Effective modern pest control is not just about using pesticides. At My Pest Pros, we incorporate integrated pest management (IPM) techniques into every inspection and treatment. In doing so, we take a balanced approach to pest management in order to control pests while reducing the use of pesticides around homes, businesses and schools and protecting the environment.
Incorporating IPM practices is especially important in pest control for schools and restaurants, where we want to safely eliminate and reduce pests.
IPM programs rely on five key components:
- Identify the pest and understand its biology.
- Monitor the pest to be managed.
- Develop the pest management goal.
- Apply control measures at the appropriate time.
- Record and evaluate the results.
Proper pest identification helps our pest control professionals understand the pest biology and the conditions that attract them. Monitoring also allows us to determine the extent of your pest problems and later evaluate results so we can modify tactics if necessary. Of course, it's also important to knowing what you're up against to develop effective and successful pest elimination strategies.
While this may sound each and like commonsense, pesticides have often been the go-to tool rather. Instead, we seek to identify the pests and conditions that attract them, eliminate or modify the conditions, and eliminate the pest problems. For example, we will look for conditions such as pet food, seed and other food sources that may attract pests as well as sealing up access points to help keep pests and bugs out. Pesticides may still be used, but only as needed and not as the first line of defense. We also look at non-pesticide and non-chemical pest control methods.
Call us today for safe and effective pest control solutions. We serve all of the Washington, D.C. region, including Alexandria, VA, Arlington, VA, Fairfax, VA, Loudoun, VA, Washington, DC, and Montgomery, MD and Prince George's, MD.