How To Keep Rats Out Of Your Home And Yard

Don’t let rats invade your home.

Both rats and mice can cause major destruction to your home. Clear the Air would like to share some tips to avoid a rat infestation in your home.

First you need to check to see if you have rats. Look to see if you see mouse or rat droppings. In your yard, you can check weedy places, under boards and dog houses or near garbage cans to see if a rat has made a burrow or nest. Also any holes or edges around your home and yard with chewed edges are sure signs of a rat or mouse.

Rats and mice breed fast. A mouse can have several young when she’s two months old. Then, two months later, her young will breed. In the meantime, the mother will produce another litter. So you must keep working to get rid of them. Here are some tips to keeping them out of your property:

• Keep garbage in tightly covered cans. Feed dogs and cats in a dish, then take up the food they don’t eat. Don’t leave it out for rats and mice.
• Remove trash, old boards, weeds and junk cars. Rats and mice like to hide in such places. Don’t pile wood against the house. Store wood and other materials at least a foot off the ground.
• Keep doors closed. Cover windows with screens. One-fourth inch or smaller mesh will keep rats and mice out. Keep floor drains tightly sealed. Cement or caulk around pipes and cables where they pass through walls. Mice can get through any hole that will admit the tip of your little finger.
• If you use poison or a trap to kill your rats, chances are the rat will die in the wall of your home. This can cause a horrendous odor and thankfully Clear the Air has an easy solution to rid your home of that dead rat odor. Click here to learn more about eliminating dead rodent odor.
• Birdhouses and seed should be on poles and in trays rats can’t get.
• Roof rats get into your house from tree branches that hang over the roof. Keep trees cut back and cover any openings in the eves.

Keep Rodents Out Of Your RV

While your RV is in storage this winter, you will want to keep unwanted animals out of your camper. We have some helpful tips from Ehow.com about deterring rodents from your RV.

Remember, if you have the unfortunate experience of opening your RV to find rodents have made their home in your RV for the last few months, eliminate the odor with our collection of Odor Eliminator Products.

Mice and other rodents frequently enter campers and cause damage to the interior. Mice enter through small holes in the exterior of the camper; these holes are usually located on the underside of the structure. Pest control precautions are especially necessary before storing your camper for the season.

What you’ll need to deter rodents from your RV – A can of expandable foam, glue traps and ultrasonic rodent deterrent.

• First you will want to search the exterior of the camper for any holes.
• If you find any, point the can of expandable foam at the holes. Depress the can’s nozzle, and fill the holes with expandable foam. Repeat this process around all unwanted openings.
• Next you will want to place mousetraps around the outside of the camper. This will hinder the mice from entering your camper.
• You might want to also install an ultrasonic rodent-control-device. These devices emit sounds that deter mice from entering the camper.
• Lastly, spread mothballs around the inside of the camper. Please note, if you place mothballs inside the camper AND place your Odor Eliminator Bags in the camper, the bags will work to eliminate the moth ball odor, thus less efficiently removing any dead rodent odors. Our suggestion is to take the moth balls out of your RV should you already have odors from rodents, then place the Odor Eliminator Bags in the camper.

Have questions about odors in your RV? Please contact our customer service (located in the USA) and we’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

Hurricane Sandy – We Want To Help

Our hearts go out to Hurricane Sandy victims…there is still so much clean up to be done on the East Coast and we want to help. Please watch our special Hurricane Sandy video:

Do You Smell A Dead Rodent In Your Home?

The Holidays are upon us and it is time for house guests, both family and friends, to visit and stay with you.  What could be worse than having an animal die in your walls and you are now left with a horrible odor right before company arrives.

Instead of having to break down your drywall and removing the carcass, Clear the Air’s Odor Eliminator Bags will remove the odor without even having to come in contact with the odor producer.  Don’t let a terrible odor ruin your holiday season.

Dead rodents can die in your wall and often you are unable to find the carcass to remove it. Earth Care Odor Remover Bags are used by Pest Control Professionals to remove dead rodent odors, and urine and feces odors associated with rodents. The carcass does not have to be removed to remove the odors.

