Temecula Pests

The Temecula Valley hosts the notorious Black Widow, North America’s most venomous spider. Primarily, the female Black Widow presents a risk to humans with her potent venom, while male Black Widows and their bites are considered non-threatening. Although fatalities are rare, we recommend a monthly maintenance service if you have Black Widows or other spiders in your home or yard.

What do they look like?

The female Black Widow spider is shiny black and has a reddish hourglass marking on her abdomen. She usually hangs in her web with her abdomen facing up. Her body is about ½ to 1½ inches long. She may live for more than a year and lays several batches of eggs (up to 750 in one sac) each summer.

Where do they live?

Black Widows like to nest in dimly-lit, sheltered places such as garages, storage sheds, under patio furniture, and children’s playhouses.

What are the effects of their venom?

Black Widow spider venom can induce intense abdominal cramps and muscle pain, mimicking conditions like appendicitis. Victims may also experience difficulty breathing, excessive sweating, and swollen eyelids due to the neurotoxic effects. However, fatalities are rare with prompt medical attention.

For more than 30 years, Vineyard Valley Pest Control has been providing rodent control services to residents in Temecula & Murrieta. One of our exterminators will inspect your home, tailor a precise plan to eliminate pests, and provide recommendations to keep rodents from re-entering your home.

Our Rodent Solutions

Exclusion – Rodent-proofing your home or business is a vital part of a complete rodent control program. Our technicians are experienced in locating and sealing openings which may serve as entry points for rodents. We only use quality materials that have been proven to stand the test of time.

Trapping – After the exclusion work has been completed, traps are placed in safe locations to remove any rodents that are currently living in your home or business.

Note – This exclusion service is a one-time fee that is agreed upon before the work begins, and covers the cost of the inspection, repairs, materials, and subsequent visits to empty and reset the traps.

Outdoor Bait Stations

If rodents are living in your yard or grounds, but are not inside your home, bait stations may be a good choice to reduce the rodent population around your property.

Gophers are “eating machines” that feed on a variety of plants, vines, bulbs, vegetables, shrubs, trees, roots, and grass. A single gopher can inflict a considerable amount of damage to your yard in a very short period of time. Gophers can pull entire plants into their tunnels from below, as well as damage plastic water pipes and sprinkler systems. Unfortunately, gophers do not hibernate; they are active year-round, any hour of the day.

Our Gopher Solution

Vineyard Valley Pest Control can eliminate the gophers from your yard on either a one-time basis (with a 3-day guarantee for the specific area treated), or as a monthly maintenance service.

How extensive are gopher burrows?

Gophers live in an underground burrow system that may extend between 200 and 2000 square feet. The tunnels range from 2½ to 3½ inches in diameter. The gophers’ feeding burrows are usually between 6 and 12 inches below the surface, and their storage and nesting chambers can be a deep as 6 feet underground. Gophers use earthen plugs to seal the openings to their burrow system. They make short, lateral tunnels that connect to the main burrow system in order to push dirt to the surface.

Invaded by Mosquitos?

Two invasive (non-native) mosquito species have become a big problem. They are named Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito) and Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito). Unlike most native mosquito species naturally found in California, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus bite during the day. They can lay eggs in any small artificial or natural container that holds water.

What Do They Look Like?

Both species are small with distinct black and white bands across their backs.

How Can I Reduce Mosquitos in My Yard?

We can help with a monthly or one-time treatment plan to supplement your mosquito control efforts. Reducing the amount of mosquitos in your yard helps provide more protection against mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, West Nile Virus, and Chikungunya.

You can help by eliminating standing water in buckets, flowerpots, trash cans, and other containers around your home where mosquitoes can develop from larvae to disease-carrying adults.