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Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast

Peskies Pest Control Montgomery Alabama Podcast

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 Our motto at Peskies Pest Control Is 100% Guarenteed Or You Don’t Pay a Penny for pest problems in Montgomery, Alabama! Monthly discussions on how to have a pest free home with pest experts Michael Wienecke and Travis McGowinPeskies Pest Control Montgomery, Alabama Nature et écologie Science Sciences de la Terre
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    Épisodes
    • Fire Ants Are Invading Montgomery, Alabama Lawns!

      Fire Ants Are Invading Montgomery, Alabama Lawns!
      Sep 11 2025
      Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:23 Hey, and thanks for listening to the Peskies Pest Control Podcast. I’m Michael, and we’ve got Travis here, and we are going to be talking about the fire stinging insect that is in your front and backyard that creates unsightly mounds and just causes lots of problems. Travis, what are we going to talk about today? Travis McGowin 0:47 Well, fire ants, just to put it blatantly for everyone, fire ants is the scourge of most people’s lawns, sometimes the scourge of the structure that you know you live in. They they range everywhere from, you know, East Coast to West Coast, and you know, as far up as, say, Virginia and down towards Florida. So I mean, they’re very wide area that they live in, and that that means that, you know, a large amount of people you know across the globe are affected by these insects. Michael Wienecke 1:22 100% you know, they’ve come in from boxes over centuries, from other countries. I would say just, just like any other pests that we have in the United States, it came from Asia. Travis McGowin 1:35 Yeah. So actually, I was reading about that and the they believe that. I think the red imported fire ant was actually originally from Brazil, Michael Wienecke 1:45 Brazil. Okay, I know, I know other ants have come in from from Asian areas and all the shipping containers and all that. So another fun fact about fire ants, they are called fire ants because when they bite, it is like fire. It feels like fire. Travis McGowin 2:02 Yeah. You know, instantly, when you get when you get hit by one it’s, it’s not some delayed thing, it’s, it’s instant pain. And you know, think it’s estimated that one to 2% of the population in the United States is actually allergic to fire ants, which, when you think about the population of the United States, 1 to 2% that’s a pretty decent sized Michael Wienecke 2:24 chunk. So I’m glad you brought that up. So a couple months ago, we were gardening in the backyard, and I turn around and see my two year old rolling around in the in the grass. Well, he was covered in fire ants from about feet to waist, so ripped his clothes off, hosed him down. He was probably stung. It’s funny, I was about to say bit, and that’s something else we’re going to talk about too. But he was stung about, I would say, 20 something times monitored. Monitored him for any kind of, you know, anaphylaxis or anything like that. Did not have any issues, thankfully. But yeah, they can definitely be a safety concern. Travis McGowin 2:56 My brother has a similar story. When he was around the same age, he actually, he actually sat on top of a fire ant mound accidentally. And to this day, even as an adult, you know, in his late 30s, he is still allergic to him. If he gets stung by a fire ant, he swells up in the side of the sting. And so, yeah, that that one encounter as a child still lingers with him, even as an adult today. Michael Wienecke 3:26 Well, my son loves ants now. He tries to find him wherever he can. He hasn’t been stung again, so we’ll see how that goes. But I I certainly hope he’s not in the same boat as your brother. So let’s talk about what to look for like, What? What? What are fire ants compared to other ants color wise. So you’re looking for more of a yellowish, reddish, brownish color. And of course, the mounds. So the where they nest is going to be those unsightly mounds like we talked about. You know, I’ve got one right now popping up in my driveway between the cracks and crevices of the driveway, leaf debris, rock debris, anything that can kind of give them a good harborage area. Travis McGowin 4:05 And they will shelter up under things too. And here’s the crazy part. You know, people may not realize just how big of a problem and how invasive these insects actually are, but to put it into perspective, those properties that have a significant problem can actually have upwards of 30 to 100 mounds per acre. So that’s that’s a significant amount of ants, when you consider that the average colony size for a decent sized ant colony, and remember, 30 to 100 mounds, so potential colonies per acre and a colony size of 80 to 250,000per colony of ants. Michael Wienecke 4:54 And that’s, that’s one queen colony. Travis McGowin 4:56 Right, Exactly. So, I mean, when you, when you really think. About it, if you had it on the high end of 250,000 ants, and let’s just say you had 80 mounds, you’re talking about 20 million ants in one acre of property. Michael Wienecke 5:13 That’s that’s a lot of ants. Travis McGowin 5:14 Just, just to put it into perspective, right? Michael Wienecke 5:17 Well, that’s why I try to let people know if you have one fire ant bed. Typically, there’s going to be more, whether it’s on your property or your neighbor’s property. But again, that’s a lot of ants. And the crazy thing too, is, is that that queen is producing upwards of 1500 ants per day. Travis McGowin ...
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      13 min
    • Tips to Keep General Pests Away in Montgomery, Alabama!