Earth Care Bags do not have to come into contact with dead rodent or odor causing agent. Simply hang the bag near the odor and in 24 hours the odor will be gone. Earth Care acts like a magnet by attracting and neutralizing smells. It is made from an all natural mineral, is non toxic and biodegradable and safe for Planet Earth. It is also safe around children and pets, even if eaten. Earth Care adsorbs odors rather than masking them with a fragrance.

How to Eliminate Dead Animal & Related Urine/Feces Odors:

• It is not necessary to remove dead carcass to remove the odor.
• More bags = better faster results, we recommend a minimum of 3 bags.
• Hang a bag in every room you smell odor.
• If you believe the dead animal is in attic or crawl space hang one bag there also.
• Bag will outlast odor from carcass and handle any urine or feces odors that may exist from previously infested areas.
• One bag covers up to 100 square feet. It will last 3-4 months in use, or indefinitely in plastic wrap.
• Minimum of three bags needed to remove dead Rodent/Animal odors.

Would you like to order?  Please click here.

Zimba, One Of Our Beloved Family Members

Here at Earth Care Products our staff consists of many valuable employees.  Today we would like to tell you about Isis and Zimba.

Isis is a rescued standard poodle, she of course has all the brains of operation.  Zimba is a 110# Rhodesian Ridgeback, and he is our office clown.  Recently we attended Pest World and sent them to be boarded by Dane Lightfoot.  Dane takes his charges out for various activities several times a week.  In the picture you can see Zimba is going horseback riding among many other various outtings.  Dane takes pride in what he does and when we picked up Isis and Zimba, he kindly sent this wonderful write up Z and some suggestions on where he can improve.

Zimba

Zimba is a very intelligent and teachable dog. He responds quickly to voice commands and he has a strong desire to please. He does not have very much self-control and is underdevelopled emotionally. He needs extra help to mature properly and he needs to be discouraged from acting like a clown. When a dog does not feel the weight of family responsibility they create their own set of responsibilities and many dogs like Zimba choose the role of class clown because it is entertaining and at first everyone is laughs at first.

Continuing to Grow

Zimba must be offered challenges and they must be varied and have an element of uncertainty in the outcome. You must also train your reactions to reward him emotionally for good thoughts and behavior. He must also be exposed to the world around him on a larger scale so that he has a new place to try new reactions because it is much easier to get a dog to start acting differently when they are in an unusual environment. He must also be given a chance to make mistakes; they are where real growth happens.

• Emotional Challenges – Zimba’s primary means of dealing with a problem is silliness and clowning around. He is very large so when he bounces around he can break things or hurt people and the more he reacts this way the more difficult it becomes to build the self-control to stop and think. At the same time he must be offered constructive opportunities to have the type of fun that he enjoys like wrestling with Isis.
• Social Stimulation– He must have time with other dogs and people so that he can develop the social skills he needs to meet new friends. He is not an overly active or overly driven dog but he feels the lack of social time very intensely and it is a source of pent up emotion.
• Enforcing Rules– Dogs do not feel the same way people do about rules. For people rules can be a constriction, a limitation to our actions. For dogs rules are the structure by which they mold their behavior and adept communication of the rules is the primary guideline for their understanding their responsibilities. Everyone in the house must provide a single, clear message about what is expected of him

Untrustworthy Behavior When Unsupervised

Just like children, immature dogs follow the rules because they believe that you will punish them if they do not. In order to make the transition to behaving even when you are not around they must build character and maturity. Maturity comes from being challenged and character comes from failing at those challenges and having a healthy attitude about it. Zimba must be given tasks that push the limits of his abilities and he must be allowed to fail sometimes. Intelligence toys are one good way to provide this type of growth as well as training him for obedience. Many people have very busy schedules and find difficulty setting aside time for obedience lessons but they can be worked into every-day life. If you are sitting at the desk doing work, have him lay beside you. It is not difficult but he should not be allowed to get up until you do. Alternately when you are doing chores around the house make him walk at a heel, the simple exercise of you controlling his thoughts and actions will build his self-control, his maturity and his respect for you, it is also enjoyable for him and very rewarding.

