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Do pest control companies seal holes?
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Most pest control companies consider summer and fall to be peak rodent season, where mice problems tend to pop up. The tiny intruders shift from a period of spring breeding to hunting for food and shelter from the coming cold.
If you want to get ahead of the problem, now is the time to call a reliable pest control company. These experts can typically help by sealing off mice entry points and other holes where rodents and insects can sneak in.
Do pest control companies seal holes?
Mice can squeeze their way through cracks or holes as small as one-fourth of an inch. This impressive feat means that even the newest and most securely constructed homes may be vulnerable to intrusion. If you’ve never inspected your home for possible mice entry points — or if you’re already hearing the squeaky signs of a successful intruder hiding somewhere — it’s time to call a pest control company.
But what can a pest control company do?
Terminix offers comprehensive rodent solutions that can help resolve your mouse or rodent problem. These include:
- Pest exclusion. Exclusion is the lynchpin of any rodent solutions from a pest control company. This involves the straightforward business of checking and sealing your home from the ground up to keep pesky rodents out. A Terminix technician will typically start with a thorough inspection of your home’s exterior, looking for gaps, cracks, holes or signs of rodent activity before sealing any openings.
- Exterior rodent management. A Terminix technician will do a sweep of your home’s exterior, looking for any blatant sanitation or environmental factors that could attract rodent activity. Traps and rodent stations may be used here as well.
- Interior rodent management. This is a full inspection of your home’s interior where a technician seeks out any signs of rodent activity. Afterwards, they’ll draw up a custom plan for restricting, treating and monitoring your rodent problem going forward.
How do I keep mice out of my home?
Whether you rent or own your home, you’re not completely helpless against the threat of nosy rodents. A thorough sweep of your home can help highlight any homes, gaps or other weaknesses. In addition, we recommend keeping things as clean, dry and tidy as possible to further deter pest activity.
Don’t leave food out; keep fresh food and leftovers in the fridge or airtight containers to limit the temptation. Dispose of garbage regularly and try to keep attics, basements and crawl spaces dry and well ventilated as best you can.
Moisture is another thing that will attract rodents and insects, so inspect your home for leaky pipes, clogged drains or roof damage and take the appropriate steps to patch things up and keep things clean and dry. A pest control company can be worth the call if you want the added peace of mind that comes after an expert has inspected your home for these and any other vulnerabilities.
Can sealing holes keep out insects?
Rodents aren’t the only intruders who can sneak in through small gaps, cracks and holes around the house. Insects and pests like spiders, wasps and cockroaches can get just as much use out of an unsealed hole in your wall as mice can. Unlike mice, most insects only need a gap as big as one-sixteenth of an inch to make an appearance in your home.
Here are some tips for pest proofing your home to keep as many bugs and rodents out as possible:
- Use door sweeps or insulating material to block gaps around entry doors.
- Use caulk along the exterior edges of doorways to deter ants and other small insects.
- Check windows for any gaps, using caulk to fix any cracks or gaps.
- Repair any tears in your window or door screens. This helps keep out flies, gnats, mosquitoes, cluster flies and other flying pests during the summer and fall.
- Seal openings where exposed pipes or wires enter the home. Caulk, urethane expandable foam and copper mesh will all get the job done.
- Consider calling a pest control company like Aptive. Insect and pest control experts will inspect your home with you, pointing out possible entry points and anything you may have missed before concocting a custom pest exclusion and management plan for your home.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at same Brooklyn detention center that held R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, other high-profile inmates
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
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Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
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Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Ja Rule stayed at the MDC Brooklyn for a brief time before being released after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession. Most of his prison time was spent in a state prison in New York.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
contributed to this report.
