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JP McHale’s Ultimate Guide to Preventing Late Summer Pests: Stinging Insects, Carpenter Ants, Mosquitoes, and Ticks
It’s peak season for pests like stinging insects, carpenter ants, mosquitoes, and ticks. This is because the longer days and more abundant vegetation provide much more time and food for these pests to feed. Not only are they extremely active at this time, disrupting your late summer fun, these pests can pose significant health risks.
Here’s a guide to understanding and preventing these pests from spoiling your end-of-summer activities.
Stinging Insects including bees, wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets, are particularly aggressive in late summer and fall due to a combination of factors including, a lack of food and water, their life cycle, and the weather. These insects can deliver painful stings, which may cause allergic reactions in some people.
Prevention Tips:
- Avoid Attractants: Keep food and drinks covered during outdoor activities and promptly clean up spills.
- Seal Entry Points: Ensure that windows, doors, and screens are in good repair to prevent these pests from entering your home.
- Remove Nests: Regularly inspect your property for wasp nests. If you find one, consider calling a professional to remove it safely.
- JP McHale’s Stinging Insect Protection works with the goal of mitigation treatment to eliminate the queen from the nest; once the queen is removed, the workers will go elsewhere to a new colony.
Carpenter Ants are large black or reddish ants that tunnel wood to build their nests, causing structural damage over time. They are particularly attracted to damp or decaying wood, which can be more prevalent with late summer rains.
Prevention Tips:
- Eliminate Moisture: Fix leaks and ensure proper drainage around your home to reduce damp wood that attracts carpenter ants.
- Seal Cracks: Seal any cracks or gaps in your home's foundation, windows, and doors to prevent entry.
- Remove Wood Debris: Clear away any wood debris, stumps, and logs around your home. Store firewood away from your house and off the ground.
- JP McHale’s Ant Management and Elimination Services features our highly trained team of pest management professionals who will eliminate carpenter ants from your home.
Mosquitoes are small flying insects that feed on blood. They are notorious for their itchy bites and can transmit diseases like the West Nile virus.
Prevention Tips:
- Eliminate Standing Water: Mosquitoes breed in standing water. Empty and clean birdbaths, flowerpot saucers, and other containers that collect water.
- Use Screens: Ensure that windows and doors have intact screens to keep mosquitoes out of your home.
- Wear Protective Clothing: Wear long sleeves, pants, and socks when outdoors, especially during dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
- JP McHale’s Organic Mosquito Control Program is environmentally friendly and completely safe for your family and pets. It includes four applications annually to help reduce the mosquito population on your property.
Ticks are small arachnids that feed on the blood of mammals, birds, and reptiles. They can transmit diseases like Lyme disease, which remains a concern through late summer into early fall.
Prevention Tips:
- Avoid Tick Habitats: Stay clear of tall grasses, wooded areas, and leaf piles where ticks are commonly found. Stick to the center of trails when hiking.
- Wear Protective Clothing: Wear long sleeves, pants, and socks. Tuck your pants into your socks and your shirt into your pants to prevent ticks from reaching your skin.
- Check for Ticks: After spending time outdoors, thoroughly check your body, clothes, and pets for ticks. Promptly remove any ticks using fine-tipped tweezers.
- JP McHale’s LymeGuard+Tick and Mosquito Service with the added protection of LymeShield, provides comprehensive coverage against ticks and the devastating diseases they transmit, like Lyme Disease. LymeSheid utilizes advanced technology in the form of six-well stations, which are strategically placed on your property to vaccinate Lyme-carrying mice. This way, the mice are no longer carrying the infection, and in turn, they are no longer able to pass that infection onto a tick which could then go on and spread the disease further to humans and other animals.
For more information, contact JP McHale Pest Management at (332) 213-5002 or visit https://nopests.com.
Live Music, Local Flavor & Family Fun: Explore Fairfield County’s Best Events This Week!
