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Services
|  | Termite & Pest Services
Pests in your home are annoying, cause structural damage, and can in some situations
create an unsafe environment for young children and pets. Just knowing they are there
is enough to keep you awake at night. Pests in a business environment are not only unsightly, they can drive customers away.
Nuisance Wildlife Removal Services
Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife Removal Service rids homes and businesses of unwelcome
guests. We use humane methods to safely trap and relocate the critters.
Bird Control
Pest birds destroy property and are a serious health hazard.
Droppings can discolor paint, stain wood, and are acidic enough to erode metal and dissolve paint and car finishes. Over time bird droppings can even cause concrete and expensive stonework to crumble. Birds can cause extensive damage to buildings, ventilation systems, and machinery. Birds nesting in rain gutters cause water backup that can lead to dangerous and costly structural damage.
Crawlspace Solutions
Moisture ruins houses by providing a hospitable environment for mold, fungi, and insects that destroy wood framing. Crawlspace moisture, and the mold and mildew that thrive in this environment, affect not only the floor system directly above the crawlspace, but also the entire house. CleanSpaceŽ Crawlspace Solutions begins with an Encapsulation
System, which seals a crawlspace off from that moisture coming up from
the dirt and from the damp air outside.
Gutter Protection System
Cowleys Gutter Protection System features the Leaf DefierŽ, an absolutely worry-free, maintenance-free,
cost-effective gutter protection system.
The Leaf DefierŽ is an open cell polyurethane insert, specially shaped and cut to fit snugly into your gutter.
Holiday Lighting
The holiday season is a time for family, friends, and creating memories that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, sometimes the brightness of the season can be dimmed by the task of designing and installing your holiday display. That's why hundreds of families and business owners turn to us for help. Our decorating crews are fast, efficient, and use the best methods of decorating under all weather conditions.
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Cowleys Termite & Pest Services was founded
in October 1991
and has been helping homeowners resolve a full range of pest
infestations ever since. Cowley's provides pest, termite, bird,
rodent,
and wildlife removal as part of our full-service offerings.
We look forward to serving you.
Sincerely,
Bill & Drew Cowley
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Save $25.00
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SAVE ON GENERAL PEST CONTROL
Rid your home of ants,
crickets, and other unwanted pests.
Please mention or present this Summer Newsletter coupon.
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Offer Expires: July 30, 2010
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Homeowners
Beware - 'Tis the Season for Termites
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Subterranean termites are destructive feeders
causing more damage to homes than storms, fires, and earthquakes combined. The statistics are staggering. In the United States, estimated termite
damage exceeds $5 Billion annually.
Fifty billion termites infest about one million homes each year (about
one in thirty). Termites can be
hidden for 10 to 12 years before a swarm becomes visible.
Once termites find an avenue of entry into your
home, it is a virtual all-you-can-eat buffet with any wood product on the
menu. Lumber, doorframes, wood
panels, flooring, sheetrock, wallpaper, books, fabric made of plant fibers, and
furniture are all fair game. Termites also leave a chemical trail to let others in the nest know that
food is near. Catastrophic events
may make the evening news, but when it comes to the worst annual widespread
property damage, the silent destroyers, termites, top the list.
According to Bill Cowley of Cowley's Termite and
Pest, "The average single-family home has as many as four termite colonies
beneath it. With termite queens laying more than 1000 eggs a day, nest
populations can reach into the millions. You must kill the nests for the
infestation to end. Just like
winning in chess, you need to capture the queen."
The reproductive termites are winged adults called
alates, or more commonly, swarmers. Triggered by warmer temperatures and rainfall, swarmers leave their
colonies in search of new nesting sites to expand their territory. Says Cowley, "Swarming season in New
Jersey usually gets underway in March and, depending on temperatures, can last
through May. Once these new kings
and queens arrive at their destination, it's all business. They pair off with a
mate to reproduce and once mated, find a suitable nesting site to begin a life
of reproductive bliss."
