When you call Homestead Pest Management we listen to your problem and prescribe a treatment that will fit your individual needs after a thorough property inspection. We suggest the most beneficial service for your needs without overcharging for additional services you don’t need, because we feel that you should only pay for what is necessary to properly protect your property and not what makes us the most money. 
With Homestead Pest Control, you have multiple options for Pest Control including:

• One-Time Service Visits
• Monthly Service Visits
• Bi-Monthly Service Visits
• Quarterly Service Visits
• Inside Only Treatments
• Outside Only Treatments
• And MORE!

At Homestead Pest Management, we live with our families in West Tennessee and understand that times are hard for everyone. For that reason, we do not hold our fellow residents to a binding contract. If you need to cancel at any time, you can, and we will still be here for you when conditions improve.

 
Homestead Pest Management can take care of all your pest control needs whether it be roaches, ants, termites, mosquitoes, spiders or anything else that’s bugging you. Contact us today to schedule a complete individualized assessment of your home and property.

Contrary to popular belief, bedbugs are not worse in summer months than in winter. Because they live indoors, the heat we use to keep ourselves warm also keep conditions perfect for bedbugs. Also, because we often have overnight guests or even just lots of daytime company, the likelihood that someone might accidentally “share” their bedbugs with you also increases.

If you wake up with itchy areas you didn’t have when you went to sleep, you may have bedbugs, particularly if you got a used bed or other used furniture around the time the bites started. Other signs that you have bedbugs may include blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases; dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls; bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide; and/or an offensive, musty odor from the bugs’ scent glands. If you suspect you have bedbugs, Homestead Pest Management can assess all the rooms in your home an come up with a specific plan for stamping them out and keeping them gone!

Contrary to popular opinion, bedbugs do not result from someone being dirty; they live soley on blood, so having them in your home is not a sign of poor housekeeping; they will infest any place that gives them a ready supply of blood.  They do not carry diseases, but their bites are very itcy and uncomfortable, and if scratched may become infected. Bedbugs may enter your home undetected by hitching a ride on luggage, clothing, used beds and furniture, and other items; their flat bodies make it possible for them to fit into the tiniest of spaces.  Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in good hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night. Over time, though, they may move through the bedroom, moving into any tiny, protected space. They may also spread to nearby rooms or apartments. Early detection is key in getting rid of these annoying pests as soon as possible.

Homestead Pest Managment is your best stop for total pest management in West TN. We pride ourselves on our accurate, thorough assessments of your home and property, and are known for our personalized ongoing pest-control plans.  Contact us today and let us help you rid yourself of any pest that is bugging you. 

Rats like to be warm, dry, and well-fed.  When cold weather comes, they start looking for the best places to find these conditions, and that means they often can be found in or under our houses, barns, or sheds.  Homestead Pest Managment can help you be rid of these unwanted “guests,” or they can help you to rat-proof your home and property before an infestation starts.

According to the University of California’s Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, “Rats are some of the most troublesome and damaging rodents in the United States. They eat and contaminate food, damage structures and property, and transmit parasites and diseases to other animals and humans. Rats live and thrive in a wide variety of climates and conditions and are often found in and around homes and other buildings, on farms, and in gardens and open fields.

Because rats are active throughout the year, periodically check for signs of their presence. Once rats have invaded your garden or landscaping, unless your house is truly rodent proof, it is only a matter of time before you find evidence of them indoors. Experience has shown it is less time consuming to control rodents before their numbers get too high, and fewer traps and less bait will be required if control is started early.

Inspect your yard and home thoroughly. If the answer to any of the following questions is yes, you may have a rat problem.

• Do you find droppings around dog or cat dishes or pet food storage containers?

• Do you hear noises coming from the attic just after dusk?

• Have you found remnants of rat nests when dismantling your firewood stack?

• Does your dog or cat bring home dead rat carcasses?

• Is there evidence rodents are feeding on fruit/nuts that are in or falling from the trees in your yard?

• Do you see burrows among plants or damaged vegetables when working in the garden?

• Do you see rats traveling along utility lines or on the tops of fences at dusk or soon after?

• Have you found rat nests behind boxes or in drawers in the garage?

• Are there smudge marks caused by the rats rubbing their fur against beams, rafters, pipes, and walls?

• Have you ever had to remove a drowned rat from your swimming pool or hot tub?

• Do you see evidence of something digging under your garden tool shed or doghouse?”

If you suspect that you have a rat infestation, contact us at Homestead Pest Management today and let us conduct an assessment of your home and/or property and develop an individualized plan for extermination and ongoing maintenance. 

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! 

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman’s hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! 

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the “Land of the Free” —
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! 

~Author Unknown

With Homestead Pest Control, you have multiple options for Pest Control including:

• One-Time Service Visits
• Monthly Service Visits
• Bi-Monthly Service Visits
• Quarterly Service Visits
• Inside Only Treatments
• Outside Only Treatments
• And MORE!