Walks

When Zimba is out on a walk he faces different challenges than other dogs, most dogs will not want to meet and greet a dog his size. He is intimidating in both his size and posture, the only way that he will be able to overcome this is to be encouraged to ignore other dogs walking entirely. In order to accomplish this you must be in control of the walk by doing the following things.

• Do not let him walk out in front of you, this puts him in a command position and forces him to make decisions for you.
• Do not let him stop every time he wants to sniff something. If you want him to potty, then tell him so and let him sniff around, but you must make the decision about where and when to stop.
• When you do encounter another dog, keep him beside you and encourage him to ignore the other dog completely. In the beginning you are going to have to tell people that he is in training and is not allowed to meet any new friends right now and as he progresses and can ignore the other dogs properly then he may begin to meet others. You must always greet the other dog before he does though. He must see how you react to the dog so that he has a guideline.
• Do not ever leave his leash taut, this is what creates the idea of being restrained in the dogs mind. Keep the leash slack and only use short, sharp tugs to stop him from doing something you don’t want. Remember that every leash message should be accompanied by a verbal message to reinforce that you are trying to tell him something not just pulling on the leash because you like it. He must also be told that he is good when he is walking politely. The greater the disparity in your attitude between his good behavior and his bad behavior, the more quickly he will learn and understand what you are asking for.

Final Thoughts

Zimba is a good dog that has a very high desire to please but he has too little self-control. He will be a happier dog when he understands how to really make people happy and how to build healthy relationships with new friends both dog and human. He will also enjoy the greater level of freedom that he would be allowed if he were more reliable. Encourage him to behave the way that everyone would like at all times and he will quickly understand what you want from him.

Dane is really unique in his care and entertaining of the dogs.  He can be reached at 760 500 5284 or greatdanesgreatdogs@gmail.com.

Tick Removal For Your Pets

Removing ticks from your pets – what you need to know!

Ewe, it is flea and tick season!  Keep fleas and ticks away with our helpful tips.

Need help on removing those pesky ticks your dog and cat pick up from outside?  Check out ASPCA’s article:

So, you’ve found a tick on your pet—how do you deal with it? While it’s important to get these little suckers off quickly, ASPCA veterinarians advise that you stay calm and don’t rush it. Moving too fast when removing a tick could potentially create more problems, both for your pet and for you.

While the following instructions employ tweezers, be aware that there are some very good products on the market designed specifically for safe tick removal. If you live in a tick-heavy area or are taking your pets to a place where they are likely to get ticks, it’s a good idea to buy one of these tools and have it on hand. They generally work better than tweezers at getting out the whole tick, and are relatively inexpensive.

Step-by-Step Tick Removal Instructions

Step 1—Prepare its Final Resting Place – Throwing a tick in the trash or flushing it down the toilet will not kill it, and it’s actually best to hold on to it for awhile for veterinary testing in case your pet falls ill from the bite. Be ready with somewhere to put the tick after you’ve removed it—the best option is a screw-top jar containing some rubbing alcohol.

Step 2—Don’t Bare-Hand It – Put on latex or rubber gloves so you’ll never have direct contact with the tick or your pet’s bite area. Ticks can carry infective agents that may enter your bloodstream through breaks in your skin or through mucous membranes (if you touch your eyes, nostrils or mouth).

Step 3—Grab a Partner – You don’t want your pet squirming away before you’re finished, so if possible, have a helper on hand to distract, soothe or hold her still.

Step 4—The Removal – Treat the bite area with rubbing alcohol and, using a pair of tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the animal’s skin as possible. Pull straight upwards with steady, even pressure. Place the tick in your jar.

• Do not twist or jerk the tick! This may leave the mouth-parts embedded in your pet, or cause the tick to regurgitate infective fluids.
• Do not squeeze or crush the body of the tick, because its fluids (saliva and gut contents) may contain infective organisms.

Step 5—All that Remains – Sometimes, in spite of doing everything right, a tick’s mouth-parts will get left behind in your pet’s skin. If the area doesn’t appear red or inflamed, the best thing to do is to disinfect it and not to try to take the mouth-parts out. A warm compress to the area might help the body expel them, but do not go at it with tweezers.