      Tips to Keep General Pests Away in Montgomery, Alabama!
      Jul 14 2025
      Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:00 Steve, hey, so today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, we would like to talk about solving pest issues without chemical application. So we’re seeing a lot of especially this month, last month, with the amount of rain we’ve had Travis, I think you can, with Montgomery, I think you can attest to that, that it’s just rained every other day, Travis McGowin 0:24 Every single day, and it’s and it’s unseasonable. I mean, realistically unseasonable for, you know, May into June and then even into July. I mean, this is just not something that we typically have. It’s just pretty much downpours and heavy downpours every single afternoon. But, I mean, on a side note, my yard looks great. Michael Wienecke 0:46 Well, I can’t cut my grass, so my yard, it’s cut now, but you know, it’s hard to cut it in the rain, which also leads us to, you know, the whole issue of pests. If you if your grass is, you know, knee high, expect to have some pest issues, Travis McGowin 1:02 Right. So, you know, when you talk about rain and home ownership, the first thing that comes to mind, I mean, when we’re just kind of talking about a broad overview of things and a broad overview of pests and pest problems that you can, you know, potentially solve yourself. I know I can speak for my yard and my house. When I tell you that they’re right off hand, I can think of right now, there’s two pretty much clogged gutters right now on my house. And knowing that clogged gutters mean that it’s got leaf debris, it’s got different tree you know, pine needles, different things from trees, the debris is there, meaning that it’s not draining properly. It’s holding water. So Michael, what? What insects am I having a problem with from my gutters that I have not cleaned because I’ve just frankly, been lazy. Michael Wienecke 1:53 I can think of a few, but the main one would be mosquitoes. Travis McGowin 1:55 Right! So we have a large amount of mosquitoes now. Granted, our houses, our lot is kind of low lying. We do get a lot of drainage off of other lots around ours that comes through our house. So we do get a lot of standing water, especially when it rains day after day after day. If we don’t cut our yard, then we get a lot of standing water. So we’ve kind of remedied that. But mosquitoes, I mean, that leaf debris is going to bring roaches, things like that, that. Yeah, people don’t realize how much standing water is actually left in your gutters when you don’t actually clean them out. And then, you know, mosquitoes can breed in as you know, think the size a container, the size of a bottle cap. So think how much water is actually up there. It’s more than a bottle cap. Michael Wienecke 2:35 That’s right. And I mean, it’s, it’s hard to clean your gutters out when it’s been raining every other day, because can’t get up there and do that. So it’s just been, it’s been a very hard, I would say, two months. Travis McGowin 2:46 It has. It’s just been out of the norm for Alabama. But I’ll tell you one thing that has continuously been coming to my houses or my house, is cardboard boxes with the word Amazon on the side. So we get deliveries every single day. So we take the items Michael Wienecke 3:07 Can we say Amazon? Travis McGowin 3:08 I don’t know. I think we just did. I don’t think it really matters. Amazon, Walmart, their Target. Okay, I got a bunch out of the way. So Amazon boxes are a staple. I see Amazon delivery drivers come through. You know, our area all the time. We’re in a rural area, so Amazon’s really just everywhere. But we pulled the item we ordered out of the box. We throw the cardboard box on the back porch, and Michael, what happens next? Michael Wienecke 3:31 Well, I’ve got the same issue right now. Spiders, ants, millipedes, roaches, silverfish, earwigs, wasps, bees, Travis McGowin 3:43 Small children. Michael Wienecke 3:45 Just about anything that likes a warm environment. Travis McGowin 3:50 Well, not only that, but what happens with all the rain we’ve had the the boxes get soaked. They absorb water. They never dry out, and it just creates this nice little habitat for for pests that, you know, you wouldn’t normally have out there, but there again, we didn’t, you know, throw away the boxes. We didn’t burn them. We just decided we needed to stack them on the back porch. Michael Wienecke 4:09 Well. And that brings up a great topic is, how do they breed roaches when they’re, you know, in a lab, or something like that. What do they use to breed roaches? Travis McGowin 4:18 Oh, certainly, cardboard or other types of paper material. I mean, it absorbs and holds moisture. It’s good cover for them. It packs down good, and it just gives them a perfect environment. Michael Wienecke 4:29 And one of the worst outside termite issues I’ve ever seen was a customer that put cardboard as their weed control. So instead of using the ...
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      15 min
    • Crane Flies Are Not Mosquitoes in Montgomery, Alabama!