At Homestead Pest Management, we live with our families in West Tennessee and understand that times are hard for everyone. For that reason, we do not hold our fellow residents to a binding contract. If you need to cancel at any time, you can, and we will still be here for you when conditions improve.

When you call Homestead Pest Management we listen to your problem and prescribe a treatment that will fit your individual needs after a thorough property inspection. We suggest the most beneficial service for your needs without overcharging for additional services you don’t need. We feel that you should only pay for what is necessary to properly protect your property and not what makes us the most money. 

Homestead Pest Management can take care of all your pest control needs whether it be roaches, ants, termites, mosquitoes, spiders or anything else that’s bugging you. Contact us today to schedule a complete individualized assessment of your home and property so you can, thankfully, have a pest-free fall season!

If you have seen tracks, gnawing marks, or droppings, these indicate areas where mice are or have recently been active. Their nests, made from fine shredded paper or other stringy materials, are often found in dark, dry, sheltered locations. Though mice usually stay out of sight during daylight hours, if there are many, they may be seen before dark.  They have a distinctive, musty smell that is evident in their nests or in large groups. They are gray or brown rodents with relatively large ears and small eyes. An adult weighs about 0.5 ounces and is about 5.5-7.5 inches long, including the 3-4 inch tail.

House mice are considered one of the most destructive pests in the United States. They can survive in very small areas with limited food and barely any shelter under a variety of conditions in and around homes and farms. House mice eat and/or destroy food meant for pets and humans. They contaminate food-prep areas with their feces and urine, which can contain salmonella and lead to food poisoning. Their constant gnawing causes damage to structures and property. If you suspect you have a mouse problem, let Homestead Pest Management come into your home or other structure and do a thorough assessment to determine the best course of action.

House mice will eat many kinds of food but usually feed on cereal grains and corn. They eat often, nibbling bits of food here and there. They have keen senses and are excellent climbers. Mice can run up any rough vertical surface by clinging with their toenails and toes. They can fit through a crack small enough that only a pencil will fit into! They are also very prolific – in a single year (the average life span of a house mouse), a female may have 5-10 litters of usually 5-7 young each litter. That’s a bunch of mice!

Homestead Pest Managment is your best stop in West TN for the extermination and prevention of a house mice infestation as well as all other types of pest control. We pride ourselves on our accurate, thorough assessments of your home and property, and are known for our personalized ongoing pest-control plans.  Contact us today and let us help you rid yourself of any pest problem that you may have.

Donna Wallace-King of WTOC.com wrote this article about pests and the cooler weather of Fall:

“Fall is here and summer pests are retreating, but that doesn’t mean you can slack off on pest control. When the weather cools down, some insects and rodents start looking for a warm place to stay. If you’re not careful, these pests could choose your cozy home as their winter habitat.

Fall is not the time to slack of on pest control. The cooler weather brings in some new critters who are looking for a warm place to stay.

There are ways of staving off their encroachment, however. Charlie Jones is a 14-year veteran in the pest control industry and is currently the Senior Vice President of Operations at Arrow Exterminators. He says that in the fall rodents in particular are looking for a warm place to stay, and they can shimmy into some very tight spaces, even a nickel-sized hole.

“If the head will go, the body will follow,” Jones said.

Rats, mice, and squirrels often end up in attics during the fall and winter months. That’s because attics provide lots of room to roam around, soft insulation to sleep on and plenty of things they can chew. Rodents must chew on things in order to keep their ever-growing teeth from getting too long.

And that’s the problem. All that chewing can cause house fires. Jones explains that one way rodents cause house fires is by chewing through a wire, which causes electricity to arc between the two pieces of wire and sparks a fire.

Rodents also bring other problems into your home. They can make you and your family sick. Pests like fleas, ticks, and lice often piggy back on rodents and, as indirect vectors, help spread diseases from rodents to humans.

Mice and rats also carry several diseases that can be spread to humans directly through their feces, urine, and saliva. You don’t necessarily have to come into contact with the animals to get sick.

If you have a central air and heating unit in the attic, Jones says that can spread particulates like rodent dander and feces throughout your house via the air ducts. Those particulates can make you and your family sick.

While they are not rodents, raccoons and opossums sometimes make themselves at home in your attic, basement or even in your walls, and are most certainly pests.

Raccoons are worrisome because they are known to carry rabies along with other diseases. Once a raccoon gets into your home, she won’t leave because she has a litter of cubs with her. Raccoons are creatures of habit, so a mother raccoon will return time and again to the same attic to raise her babies as long as she is able to gain entry.

Rabies is almost unknown in opossums, but they often carry fleas, ticks and other parasites. Opossums are nomadic animals and will leave your home within a few days of its arrival.

If you have a raccoon or opossum in your home, the best course of action is hire a professional to remove the animal. And, as with all pests, seal any entry points into your home and keep tree limbs trimmed away from your home.

The fall pest parade continues with insects.

Ants are a year-round nuisance but some species get worse in the fall. The odorous house ant is a common pest across the U.S. While they prefer to feed on aphid honeydew, they will invade your home to forage for food when the honeydew supply diminishes in the fall. Unfortunately, they can contaminate food. And if you squish them, you will find out how they earned their name.

