleas as well. So number one, if you want to get rid of fleas, and I tell my customers, is if I’m going to treat their house, this is number one in the discussion where I talk to my customers, you have to get your pet treated for the fleas, and you need to maintain regular flea treatments on those pets. Unfortunately, the way it works, we can certainly treat a house for fleas, but if the host is no is never treated or maybe just given a flea bath and not given some type of, you know, medication from the veterinary office. If there’s not some long term treatment plan for your animal, there’s a high likelihood that those insects will be back and you’ll have a problem again in the very near future. So that’s that’s number one we always recommend to the customer. Hey, please get your animal treated. You know, sometimes it’s a situation where maybe you don’t have a pet, and you move into an apartment, you move into a rental house, and you end up finding that there are fleas and that even though there hasn’t even been a tenant in that rental property or that apartment for months. That’s because fleas can actually lay dormant. Eggs can lay dormant and not hatch for around six months or even longer, sometimes depending upon the temperature and the environment that they’re in. So I mean, you could even move into having a flea problem where you didn’t have pets to begin with, or maybe even in your yard if you had a neighbor that breeds dogs. I’ve seen this before in some of my customers where the neighbor whose yard backs up to my customer’s yard actually was breeding dogs and ballooned flea problem in their yard, which kind of spilled over into my customer’s yard, where they were getting bitten, eventually even transferring into my customer’s house, which was a big problem. So get your animals treated. Encourage your neighbors, friends and family, to have their animals treated so that they don’t have flea problem. But that’s only the first step. So at pesky we have an awesome Flea Treatment Program. I have yet to come across a time where we employed this program and it did not work for the customer. It’s very effective. We’ve got a lot of experience doing it, and we treat every single house the same way when they have a fleet problem. So initially, what we go in and do we make sure that the homeowner, family members, pets, all of those things are out of the house at the time of the treatment. And the very first thing that we do is come in with a vacuum, and we have a pest control vacuum, a special one designed specifically for that purpose. And basically what it does is upon pulling those insects and those eggs and even some dirt and dust and all with it, upon pulling those up into the vacuum and actually locks them inside of a bag where the debris sits to where they cannot actually get out, and they’re not loose inside the vacuum container or anything like that. So basically it pulls it into this bag where we’re able to then take that bag and dispose of it in a manner where it’s not going to reinvest the customer’s property. And so we vacuum all of the floors. It doesn’t matter if it’s got carpet on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a rug. It doesn’t matter if it is a hard floor, wood floor. Doesn’t matter. We vacuum all those surfaces, because even the smallest gap, crack, crevice in a floor or in a carpet allows for fleas to hide, and it also allows for harborage areas for those fleas, egg eggs. So we also vacuum upholstered furniture as well couches, chairs and kitchens or dining rooms, recliners, Ottomans, anywhere where those fleas can be, anywhere where those eggs can also be attached to. We vacuum all of that stuff. After that, we come in with a two part liquid treatment. Now this is another important reason why family and pets needs to be out of the house, because this product needs time to be applied, and then it needs time to dry. Now, once it dries, it is considered okay to contact, so that two part liquid treatment actually has two different active ingredients that we use, the first being an adult decide or a pesticide that’s actually going to kill those adult and younger fleas that it comes into contact to but the neat thing about it is this is that the second ingredient has a more long term life cycle breaking effect, and that’s called an IGR, which stands for insect growth regulator, hormone. So those two ingredients come. Cobbled together and applied in the problem areas where you have fleas, does amazing work and getting getting rid of those fleas. Now I will tell you, most people, when they come home from my testimonials, where I’ve spoken to customers after the fact, say that they see instant results. That’s because we have vacuumed up a huge amount of the population, and then we’ve also liquid treated. However, you have to consider this, it’s a little bit of a more long term game to get rid of fleas, because, like any insect, fleas lay eggs. Any insect that lays eggs has larva inside of it that are completely protected from the effects of pesticides. There’s not any pesticide on the market that can penetrate inside of the egg of an insect, and that specifically also goes for fleas. So sometimes these products actually cannot affect an insect, larva or egg, until that egg hatches, and then, once it does, either they contact the adulticide, and it actually kills the the in the recently hatched flea, or it contacts the growth regulator. And what that IGR does is it inhibits a larval or nymphal stage insect, like a flea, into inhibits it from being able to grow into an adult, biting egg, laying flea, so eventually it breaks the life cycle. What I like to tell my customers about the Flea Treatment is that once we are done, you can roughly expect that product to continue to work, you know, as long as it’s applied. But I like to tell them to help us out for the nex