      Crane Flies Are Not Mosquitoes in Montgomery, Alabama!
      Jul 1 2025
      Podcast Transcript: Michael Wienecke 0:03 Hey. So here today on the Peskies Pest Control Podcast, we’re going to talk about crane flies or Skeeter eaters. What are some other names, mosquito Hawk, tarantula flyer. I’ve heard all kinds of names, Daddy Long daddy, long legs, all that kind of stuff. Travis McGowin 0:23 So I feel like in Alabama, it’s getting harder to differentiate between real mosquitoes and crane flies, because I feel like the real mosquitoes are getting bigger. But that’s a conversation for another day. Michael Wienecke 0:35 Well, let’s see, may it rained, I think, every other day. Travis McGowin 0:39 It’s still raining every other day. Michael Wienecke 0:40 Yes, it is still raining every other day. So I think the biggest takeaway from here with mosquito hawks or crane flies are that they are not mosquitoes. They do not bite, they do not cause any issues. Like mosquitoes, they just kind of buzz around and are extremely annoying. Travis McGowin 0:58 Yes, but unlike mosquitoes, they like you said, they don’t bite, they don’t consume, you know, human or animal blood as their primary source of food. And even after, you know, the larva emerge into adults. The adults really don’t even they hardly consume anything before they, you know, do their reproductive cycle and then basically just die. Michael Wienecke 1:22 Yeah, what 10 to 15 days, and they’re, they’re goners, and really, they’re just kind of bouncing around, you know, like we get calls from customers, they’ll say, Hey, I’ve got a very large mosquito I’ve never seen before, or very large mosquito buzz around the house. And that’s typically what it turns into is a crane fly issue, which there’s no treating an adult crane fly. It’s just they fly around, they die, and then they start back over spring to fall, Travis McGowin 1:48 Right, and I mean, honestly, their primary focus, or primary, I guess, benefit to the environment, is that they’re basically one decomposers, so, and I’m going to assume that’s probably more on the larval side, where they’ve, you know, laid whatever eggs are going to lay, the larva hatch and probably feed on organic matter around the soil, decomposing things, probably very much like a termite does, just returning those items into the soil and enriching the soil. Other than the other thing is like just being a food source for other animals, for things such as, you know, fish, other insects, birds, bats and just other animals. I’m sure, probably, you know, lizards and things like that too. So when they emerge in large numbers, and like you said, customer calls, they’re flying around inside your house, because inevitably, once you open the door, they’re going to come flying in. You know, in those times when they’re kind of ballooning in their population, that’s when other animals get to feed on them and use them as one of their food sources. Ecosystem, yep. And it works out. It works out really well for everybody involved. Well, I guess, except for the crane fly. Michael Wienecke 3:01 Except for the crane. Well, let’s talk about the damage that they do cause. So one thing that they can cause damage to the grass, the larva. The larval stage, you know, which, that’s where they spend 90% of their life, is underground. They can destroy root systems and cause a little bit of damage to your grass. Travis McGowin 3:19 Right, and the larva actually look like, I guess you could say little, you know, little worms or or really, really small, thin grubs. Maybe some people would describe them as that, but a lot of people refer to them. I guess because of their they’ve got, like, a darkish brown color. But a lot of them refer to the larva as leather jackets. And like you said, the adults really don’t damage anything, but leather jackets can certainly hurt lawns and gardens. They’ll feed on plant roots. And you know, I’m sure it could either kill kill your grass, or kill your plants, or definitely make your yard, you know, off colored, or something like that too. So certainly could become a nuisance to someone who really likes a very manicured, well watered and lush lawn, or or lush, you know, group of plants in a garden. Michael Wienecke 4:11 Yeah, definitely. I was just lost with my train of thought. So we’re talking about the larval stage. Oh, where they like to breed. So biggest thing is going to be always a water source, major water source, marshes, ponds, they’re always going to lay eggs kind of near that area. That’s going to help those eggs thrive. And of course, you’re going to have a a lot of crane flies during the the spring and fall. Travis McGowin 4:36 Right, and it just depends on what breed of crane fly. There are, you know, here in Alabama, most of the time, like you said, spring into summer, you’re going to get your biggest group of population. But there’s even a European crane fly that will actually start to hatch and grow, you know, ...
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      8 min
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