Step 6—Clean Up – Thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash your hands with soap and water (even though you were wearing gloves). Sterilize your tweezers with alcohol or by carefully running them over a flame.

Step 7—Keep Watch – Over the next few weeks, closely monitor the bite area for any signs of localized infection. If the area is already red and inflamed, or becomes so later, please bring your pet—and your jarred tick—to your veterinarian for evaluation.

From: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-care-tips/how-to-remove-a-tick-from-your-pet.aspx

Keeping Pests Out The Green Way

No one wants pests in their home.

Unfortunately many solutions to getting rid of pesky pests involve harmful pesticides which are poisonous to you, your children and your pets.

As a green product itself, Clear the Air likes to find green solutions to keeping pests out of your home.  We would like to share some helpful tips on keeping your home pest free, naturally!

Once summer time approaches, bugs start making an appearance in homes across the U.S. From ants to wasps to millipedes, our first instinct is to spray them down with as much poison as it takes to make them stop.  Our natural instinct to getting rid of insects, no matter how many legs they may have, is usually to use bug killer.

Before spreading poison throughout your living environment, which you, your children, and pets will breathe in, try these all-natural alternatives.

Prune Shrubs – To control pests inside the house, a lot of work needs to be done outside the house. Insects often find their way into the house by climbing on shrubs and trees that are touching the outside walls of your house. Trim everything back so there is a foot clearance between plants and exterior walls.

Rake – Likewise, many insects that live in leaf and lawn debris are going to find easy access indoors if they are hanging out near the foundation of your house. Rake this area well. Pull weeds and only keep plants and shrubs that are well cared for near your foundation. Anything that is dead or dying will attract insects.

Say No to Wood Chip Mulch – It is popular right now to cover flower beds with wood chip mulch. The problem with this is that insects, like carpenter ants and termites, love wood chips. Putting food for them near the foundation of your house isn’t the best idea. They will easily travel from the flower beds to the interior of your home. If you must cover the dirt in your flower beds with something, consider rubber mulch, such as Everlast Rubber Mulch. An additional benefit of Everlast Rubber Mulch is that it is made of 100% recycled tires.

Clean the Kitchen – Summertime and ants go hand in hand. They often infest a kitchen faster than you can put the cap on the soda bottle. To prevent an all you can eat ant buffet, keep your kitchen clean. Washing dishes after each meal and putting all food away in the refrigerator will go a long way towards keeping the ant pests out of your house. If you do have a trail of ants leading to your kitchen, find the source. Are they swarming to the sticky spot under the stove? Clean it up and spray the whole length of the trail with vinegar to clean off any scent they may have left.

Look to Old-Fashioned Remedies – If your house is plagued with ants, chances are you’ve got some ant hills in the yard. An old-fashioned remedy is to boil a pot of water on the stove and poor it down the ant hill. If you do a few a day, you will soon have greatly decreased the number of ants sharing your property.

Once you’ve poured boiling water on all the ant hills, mix some borax and powdered sugar together. Put some on a plastic lid and place it in any area that ants congregate. Only do this if you don’t have pets or small children that are likely to find it. The ants will take the borax and sugar mixture back to their nest, hopefully killing their queen.

Relax – Most insects won’t kill you, but the poison you spray on them might. So, if your insect problem is minor, then don’t worry about it too much. Take some preventative measures and let it go.

Keep Skunks Away From Your Home

If you have ever had an encounter with a skunk and he got the best of you, you know how difficult it can be to rid the odor.

Thankfully Clear the Air has an easy solution to completely eliminating skunk odor quickly and effectively.  In order to avoid any interactions with skunks in the future, here are some great ways to keep skunks away from your home.

Skunks are scavengers and will eat anything from bugs to garbage. If a skunk finds a tasty morsel on your land, chances are good that he’ll start visiting more often. This section will walk you through some steps to repel skunks from your property.

Eliminate enticing meals for skunks. Skunks are nocturnal, so you’re most likely to see and/or smell them at night and in the early morning when they’re out scavenging for food. Skunks can and do eat anything; bird eggs, bugs and larvae, human wastes, small rodents, you name it – they’ll eat it. Following is a list of the most common foods that attract skunks onto people’s property:

Unprotected garbage. When you transfer your trash outside for pickup, store it in heavy duty metal or plastic trash cans with lids that will stay on even if the can is knocked over. Never place unprotected bags out on the curb.