19 min
03/07/2025

Ryan Greer With ServPro of Montgomery Local Business Spotlight

Call Ryan Greer with ServPro of Montgomery, Alabama! Click Here! Find ServPro of Montgomery, Alabama on Facebook! Click Here! Visit ServPro of Montgomery, Alabama online! Click Here! Podcast Transcript: Travis McGowin Hey everybody! Welcome back to the Peskies Pest Control Podcast! Today we’re doing another one of our local business spotlights, where we highlight one of our local companies in the area that’s doing great things, reaching out, helping people. And today I’m excited to have on the show with me, Mister Ryan Greer, who is with ServPro of Montgomery. Ryan, how are you this morning? Ryan Greer I’m good. Travis, how are you? Man, thanks for having me on. Travis McGowin Yes, sir. Well, welcome. We appreciate you taking the time out to join us. So let’s get started. Tell us a little bit about yourself and maybe how you came to be with serve pro of Montgomery? Ryan Greer So I’m born and raised here in the Tri County area. I was in retail for a long time, and my daughter was born. And you know, when you have younger kids, you really retail life is very difficult on on on children. So have conversation with with her mom, and we prayed about it a lot. Asked God to open the door for us. And a couple weeks later, a friend of mine called and said, Hey, man, there’s a company here locally named ServPro that is needing someone in the Autauga County area. I know you’re from Prattville. Think you’d be great for it. What do you think about coming in and interviewing for it? So that’s how I ended up here. Travis McGowin Awesome. Well, sometimes same things just work out in the best way that they possibly can. So that’s great. So how long has ServPro of Montgomery actually been servicing the local community of the River region? Ryan Greer Yeah. So as you, as you may know, ServPro is a franchise, so there’s so we’re 2,200 locations nationwide. Our ownership group here has been in, it’s a family business, has been in the area, Montgomery, Tri County area, since the mid 80s. So coming up on 40 years now, pretty good, pretty good chunk of time. Oh, wow. So they have seen a lot of things happen in in 40 years. But that’s great to know. You know, I know you see ServPro logos and a lot of different places you see them, you know, at sporting events, you see them on the television, just in general, commercials. And it does make you think of a large company, and it is however, you still have that local ownership, that franchise ownership, that gives it that real personal touch, and that I think sets, sets it apart from some of the other, you know, larger companies as well. Travis McGowin So what else sets ServPro apart from from other companies? Is there anything that ServPro does to give back to the communities or to really help in local communities? Ryan Greer Yeah, so we, you know, there’s a lot of great companies out there. One of, one of my main focuses is actually community involvement. You know, we do anything from a lot of the local the golf tournaments, you know, there’s, there’s, we’re pretty involved with the hospitals Baptist Jackson, both. We’re involved with the Y pretty heavily involved with YMCA, really, anything that that I can be involved when community wise, is something I’m going to jump with the chance to be involved with it’s just something very close to me. So that is, that is hard, one of the wonderful things I get to do every day, Travis McGowin Right, and that’s a lot of great organizations and places that you listed there, so that’s really cool that ServPro is kind of has their hand in helping out with that. So for those unfamiliar with ServPro and what it does, kind of, kind of give us a list. What does ServPro of Montgomery do, as far as a range of services that you guys typically do offer to people in need? Ryan Greer Yeah, so we, I tell everybody, we, as far as commercially or residentially, both, we can handle anything above the slab. Of course, our bread and butter is going to be the water fire and the mold mitigation. Travis McGowin Right. Ryan Greer But we actually have a construction department here. Not all ServPros have it, but we’re looking that we have one here locally, that we can handle anything from sheet rock to paint to flooring to roofing, framing, all that good stuff. So yeah, anything above the slab we can handle. Travis McGowin That’s awesome. So you guys don’t necessarily have to subcontract anything out. You keep it all in house, and you get it done. And that homeowner, that business owner, is only dealing with, you know, one group, one company, instead of having to go through a whole bunch of different subcontractors and groups. I’m sure that makes a lot more easy and streamlined for the customers. Ryan Greer Yeah, it seems to. Now we do, we do sub subcontract, some things. We’ve got people in house that can handle, you know, the flooring removal