Our great State of California is going through an historic drought that has been steadily growing worse for the past four years! Well now, Governor Jerry Brown has issued mandatory statewide orders requiring a steep 25% reduction in water consumption across the board for commercial and residential users. It is with this directive in mind that we have created this quick and easy list of ways to help conserve water around your home and even office.

Conserving Water

Meter Your Home

Use your water meter as a gauge to check for leaks – It is not hard to find a hidden water leak in your home. Do it yourself by shutting off all water using devices in your home, then check your main water meter leading to the house. If your meter is still moving, you have got a leak that needs repairing.

Grab A Wrench

Fix those leaky faucets and other appliance fittings by getting out your favorite wrench and snugging down any bolts or packing nuts you need to get that dripping faucet to stop!

Brooms, Not Hoses

Use your best broom to clean off your homes’ patio space instead of a hose.

Time Your Showers

Long showers are now considered to be a luxury. As much as many of us love the feeling of a long, hot shower, these should be reserved for special occasions. Try to start timing your shower at a maximum of 5 minutes.

Leaky Toilet Flappers

One of the most common household leaks comes from your toilet flapper. A leaky seal on your toilet’s flapper can waste gallons of water a day. Replace your flapper as soon as you notice your toilet refilling itself when no one has used it.

Use Full Loads

Save gallons of water every month by only running your dishwasher or clothes washer when you have a full load.

Water At Night

Whatever watering your yard requires, set your sprinklers to do it at night. Most communities now have a ordinance in place requiring you to water your lawn before 8am and after 8pm to maximize absorption and reduce evaporation.

Harvest Rain Water

Use a potable water barrel to collect whatever rain water comes your way. Then use that water for whatever you need!

Drip Systems

Install drip systems to water your plants instead of a hose or other common sprinkler systems to reduce water use.

The drought that California is currently experiencing is serious and we hope that these tips were helpful to you and your family! And don’t forget to give us a call for all of your Santa Barbara Pest Control needs!

Here are 20 facts about rats that most people do not know about. If you have a pest control problem in Santa Barbara, CA, call So Cal Pest Control “The Rodent Experts” at 805-965-9185.#pestcontrolsantabarbara

20 Things You Didn’t Know About Rats

Identifying Gophers and Moles in Santa Barbara.

The way to identify a gopher from a mole is to look at the mounds. Gophers create a dirt mound in the shape of a fan moving outward from the center of the hole. Moles also leave similar looking mounds sometimes pushing up a lot of dirt making it hard for inexperienced homeowners to tell the difference between gophers and moles. One obvious sign of moles is their lifted ridges left behind as they travel through your yard.

Gophers are herbivores so they eat plants.  If your plants are damaged or disappearing, a possible cause is you have a gopher.  Gophers can make tunnels up to 200 yards in a year and move more than 2 tons of soil.

With our experience in rat control and knowledge of building architecture and how rats use it, we can solve your rat and mouse problem. We perform a very detailed inspection of the house or building, and find these entry points that rats are using to get in. Once we’ve found everything, we seal it all up. Our quality of repair work is far superior to our competitors.  This is by far the most important step. Once this is done, then it’s just a simple matter of us scheduling follow-up visits for trapping and removing the remaining rats, which is easy once they can’t get outside for food and water.

It’s also important to trap and remove the rats correctly. Some customers will set a few traps before calling us and end up having the traps go off but not trap the rat. This can cause rats and mice to become trap shy and now the rats will become  much more difficult to catch. We advise not attempting to set traps yourselves. Poison in a attic or under a house is a horrible idea, as it leaves rat carcasses in the attic and walls, decomposing and giving off a terrible odor. Yes it is true that it thins their blood and makes them thirsty but it does not mean that they will leave the structure in search of water. Almost all of the calls that we get about rats or mice dead in a wall or crawl space and is now stinking up the place comes from homeowners placing poison inside the structure.

As rodents pass through areas and enter structures  they leave behind hormones. Even after the entry points are sealed these hormones are still active. These hormones attract new  foraging rodents back to the same entry point sights of the original rodents. If nothing is done to control these foraging  exterior rodents,then it is only a matter of time before new entry points are created. So it is important that we take our final necessary measure to keep your structure protected. So -Cal Pest Control offers a service were we will install and maintain exterior bait stations for rodent control and prevention. A barrier of bait stations are placed around the structure to intercept rodent pathways.These bait stations are tamper proof. Rodents will feed on the rodenticide that is secured in a lock and key system keeping it safe for children and pets.This service keeps rodent populations under control and prevents rodent  infestations.