Kudzu bugs and brown marmorated stinkbugs are invasive species from the same family of insects. These stinky interlopers make their presence known in the fall. They aren’t dangerous, but they can be annoying. They give off a strong odor when they are squeezed or frightened and their droppings can damage fabrics. Kudzu bugs eat legumes, including kudzu and are attracted to the color white.

Cockroaches are a problem year-round, and they are bad news.

“Cockroaches are definitely one of the most dangerous pests on our list,” Jones said. “They have the potential to spread 33 different kinds of bacteria.”

Cockroach allergens can trigger asthma and allergic reactions. Additionally, there is evidence to show that exposure to those allergens can cause asthma to develop in preschool children.

“Sanitation and cleanliness is the first step to combating roaches,” Jones said.

Pest management is a year-round process.

Jones says the worst mistakes homeowners make is “not paying attention to the structure.” He advises homeowners to pay special attention to any cracks around their home and its foundation, check window and door thresholds and check for any standing water inside or outside the home.

“Pay attention to the health of the house,” Jones said.

Homeowners should also be aware of trees. If the touch the house, they serve as a “superhighway” into the house for rats, squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and even ants.

Arrow Exterminators has provided some tips to help you keep unwanted pests out of your home:

·         Always store food in sealed, airtight containers.

·         Seal all cracks in and around the foundation of the home.

·         Make sure that all screens on doors and windows are in good repair

·         Keep kitchens and bathrooms sanitized and vacuum frequently.

·         Eliminate sources of standing water and keep tree branches and shrubs trimmed back and away from the home.

·         Store firewood away from the home on an elevated surface and don’t keep unused firewood in the home overnight.”

Homestead Pest Management is your West TN best choice for the extermination and ongoing prevention of all types of pests. Contact us today for a no hassle, no contract, no baloney assessment of your property and a personalized plan for keeping your home and yard pest free.

Contrary to popular opinion, bedbugs do not result from someone being dirty; they live soley on blood, so having them in your home is not a sign of poor housekeeping; they will infest any place that gives them a ready supply of blood.  They do not carry diseases, but their bites are very itcy and uncomfortable, and if scratched may become infected. Bedbugs may enter your home undetected by hitching a ride on luggage, clothing, used beds and furniture, and other items; their flat bodies make it possible for them to fit into the tiniest of spaces.  Bedbugs do not have nests like ants or bees, but tend to live in groups in good hiding places. Their initial hiding places are typically in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards where they have easy access to people to bite in the night. Over time, though, they may move through the bedroom, moving into any tiny, protected space. They may also spread to nearby rooms or apartments. Early detection is key in getting rid of these annoying pests as soon as possible.

If you wake up with itchy areas you didn’t have when you went to sleep, you may have bedbugs, particularly if you got a used bed or other used furniture around the time the bites started. Other signs that you have bedbugs may include blood stains on your sheets or pillowcases; dark or rusty spots of bedbug excrement on sheets and mattresses, bed clothes, and walls; bedbug fecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide; and/or an offensive, musty odor from the bugs’ scent glands. If you suspect you have bedbugs, Homestead Pest Management can assess all the rooms in your home an come up with a specific plan for stamping them out and keeping them gone!

Homestead Pest Managment is your best stop for total pest management in West TN. We pride ourselves on our accurate, thorough assessments of your home and property, and are known for our personalized ongoing pest-control plans.  Contact us today and let us help you rid yourself of any pest that is bugging you. 

What makes Homestead Pest Management the best choice in West TN pest control?  Let’s just break it down:

Homestead Pest Management, Inc. was founded in 1976 by Matt & Diane Markowski, and it is still owned and operated by the Markowski family. It is currently owned by their son David Markowski and their daughter Donna Tyler.  Their son-in-law, Charles Moore, is also our Pest Control Manager.

Homestead Pest Management uses the latest techniques to eliminate pests, including using baits and low odor liquids. We were the first company in this area approved to use termite baiting systems,  and we strive to always use products that will have the least amount of impact on the environment. All of the technicians employed by Homestead Pest Management are state certified and undergo continuous training to stay on top of the newest techniques and developments in our field.

Matt Markowski was instrumental in forming the Local Pest Control Association, serving as its First President. He also served the Tennessee Pest Control Association as a Director, President and Committee Chairman. Diane Markowski has served as Secretary, Treasurer, and President of the Local Pest Control Association and has also served the Tennessee Pest Control Association as President, Director and Parliamentarian. She has additionally served as Director and Committee Chairperson with the National Pest Management Association. David Markowski has been President of the Local Pest Control Association and President of the Tennessee Pest Control Association. Donna Tyler is currently Secretary/Treasurer of the Local Pest Control Association.

Let Homestead Pest Management, Inc. demonstrate our expertise and commitment to West TN by assessing your home and property and providing you with a customized plan of attack that consists of both extermination and maintenance, as needed.  Contact us today, and let us take care of all your pest control needs!