and all that. But like you said, you know, it’s very important to to be involved through the process the entire way. We don’t have, you know this company that that comes in and and, you know, the customers got three, four or five different people they’re dealing with. They deal with us, and we handle everything from top to bottom, from beginning to end. Travis McGowin Awesome. Well, what are, what would you say in your experience of working with ServPro, what would you say are the most common types of emergencies that you have seen you know in your work there. Ryan Greer Yeah. So day to day, like I mentioned earlier, water mitigation is a huge part of what we do every day. Unfortunately, there are a number of water sources coming into your home that people just don’t realize anything from a hose on a dishwasher or a refrigerator line that that creates all that ice that we just can’t live without. You know, of course, your your shower pan leaks, your and more in the summer, we see air conditioner leaks where the drain may get clogged and and, you know, overflow and kind of flood. And that’s the water part’s going to be what we deal with more than anything else. Travis McGowin Okay, so walk us through that process. So you you receive a call from someone who’s having that type of issue, whether it’s their home or whether it’s their business, and you know from the time that they pick up the phone and they call ServPro of Montgomery. You know what’s the process from the timing start to the time that whole situation is is done? Ryan Greer Yeah, so I’ll just take, for instance, if you call me on my phone, first thing I’ll do is I’ll get some information from the homeowner, as far as just basic information, do you know where the water is coming from? What kind of flooring is involved? How many rooms has it gone into? Has the water source been stopped? That’s that’s one thing. It’s very important, because I’m not going to send a a crew out, not going to dispatch a crew out the water source hasn’t been stopped, because it’s not going to do me any good to start, you know, sucking up all the water and drying everything out when the water continues to come in, they just, it builds a bill, and it’s just, we choose not to do it that way. So we want to make sure that water source is cut off first. And then the next thing I’m going to do is, I’ll, I’ll call one of our I’ll either call our office. Kind of tell them what’s going on. I’ll speak to our project managers, give them a heads up on what’s happening, so they know what to load on the vans, and we’ll go out to the home and assess it that way and get our eyes on it. That starts the whole process to go from there. Travis McGowin Awesome. All right, so I know you mentioned, you know, when we were talking earlier about some of the service offerings that ServPro of Montgomery has fire, water, mold remediation, that sort of thing. What are, let’s, let’s talk a little bit about the mold. So what are some common misconceptions that people have? You know, maybe they’ve discovered that they have a mold problem in their house. You know, is there. There’s some things, mistakes, maybe, or misconceptions that people have about it. I mean, obviously we know molds not healthy to be around, right? Yeah, Ryan Greer Yeah. One of the most, I think, one of the biggest things that we that we see, is somebody will see some microbial growth, and the first thing they do is they run to Home Depot and they get a certain product that says, You know what? You know, it handles it 100% effective and all this. And come to find out, they, you know, they spray it on there, and they wipe it down, and they come back a month later, five or six weeks later, and not only is it still there, but it’s come back, and it’s come back stronger than it did before. First thing we want to do is, you know, call the professionals, kind of just so we can come out there and get an eyes on it and kind of go from there. That’s got to be the the biggest misconception is, you can just spray whatever you want on it, and it’s going to go away and everything’s going to be fine. Travis McGowin We have that same kind of misconception on our side in our industry with pest control. There’s a lot of times where folks go to a chain store, whether it’s Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart, and they go to the pest control aisle and they see something that says, you know, eliminates cockroaches. And if you’ve ever had a German cockroach infestation, which I’m sure in your work with ServPro, you’ve probably seen some pretty nasty ones here and there, but you I always tell people, yes, there are things on the market that will kill cockroaches, but should they be used to kill cockroaches? No, they shouldn’t. And I’m sure that pretty much every industry that has any portion of a DIY market has that same problem. We see it a lot, though, but, you know, other than than those mai