Homeowners can do several things to lessen their
chance of termite infestation. Termites, like any insect, live to eat and
reproduce. That's pretty much it
on their daily agenda. To prevent
termites from easily accessing food sources, eliminate wood to ground
contact. Many termite infestations
result from structural wood being in contact with soil. This includes wood siding, porch steps,
latticework, door or window frames and similar wood elements. Also, minimize or
eliminate the use of wood mulch around the foundation. For termites, mulch is a delicacy. Stack firewood and scrap lumber away
from the home. Don't store
cardboard boxes on the floor of your garage. The object is to remove all potential food sources.
Besides food, termites are also attracted to
moisture. They are soft-bodied
insects and without moisture, they dry up. Don't allow moisture such as air conditioner condensation to
accumulate near the foundation. Water should be diverted away from the foundation with properly
functioning gutters, downspouts, and splash blocks. Drainage problems increase
your risk of termite infestation. Reduce humidity in basements with a dehumidifier and crawlspaces using a
combination of encapsulation, sump pumps and dehumidifiers.
The surest protection against termite infestation
is to work with a pest management professional to conduct a termite inspection
and implement treatment barriers that will stop termites from reaching your
home. Too many
homeowners have a termite inspection conducted when they buy their home and
then never give it another thought. That's unfortunate because some
preventative maintenance today can save a homeowner thousands of dollars down
the road.
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... and Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite
|  A few decades ago, the only talk of bed bugs
was when moms were tucking in their kids and telling them to sleep tight. Entomologists
had no reason to study them and bed bug complaints to pest control companies
were unheard of. During the
1940's, the potent pesticide DDT had largely eradicated them. After DDT
was banned, bed bugs made a strong comeback. New Jersey, with its dense population and close proximity to
New York City, has been particularly hard hit with the resurgence of these
insects.
Bed bugs are parasitic insects that feed
exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals, preferably humans. Bed bugs
locate us by our warmth and the carbon dioxide in our breath. After a bed bug pierces
the skin, a raised bump will appear, often accompanied by intense itching
because of an allergic reaction caused by the proteins in the bed bug's saliva.
Because of their size (an adult is about the
size of a flattened apple seed), they are able to hide in cracks the width of a
playing card. Their flat elongated bodies can even fit in the stitching
holes of a mattress. The first indication of an infestation is usually bites on
the host. Thereafter, the telltale
bed bug signs are discovered -- red spots on the sheets from blood-engorged
bugs crushed during the night as well as light brown or black fecal spots. Bed
bugs are often not discovered until their population has grown into the
hundreds or even thousands. Changlu Wang, an entomology researcher at
Rutgers specializing in bed bug eradication, once found 1,300 bugs in a single
trap in an apartment in Bayonne.
Scientists and pest control professionals agree
that bed bugs cannot be gotten rid of easily. People often waste time and money
trying to deal with these infestations on their own and their efforts are
counter-productive. The bed bug
population continues to increase and they become more dispersed throughout the
home. The only successful resolution to bed bug infestation is a multi-tactic
approach that is coordinated by a licensed, professional pest control service.
Otherwise, you won't get rid of them, short of abandoning your possessions and
moving to another location. And
even then, there is no guarantee that a few won't move with you.
Prevention and early detection are the most
important steps in protecting yourself from a bed bug infestation. Always be on
the lookout for possible infestations, especially if you live in an apartment
or dormitory. If you are staying at a hotel, don't assume it is bed bug-free;
check the mattress and linens. When returning from a hotel visit, thoroughly
inspect your luggage before bringing it into the house. Don't be dismissive of insect bites. Periodically inspect your
mattress. Most important, contact
a professional pest control service immediately if there is a potential bed bug
problem.
For bed bug infestations, every day left untreated is another day for
these pests to become more entrenched in your home. Call your pest professional immediately if you suspect bed bugs.
LEARN MORE
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We look forward to helping you with any and all pest related problems that you have.
Sincerely,
Bill and Drew Cowley
Cowleys Termite & Pest Services |
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