Hurricane, West Virginia
Bordered by Maryland to the northeast, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the north, Virginia to the southeast and Kentucky to the southwest, West Virginia is located in the Appalachian region of the southern US. Hurricane is a city based in the Putnam county of West Virginia and has a population of around 7,000 residents. The city gets an average of 41 inches of rain, 14 inches of snowfall and 173 sunny days per year. The month of July has the hottest days of the year with temperatures reaching 86 degrees and the month of January has the coldest days of the year, with temperatures dropping to 23 degrees.
Hurricane, like all cities in the US, has an ongoing and present war with pests. The city’s primary pests are the most common ones such as rodents, fleas, cockroaches, bees, mosquitos etc. Hurricane’s climate plays a large part in the pest problem as the hot summers and moderate winters provide a survivable environment for the pests. Pests in Hurricane enter homes at all times of the year, not just during the autumn and winter months.
Pests are not only inconvenient and unwanted, they also carry a lot of diseases and bacteria that can be lethal if caught by humans. The most common and hazardous pests in Hurricane residents homes are rodents and cockroaches. Any rodent infestation can be a very serious health hazard, rats and mice spread diseases and bacteria when they enter homes and this can be lethal, especially to children, pregnant women, elderly people and those with weak immune systems. They spread throughout the home in a number of different ways and many times can go undetected for weeks and months, they can be contaminating homes and food and food preparation surfaces without the homeowners’ knowledge.
Rodents can also spread diseases and bacteria through bites, although rodents don’t commonly bite, they can do so if they are put in fear, therefore, it is very important to make sure rodents are avoided at all costs as being bit by a sick rodent can be extremely dangerous. Another way rodents spread disease and bacteria is through tainted and contaminated food. Mice and rats enter homes for two things: shelter and food. It is important that food is sealed away in airtight containers made of metal and glass to ensure they don’t get into them. Once they do, they contaminate it with urine and droppings. Although it is uncommon for homeowners to consume tainted food unknowingly as mice leave dropping and urine everywhere they go, consumption of such food could spread rat-bite fever, salmonellosis, and leptospirosis which can be life threatening to humans.
Cockroaches pose a risk because their antigens can be extremely harmful to asthma sufferers and also because they can carry germs that cause diseases that can be extremely harmful to humans if contracted, they can also spread parasitic worms and human pathogens. Cockroaches crawl through some of the dirtiest places when looking for food such as sewers and drains, if infestations aren’t handled as soon as they are detected, cockroaches can increase greatly, become uncontrollable and become a serious threat to the health of residents.
Homeowners use number of different DIY methods to rid their homes of pest problems, these commonly include starving (storing all food items in pest-proof, airtight jars and containers), or more unconventional methods such as using natural and essential oils to ward pests away and make them feel unwelcome. Although these methods are cheap, they are ineffective in eliminating pests but are more successful at preventing pest infestations. As such DIY methods should be used as a pest preventative strategy and leave the elimination of these critters to a fully qualified and trained pest control professional. Pest controllers are specialized in knowing how to handle every situation and species of pests. Services such as Orkin Pest Control provide clients with same day home inspections, identify the pest problem and the size of the infestation and offer customers solutions and options accordingly. Another company similar to this is Terminix. Both companies provide professional and qualified pest control services and can be relied upon to rid homes of pests permanently.