20 min
02/12/2025

Michelle Rawls With Real Broker Local Business Spotlight

On today’s episode of the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, Travis was joined by local real estate agent Michelle Rawls! Together, they discuss Real Broker, real estate in Montgomery, Alabama, and how you can prepare to buy a home or sell your existing home! If you would like to contact Michelle, please click one of the links below! Call Michelle! Click Here! Visit Michelle Rawls on Instagram! Click Here! Visit Michelle Rawls on Facebook! Click Here! Podcast Transcript: Travis McGowin Hey, thanks for joining us today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast. As you know, if you’ve listened to our podcast any amount of time, we do an occasional Local Business Spotlight where we talk to either a local business owner, a local business representative from our area, just to kind of hear what they’ve got going on and hear about their business and what it is they do and how they can help our clients too. Today, I am lucky enough to have with me Miss Michelle Rawls, who is a REALTOR with real broker. Michelle, how are you today? Michelle Rawls I’m fantastic. Travis, it’s so good to be here. Travis McGowin Yeah. Thank you for joining us today. You know springtime is on its way in, possibly Alabama is so unpredictable with its weather, it has so many ups and downs. But from what I understand in our previous conversations that you and I have had, that’s kind of when the real estate market starts cooking. Am I right? Michelle Rawls You are absolutely correct. We are starting to see an influx of movement on the in the market, on the MLS. So we’re about to head into our spring season where we’re going to start seeing some more inventory. So I’m really excited. At the moment, I’m just planting seeds and nurturing those seeds, because I know that by springtime, we’re going to start seeing a lot more movement. Travis McGowin Awesome. Well, so kind of paint the picture for us, what got you into real estate, and how did you eventually find your way over to Real broker? Michelle Rawls Sure, so I lived abroad. I graduated from AUM with business degree, and I went overseas and worked for a couple of years, and COVID brought me back to the States. Well, I have a background in sales, and I love sales, so it just kind of seems like a really great fit, and it’s really taken me to a lot of cool places, so I’m really, you know, I’ve really enjoyed it, and the fact that I get to help clients and first time homebuyers is just super rewarding as well, Travis McGowin Awesome. So give us a little about yourself here. You know, beyond enjoying sales and enjoying real estate, what are some things that you like to do, your passions, your hobbies, things that you do outside of work, Michelle Rawls I love to travel. So I’m super passionate about traveling. I i feel very proud to say that I was able to step foot on all seven continents, and I’ve been to like a bunch of different countries all over the world, and even domestically, here in the US, it’s beautiful. So I love road trips and catching flights and, you know, experiencing different festivals and hiking. I love the outdoors. So I’m, you know, very active outside. So when I’m not selling real estate, I’m, you can find me, you know, in the woods or traveling or just spending time with friends and family. Travis McGowin Awesome. Alright, so you like to, you like to make your rounds all over the world. That’s pretty cool. Michelle Rawls Yeah. Travis McGowin So tell us what makes real broker stand out from other real estate companies in, you know, the Montgomery area where you’re at, and what are some of the advantages that real broker brings with you to the clients that you guys serve. Michelle Rawls Sure, so real broker is one of the fastest growing companies in North America, and because of that, the access of training is top notch, and I think that as an agent, it’s super important to continue learn and sharpen your your skills. And that’s kind of what you know sets you apart from the competition, is just being able to negotiate and how to handle, you know, tough clients and tough markets. So I love the fact that my brokerage provides the training. They also have incentives with, you know, commission splits revenue. It’s publicly traded. So if you want to utilize that, it’s a great way to make additional money. There’s opportunities for leadership, if you want to start a team or if you want to sponsor another agent. So I love how there’s just different facets of it that can provide more income than, you know, some other agencies could could do, Travis McGowin Right, It sounds like there’s a lot of opportunity, a lot of growth, and a lot of great resources there for you, as well as your other you know, other agents that you work with. Michelle Rawls Absolutely and you know the CEO and the leadership board with real is just incredible and inspiring. And