Waterbury CT: This coming weekend, Saturday, July 12th and Sunday, July 13th, CT's Original (and only) Paranormal Convention returns for the 5th year, bringing its one-of-a-kind experience to Waterbury, Connecticut in the Crosby High School gym complex. "ParaConn" is an entertaining and informative celebration of all things strange, spooky, and supernatural. The complete weekend schedule of speakers and panelists has been released: SATURDAY JULY 12 11AM V.I.P. Admission – Early-Bird Visit to Special Guests, Authors, Vendors, Readers, and Exhibitors. Access to front row seating. NOON General Admission Doors Open 12:15 Jimmy Petonito: “Mr. Haunted Origins” 1PM Sam Baltrusis and Heidi Kemper: “Ethics in Mediumship” 1:45 Ron Yacovetti and Lourdes Gonzalez: “Analytic Idealism, Paranormality, & Spirit Communication” 2:30 The Shaman and The Showman: “A Haunting in Waterbury” 3PM John Zaffis, Bill Slevin, Carl Johnson: Chronicles of Demonologists” 3:45 Stacia Wills and Kathy Feketik: “Wardruna: Origins of a Healing Mission” 4:30 Laurissa Rex, Dave Childers, Alaura Hewey, Matt Brown: ”24 Hours in Hell Experience” 5:15 Danny and Lauren Perez/ The Radikals: “True Crime Objects: Echoes of Violence” Last call to visit the vendors for special deals or readings. SHOW ENDS at 6PM . SEE YOU TOMORROW SUNDAY JULY 13 11AM V.I.P. Admission – Early-Bird Visit to Special Guests, Authors, Vendors, Readers, and Exhibitors. Access to front row seating. NOON General Admission Doors Open 12:15 Leitreanna Brown, Gwen Johns, Blaine Rohan, and Nate Elwell: “All Access Network TV: Serial Killers, Super Natural, and Murderers” 1PM Kenneth Drake: “Hollywood's Psychic; The Call of The Spirit World” 1:45 April Busset: “Why Psychic Mediums are essential in Paranormal Investigations and TV” 2:30 The Shaman and the Showman: “Investigating the State of the Paranormal in the State of CT” 3PM Butch Patrick: “From Eddie Munster to Today” 3:45 Patty Griffin: “Whispers From Heaven” 4:30 Natalie Jones, Shannon Collins, and Kara Philip: “The Woman of Paraflixx” 5:15 Special Wardruna Experience Psychic Gallery – Panelists to be Announced Last chance to visit the vendors for special deals or readings. SHOW ENDS at 6PM . To celebrate its fifth year, ParaConn welcomes actor Butch Patrick as its “Special Celebrity Guest of Honor.” Patrick played "Eddie" in the original “The Munsters.” Visitors have the opportunity to meet the TV star, take photos, and get autographs. Also appearing is "The Godfather of the Paranormal,” John Zaffis, nephew of The Warrens. They are the headliners, but there are more than 30 leading voices of the paranormal, including the star of Hulu’s “Repossessed,” Leitreanna Terry-Brown, “Mr. Haunted” Jimmy Petonito, Waterbury's own renowned psychic, Patti Griffin, paranormal and true crime producer Gwen Johns, and celebrity psychic medium April Busset. A complete list of the guest speakers and celebrities can be found on www.ParaConn.org . Guest authors slated to appear over the weekend include Kenneth Drake and Charles F. Rosenay!!!. Often affectionately branded as “Hollywood’s Psychic,” Drake is now touring to promote his newest book, Branded by Spirits: A Life Between Worlds." Rosenay!!! is the author of True Ghost Stories of Connecticut. Along with Thomas Gormley, he is the producer of ParaConn. ParaConn runs from Noon-6pm both days (with an early-bird V.I.P. option for $25). General admission tickets are only $19.99 advance/$25 at the door. The weekend pass is $35 in advance. There is free parking, and the facility is air conditioned. Outside, there will be food trucks and live music by the rock band Painted Owls from Houston, TX. There will definitely be tickets at the door, but advance tickets are available from: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/para-con/ParaConnV2025 The ParaConn Facebook Event Page is https://www.facebook.com/events/1178169320539597 . For further information, email CTParaConn@gmail.com , visit the website www.ParaConn.org , or phone (203) 795-4737.
Fairfield County Buzz: Your Ultimate Guide to July 6–12 Events & Summer Concert Kickoff.
Beardsley Zoo is now part of the CT Season Pass!
Disney’s The Little Mermaid Makes a Splash at The Summer Theatre of New Canaan starting Saturday, July 12.
Three-Time GRAMMY® Winner Gustavo Casenave Trio at Jazz on Main – June 12 in Mt. Kisco