Exterminating gophers and moles from your property requires experience and knowledge.  Our technicians are licensed to apply the most effective materials in the industry for gopher and mole removal. Our gopher and mole control services help prevent plant loss, ground erosion and unsightly mounds.

How do we get rid of  Gophers?

We specialize in gopher and rodent control using the most effective, yet safe, methods on the market.  Each employee at So-Cal Pest Control is licensed by the state of California to use restricted materials, as well as registered with the county to engage in pest control for hire.

Our services include an initial service, which consists of coming out to the site and treating all gopher activity. In addition to our initial service, we may recommend a monthly service.This helps to ensure that any new activity is treated before it has a chance to destroy the landscape.In these service visits, we are scheduled to come out and walk the entire property and treat any activity.This is all included in the price of the monthly service.

Gophers and Moles need a professional Gopher exterminator.

Gophers and moles in Santa Barbara are known for causing damage to landscape, lawns and gardens. Additionally gophers and moles can cause damage to sidewalks, pavers and driveways  because how their tunnels weaken the surfaces.  Gophers and moles create dirt mounds, holes and they kill plants.  Gophers and moles can also damage irrigation, utility lines and drip systems.

In order to prevent continual damage to your property, gophers and moles need to be controled quickly and effectively.  Gophers and moles often create tunnels to adjacent properties, so it is likely that your neighbor has been visited by the gophers and moles doing damage on your property.  Even when your property has removed the gophers and moles, your neighboring property still has them, new gophers and moles will eventually move into your property.

How do we get rid of Gophers in Santa Barbara?

So-Cal Pest Control also known as” The Gopher Guys” specialize  in gopher and mole control using the most effective, yet safe, methods on the market. Yes, we are the top gopher and mole exterminators in Santa Barbara County. Each employee at So-Cal Pest Control is licensed by the state of California to use restricted materials, as well as registered with the county to engage in pest control for hire.

For gopher eradication, we use a chemical called Fumitoxin.  It is a restricted material that is in a pellet form but when mixed with moisture dissolves and turns into an aluminum phosphine gas.  This gas will travel throughout the tunnel system, killing the gopher in the tunnel system. The chemical usually takes a few hours to activate and within about 48 hours the whole process is done.  The gas will only work in a sealed tunnel system so there is no danger of harming humans or other animals.  There is no after kill, which protects other animals that might eat the gopher if by chance it should come out of the tunnel system. Some customers ask about fumitoxin being organic or natural. Any product including soap and water is considered to be a pesticide when it is used to kill or control a pest. Again,there is no residual of fumitoxin in the soil after 48 hours so this makes  it as close to natural and organic as possible. Our treatment with fumitoxin is basically an underground fumigation with no residues.

Our initial gopher control service  consists of coming out to the site and treating all gopher activity until gopher control has been achieved. In addition to our initial service, we may recommend a monthly service. This helps to ensure that we treat and get rid of  any new gopher activity before it has a chance to destroy the landscape. In these service visits, we are scheduled to come out and walk the entire property and treat any activity. This is all included in the price of the monthly service.

Most of the properties in the Santa Barbara area have heavy foliage.  There are many natural water and habitat sources, such as creeks.  Many of the homes are older structures which have openings that provide additional shelter and protection from natural predators.  

Rats are ready to reproduce at  2-3 months, females have approx. 5 litters a year, producing 8-12 babies per litter.  Adults rats usually live about one year.  These pests live in colonies, which are found in crawl spaces of houses and buildings,sheds,barns,cars, wood piles,trees,shrubs and more.

Rats and mice are known to carry diseases such as Salmonella.  Some mice, specifically the deer mouse also carry the Hantavirus, which is excreted in their urine, saliva, and droppings. Rats have not been known to carry Hantavirus.  Rats and mice can also spread additional disease and allergens.

Pest control for rats in Santa Barbara is very important considering all of the elements that are available for rats to thrive. So Cal Pest Control provides complete rodent control pest control programs for residential and commercial properties in Santa Barbara,Montecito,Goleta,and Carpinteria. So Cal Pest Control has been effectivily exterminating rats and mice in Santa barbara since 1999 and offers the most expierenced and effective rodent  pest control solutions in the pest control industry.