I think that good leaders, you know, produce other good leaders. So I just feel really supported where I’m at, and just the wealth of knowledge that I’ve learned and received has just been incredible. It’s, I feel like it’s really elevated my career. So I’m, you know, very happy that I’ve made, you know, the choice to be working with real broker. Travis McGowin Awesome. So in my current life, I have only ever went out and purchased a home one time, which is, which is currently the home that we live in. It was for sale by owner. It was kind of a very unique experience, especially being the very first home that my wife and I purchased. And like I said, we’re still in that house today. But thinking about that, thinking about the individuals that you represent as sellers or buyers, what are some common mistakes that you see maybe first time home buyers make, and maybe, what are some tips that they could do to avoid those mistakes? Michelle Rawls I guess to get started, Alabama is a buyer beware state. I always tell my clients, get a home inspection. You want to make sure that you really understand you know, what you’re getting into in terms of how the house functions, and maybe could prevent, you know, issues and having repairs done on the front end. So I always tell my clients, get a home inspection. That’s number one. And then another big thing to look out for as a you know, if you’re looking to purchase your first property is have a good lender. I tell my clients that real estate is a team sport. So, you know, really working with a lender to kind of help with the financing, and then, you know, I help negotiate the terms of the agreement, but just having a strong team of, you know, an agent as well as a lender to support you, I think, just like relieves a lot of stress that purchasing a home can can provide. So I really advocate for, you know, just building a good team. Travis McGowin Awesome. Yeah, we always tell our clients, you know, definitely get reputable, thorough inspections done. Of course, like you mentioned, Home Inspections, of course, our company, WIRs is our company does many, many wood infestation reports, because I always talk to my clients about it this way, your home is most likely your most expensive investment across the board, more than vehicles. You know, they’re they’re usually your most expensive investment. So I always say don’t cheap out on your home, because you will regret it later on down the road. Michelle Rawls Absolutely do your due diligence, and that is including inspections, whether it’s your WIR or home inspection or septic inspection, you’re absolutely right. Travis McGowin Right, so thinking about it from the opposite side, not from the buyer’s side, but from the seller’s side. What are some tips that you might would have for someone who’s getting ready to, like we said, spring’s coming, the market’s going to heat up, uh, someone’s interested in selling their home. What are some some tips, maybe, that you can recommend to get their house ready to list and and maybe get them the best price for their home Michelle Rawls Absolutely. So, you know, with working with me, for example, I use professional photography when listing properties, I feel most of the time, people are bringing the deals to me, the houses that they like, and that’s just, you know, pictures really create an idea of what, you know, they’re they’re getting. So having professional photography, I think, is super important, just especially because it’s on Zillow and realtor.com and then, as well as, just like, make sure you’re maintaining everything. You service your HVAC, if you need to, you know, do any service items on the front end, make sure that you declutter. So have a yard sale. Get rid of a bunch of stuff that you know you’re not going to need. You know, make sure all the light bulbs are the same. Like, just little, little tweaks can make some big changes as well as, like, you know, it also is good selling point. You know, the fact that you’ve done this or maintained this system is really good to have done prior to listing your home, Travis McGowin Right, and, you know, it’s like that old saying, a picture is worth 1000 words. But not only that, a first impression is everything. I think that’s vastly important. I like, like the reference about the professional photography. I really feel like that is a huge ordeal that you should that you should go ahead and spend the money on, because I even myself, have Zillow on my phone. I’m not looking for a home actively. But there are times when I’ll drive by somewhere and go, Oh, wow, that house is for sale. I wonder what it looks like inside. And I guess just really being nosy and just really putting your best foot forward to make that first impression, whether it’s whether it’s an open house, whether it’s an online listing, it really does make a difference. So what would you say? How important is it for a client to work with a local

