The Deadly Mosquito: Avoiding Illness With winter is in full swing, what better time could there be to take a vacation or cruise to a tropical destination? While the sun and sand may be therapeutic, a vector-borne disease most certainly will not be. Several mosquito-borne illnesses can be medically important to travelers. For good measure, […]

Essential Oils and Botanicals Over the next year, we will be writing several posts that focus on the myths surrounding DIY pest control. There are several interesting topics on the slate and for this post we will be addressing the use of essential oils to control pests. Essential oil(s) can be defined as any volatile […]

Don’t Let Christmas Pests Ruin Your Holiday Season Another Christmas season has come and gone, hopefully spent with lots of time with family and friends, enjoying each other’s’ company – and lovely holiday décor. However, now that all the presents have been opened and the holiday feast is complete, the much-dreaded packing up must begin. […]

Although it is not as popular as it used to be, millions of American families will use a real Christmas tree for their holiday decorations. Unfortunately, many insect species also call these trees home to ride out the cold weather, or overwinter, until the warm spring weather. By bringing these trees inside the warmth of […]

Entomophobia is the excessive fear of insects. Most of our customers suffer from this common phobia to some extent, which is why they trust us here at Cook’s to keep the insects out of their home. Because it’s October, and Halloween is right around the corner, we thought we’d take a look at why people […]

I am sure that everyone is familiar with the concept of crashing a party. It is a term coined from showing up to an event uninvited to partake in the festivities and on occasion, wreak havoc. So, with the weather cooling off and football season ramping up, we will be spending more time outdoors grilling […]

Have you walked by a garden or flowerbed recently and wondered why some plants have a sheen on them when it hasn’t rained recently? That sheen is actually a sugary substance called “honeydew” that is secreted from aphids. Aphids (Family: Aphididae) are soft-bodied insects that use their piercing sucking mouthparts to feed on plant sap. […]

Have you heard that the “daddy long legs” is extremely venomous? Have you also heard that the only thing keeping this creature from terrorizing all of humanity is its tiny mouthparts that are unable to pierce human skin? To complicate the matter, three different leggy beasts are called daddy long legs or granddaddy long legs […]

Spiders (and snakes) give people the heebie jeebies. There’s something about having too many legs (or not enough legs) that really unnerves people. The fact that some are venomous further expounds our fears. And, the bigger they are, the worse we tend to feel about them. Let’s talk about one of the world’s largest spiders. […]

Southern House Spiders (Crevice Weavers) The crevice weaver, or southern house spider, is a common nuisance spider found around human structures. The males and females exhibit sexual dimorphism, meaning that they look very different from each other. You might think they were two distinct species if you didn’t know any better. In addition to sexual […]

Spiders are feared and reviled, more so than even the most dangerous of insects. While having eight legs isn’t helping their creepiness factor, spiders are mainly feared for their venomous nature. Almost all spiders have venom, but only a few have venom potent enough to harm humans. Reclusive and Deadly: The “Fiddleback” or Brown Recluse […]

Beauty and Death in a Small, Jet-Black Package Not all spiders are fast and hairy. Think of the black widow: a jet-black, slender-legged, sleek and shiny spider. It is one of the few spiders with venom potent enough to harm a human. This fact, coupled with early laboratory observations in which females ate the males […]

The summer is definitely hot here, and it has been particularly brutal this year. Several heat records have already been broken across central Alabama, and heat indexes routinely surpass 100 degrees. For those working outside, this heat can not only be a burden, but a dangerous health concern as well. Just remember to drink plenty […]

Armadillos The nine-banded armadillo is a strange little mammal covered in bony, dermal plates. They have poor eyesight but a well-developed sense of smell and hearing. They are carnivores that specialize on worms and insects. Their foraging behavior leaves behind unsightly holes, much to the dismay of homeowners and landscapers. While mostly an aesthetic concern, […]

Not everything that lives in wood is a termite, and not everything that bores through wood is eating the wood. Consider the carpenter ant. There are many species of carpenter ants, but the most common house-infesting species is the black carpenter ant. It is uniformly black with yellowish hairs on the abdomen. Carpenter Ants: The […]

Spring. A time of rebirth, renewal, new life… and the resurgence of pests. We’re not the only ones enjoying the warming weather. The house mouse, house fly, and eastern subterranean termite are among the most troublesome pests to come with the changing of the seasons.

If you thought paper wasps were aggressive towards you, you should see how they act towards each other.

When winter approaches, some adult insects avoid a cold death by migrating or hibernating. One of the best-known insect migrators is the monarch butterfly. While we normally think of bears and bats as hibernating, insects do it too, but we call it overwintering.

I think it’s safe to say that most people don’t like insects and their multi-legged relatives. Even the most harmless ones evoke fear and disgust. And the ones that suck blood? Now that’s the stuff of nightmares (and Hollywood movies).

Many people refer to mice and rats as “the same thing,” when in reality, they are anything but. Mice and rats and distinctly different in both appearance and behavior. Control efforts vary depending on whether you have an infestation of mice or rats.

Today is Learn About Butterflies Day, and we have an infographic just for the occasion! Download and print the PDF for your viewing information. Butterfly Infographic

Our flying mammalian friends get a bad rap from a few bloodsuckers. Yes, vampire bats are real and, yes, they have been known to occasionally nip a human. There are three blood-feeding bats among some 1,240 bat species, so bloodsuckers only account for 0.2% of bat species.