Posts Tagged ‘Pest prevention’

Pest Prevention Exclusion Caulking Cracks

November 18th, 2009

One of the many practices used for preventive pest control is exclusion. Exclusion is the practice of keeping the pests out by physically blocking their path of entry.

The pictures below will help to illustrate:

The first picture is of a separation between a door frame, and the brick siding of the home. This opening was large enough to allow many types of pests to enter. Blocking such entries will drastically lower the chances of having pests come inside your home. You may not find all the holes and cracks on the first try, but each one you seal, will be one less entry, and help you to discover others.

Door frame needing sealing

The next photograph shows the caulking process at the beginning.

Caulking a crack to keep pests outThe final picture in this series is the finished product. It will prevent pests, and keep cold air out. It can be painted to match the brick, or the door trim if needed.

Doorway caulked and sealed

Pest Prevention Right Thinking

October 9th, 2009

AddThis Social Bookmark Button


There is a lot more to pest control than just spraying out a bunch of chemicals to kill the pests. There is a lot more to pest control than spraying a lot of botanical products. A good pest control program would include a little planning beforehand.

To begin, taking all the appropriate steps to prevent potential pest problems will eliminate most of them. That is the major gap in almost all pest control systems.

I fear that most people, even the ones who are trying to be “green”, have become so deeply entrenched in the “way we have always done it”, that they continue to do the same things they always have done, but with a different set of ingredients. That is at least a partial step in the right direction, but still the wrong way of looking at pest problems, and similar situations.

What we need, is a total re-thinking of pest control from the bottom up, with pest prevention being the foundation on which the rest of the program is built. Doing the same old things with a different set of materials will lead to the same old results.

Pest Prevention is Proactive Pest Control Is Reaction

October 2nd, 2009

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

Pest Prevention is Proactive Pest Control Is Reaction


Pest control is a reaction to a circumstance. The circumstance being, the presence of unwanted pests. Pest prevention is proactive, that is, actively seeking to stop the presence of unwanted pests. The purpose of pest control is to overcome the symptoms of a pest problem. The problem is not the pest. The problem is poor pest prevention!

On the surface, it may appear that pest control is proactive, taking the beetle by the horns, and eliminating it. This is not the case. At first glance, it may seem that pest prevention is not proactive, but it is, since good pest prevention practice takes action to stop the problem before it starts. Once a good pest prevention program is put into place, it becomes a passive means of protection from pests and the problems associated with them.