15 min
02/07/2025

Keeping Squirrels Out of Your Montgomery Alabama Attic!

Podcast Transcript: Travis McGowin Thank you for joining us again for another episode of the Peskies Pest Control Podcast. Today, we have a very special topic to talk about. Wildlife, and not just any wildlife, one that causes so many problems, so much frustration, and it’s just an overall nuisance to a lot of homeowners, and that wildlife is squirrels. Now, just recently, if you’ve been following along with our YouTube channel, you would have seen that I posted a video where we were actually trapping squirrels at a customer’s house here in Deatsville, Alabama, this customer woke up Christmas morning to some crazy noises going on inside of their kitchen. They’ve got an older home. The layout is a little bit different than what you might would typically see nowadays when people build a new build. So inside their kitchen, they actually had a kitchen cabinet that, when you open the doors, actually showed their breaker box. So the breaker box for the electrical wiring in that portion of the house was hidden behind this old kitchen cabinet, but the breaker box wiring actually went straight up into the attic, so there was no buffer zone. There was no enclosure that hid these wires from view, so when the squirrels made entry into the attic, they were able to come straight down through the wall void, following the wires and right into the customer’s kitchen cabinet. So imagine yourself waking up on Christmas morning to enjoy that time with your family, only to have pure and utter chaos from a rodent running around inside your kitchen, knocking things over and just making a mess. Thankfully, the customers were able to open a window in an adjacent room, using a broom or some other item inside the house, they were able to shoe that squirrel to that room and get the squirrel to leave the house out of a window. But if you’ve ever listened to any of our wildlife discussions or podcasts, you would know that that, unfortunately, is not the end of the potential problems that are going to be caused by squirrels. So before we dive into our inspection and how we would handle this problem, let’s talk a little bit about why squirrels or any other road in our wildlife would be an issue inside of your home, whether that be the living space, the attic space, the crawl space, wherever they may be. So since we’re talking about squirrels, if they make entry into your home, there’s always the potential for them to gnaw or chew on things, and that’s true with virtually any rodent on the planet. So for squirrels, rats, mice, doesn’t really matter. They’re always going to be chewing on something. And one thing that they always seem to search out and find that they always enjoy chewing on is electrical wiring. Why is that a problem? Because it’s electrical wiring. Definitely don’t want to have a house fire start somewhere in your home, in your attic from a rodent gnawing on those wires. It’s extremely important if you have a rodent issue, to get those animals out of your house as quickly as possible. So that’s kind of the worst case. But on top of that, you have the general mess that they make in your attic. They constantly go about throughout the day, foraging for different things to eat. They bring those items back and they store them in your attic. They eat on them in your attic. This can cause a huge mess. And not only that, but there’s the waste that comes from these animals pooping or peeing and just making their general home up there where they don’t need to be. So there’s several problems, but we’ve been able to help. For example, this customer in Dietz, Ville, Alabama, rid their attic space of these rodents. So after they called us, we set up an appointment. I went out there personally to inspect the property, and while I was on site inspecting the outside of the home, I could actually hear the rodent running around in the attic space close to the eaves. I could hear that rodent inside the attic. So that helped me pinpoint a couple of entry points around the house. If you watch our YouTube video, you’ll see that the gable vents on the side of the house actually are supposed to have a mesh wiring that keeps insects and rodents and different things birds out of the attic space, but still allows for ventilation, and there was just a gigantic hole in this attic Gable vent. I. Allowing these rodents to climb up the side of the house and directly into the attic. So we came back, we placed some traps, and there’s a little bit more detail in that YouTube video, if you’d like to see the type of traps that we used. We placed some traps over those entry points with bait on them, and lo and behold, we caught a squirrel. So you may be saying to yourself, Okay, I can do this. I can find the entry point. I can set a trap. I can catch a squirrel. What next? Well, once you catch a squirrel or whatever wildlife it is that’s getting into your attic, we always recommend resetting that trap or those traps. You want to ensure that you’ve caught everything that’s been going in and out of your attic that’s been making a home inside of your home. You want to make sure that you catch it before you ever seal them up. Sealing up a live rodent inside of your home, whether it’s there again, the living space, the attic space, the crawl space, can cause problems. That rodent, that wild animal, at some point, is going to try to get out of that space where they’ve now been closed into. We’ve seen where rodents have chewed from the attic space into the living space of the house through sheetrock, and just caused lots of damage and chaos. So we definitely want to try to make sure that we have trapped everything before we ever tried to exclude and keep these animals out. So once you’ve trapped and ensured that you’ve kept all the animals out, that’s when we take over with exclusion. So what we did for this customer is, once we ensured the truck the squirrels were caught, we took hardware cloth on the outside of the house, and we were able to mount it to the outside of the house, still allowing for that addict to be ventilated properly, but keeping out rodents, keeping out different larger insects and birds, or anything else that wants to try to make its way up into that attic. So one other thing that I would like to also add is about the laws, the legal aspect, the stipulations of being able to trap wildlife, and of course, specifically here in the state of Alabama. So all of trapping and wildlife laws all go through the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and they typically will issue permits for organizations, companies like ourselves, for homeowners and individuals to be able to do trapping the legal and appropriate way. So you want to make sure that if you are going to use a company that they are legally allowed to use trappings methods for controlling wildlife, controlling nuisance wildlife, and always check with your local laws and statutes before you attempt to handle any kind of wild animals, there may be some that are protected species. There may be some very specific ways that you are or are not allowed to trap these animals, and a couple of other things to touch on too. In reference to those laws in the state of Alabama, you are not legally allowed to transport a wild animal inside of a vehicle. You’re not legally allowed to take one of those wild animals across county lines. You’re also not allowed to transport them across major waterway drainage areas either. So you’re kind of left with one or two options. You can either let the rodent go, let the squirrel go, or you can either use a trap that dispatches or kills that squirrel on site, or you have to kill the squirrel on site as well. And they’re very particular about the methods that you’re supposed to use for doing that as well. So I say all that just to basically point out that you need to make sure that you’re checking with your wildlife officials to make sure that you’re doing things the right way, the legal way, ethically and humanely as well. So I hope that this shed some light on what it is that we were able to do for that customer, in reference to getting them rid of squirrels in their attic and ensuring that those squirrels never come back and attempt to take up residence inside of their attic ever again, as well of some of the ethics and laws behind making sure that you do this the proper way, if you have any other questions, we would absolutely love to talk to you. If you’re having a rodent or wildlife issue, we would love to assist you. As long as you are in our coverage area, we would be more than happy to come out and take a look to see what it is you’ve got going on. If you would like to see our YouTube video about this topic, CLICK HERE! The post Keeping Squirrels Out of Your Montgomery Alabama Attic! appeared first on Peskies Pest Control Montgomery.

11 min
12/05/2024

Fruit Flies Are Invading Montgomery Alabama Homes!

Why do I have this problem? Fruit flies are invading Montgomery, Alabama Homes! They infest your home when they find rotten fruits, vegetables, and other foods that are past their prime. We are all human and sometimes we may accidentally shove food to the back of the pantry or shelf. Over time, when the food spoils, this can create a great food source for fruit flies to consume. What can I do to get rid of Fruit Flies? Fruit flies can balloon into a huge problem rather quickly! One adult fruit fly can lay up to 500 eggs! This can lead to a massive infestation in as little as 10 days! At Peskies Pest Control Montgomery, we recommend these simple steps to help control fruit flies in your home: Locate and identify the source of the infestationCheck food storage areas such as the pantry or cabinets in your kitchen where forgotten food may have been hidden from view. Remove spoiled food itemsImmediately dispose of the spoiled food in an exterior garbage receptacle. Do not keep the spoiled food inside your home. Keeping the food inside an interior waste receptacle can cause the infestation to continue. Trap remaining adult fruit fliesTrapping the remaining adults will ensure that no further eggs can be laid on any other food in your home, thus, eliminating the infestation! Commercially available fruit fly traps are available at most grocery stores or, you can make your own using a simple mixture of apple cider vinegar and dish soap! Using these simple steps, most folks can rid their home of pesky fruit flies. Of course, if you still cannot seem to get rid of the fruit flies, we are always here for you! Give us a call today! (334) 595-9055 Not having an issue with fruit flies? We can handle all of your pest control needs! Click Here! Follow Us on Instagram! The post Fruit Flies Are Invading Montgomery Alabama Homes! appeared first on Peskies Pest Control Montgomery.

9 min

10 Episodes

out of 5

2 Ratings

Creator

Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast
Years Active

2022 - 2026
Episodes

10
Rating

Clean
Show Website

Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast

Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast

Episodes

Mosquitoes Are Already Back in Montgomery Alabama!

Detecting and Defeating Bed Bug Reinfestations in Montgomery Alabama!

Fire Ants Are Invading Montgomery, Alabama Lawns!

Tips to Keep General Pests Away in Montgomery, Alabama!

Crane Flies Are Not Mosquitoes in Montgomery, Alabama!

Fleas Can Turn Into A Problem in Montgomery, Alabama!

Ryan Greer With ServPro of Montgomery Local Business Spotlight

Michelle Rawls With Real Broker Local Business Spotlight

Keeping Squirrels Out of Your Montgomery Alabama Attic!

Fruit Flies Are Invading Montgomery Alabama Homes!

Ratings & Reviews

About

Information