Grubs and larvae. Skunks love grubs! Grubs are beetle larvae that live underneath of your lawn. Skunks are known for digging small holes in peoples yards as they hunt for them. Luckily, beneficial nematodes also love to eat grubs, and are easily deployed in your lawn and garden to eliminate this attractant.

Pet food. Never leave unprotected animal food outside at night, it’s akin to setting a place at your dinner table for Pepé le Pew. If you leave out scraps for neighborhood stray cats, you may end up attracting the neighborhood skunks as well.

Nuts, berries, and fruits. If you have bushes or trees that bear fruits, nuts, or berries you should periodically walk your yard and remove any that have fallen to the ground. Skunks will happily feast on them, and so will rodents… which skunks will also happily eat.

Other attractants. While the above food sources are the most common culprits that attract skunks, there are more. If any of these exist on your property, do your best to minimize or eliminate them.

• Compost heaps containing bones, fruit rinds and egg shells.
• Large numbers of ground dwelling insects under dead leaves and foliage.
• Easily accessible water sources.
• Bird feeder spills.

Skunk repellents

Many folks swear by this or that for repelling skunks, but there seems to be little that delivers consistent results across the board. Here’s a list of the most effective skunk repellents:

• Bright light – Skunks are nocturnal and prefer to stay hidden, flooding an area with light can be an effective deterrent. Use flood lights in combination with motion sensors.
• Automated sprinklers
• Spicy pepper solutions – Pepper sprays are reported to work well but must be reapplied every few days to remain effective.
• Commercial repellents – There are many available types, people have also reported success with dog and cat repellents.

Skunks will make homes underneath houses, sheds, decks, and other above-ground structures. Seal them off as well as possible – remember that they can fit through holes as small as 4 inches. Skunks won’t burrow underneath them unless they can see that there is space on the other side. Fill in holes and ditches as well.

Enclose large, open areas with a three-foot high wire mesh fencing like chicken wire and it one foot deep to keep skunks from burrowing underneath.

If you do end up getting sprayed by a skunk, immediately sprinkle Clear the Air’s Skunk Odor Eliminator on your, your pet if they’ve been skunked and anything else that may have been touched by the skunk spray.

Dead Rodent Odor

If you have had the unfortunate experience of finding rodents dwelling in the walls of your home, you may have taken some steps to eliminate these rodents.  Unfortunately, when poison is placed in the walls for these rodents, the smelly odor of the dead rodent carcass usually follows soon after.  While you no longer have the problem of a rat infestation, you are now faced with an unavoidable odor that is very obvious to your senses until the rat’s body completely decomposes.

Instead of tearing down the walls in  your house to retrieve the dead carcass and get rid of the odor, you can use a much simpler and cost effective solution – Clear the Air Odor Remover Bags.  Clear the Air Bags do not have to come in contact with the dead rodent or odor causing agent.  Simply hang a bag near the odor and in 24 hours the odor will be gone, 100% guaranteed.  Clear the Air is made from an all natural mineral, is non toxic and biodegradable – all safe for Planet Earth!

If you have a strong odor in your house and can not get to the source to remove it, Clear the Air Odor Remover Bags are what you need.  Click Here to order bags and learn how to use them.  We guarantee our product 100% and if you have any questions or concerns, click here to call or email us.

Your Dog Got Skunked, Now What???

Dogs like to check things out and are naturally curious.  Unfortunately, sometimes that means it might come in contact with a skunk and regrettably the odor that comes along with it is horrendous.

If your dog is skunked, make sure not to let him inside as his natural instinct will be to roll around and rub on things to try and get this odor off of him.  If your dog does happen to get inside and contaminate your furniture, carpet, rugs, etc., there is a solution.

Clear The Air Odor Eliminator for Skunk Odors will completely eliminate the smell from your dog, the furniture, carpets, lawn/shrubs, and you.   This unique form of Earth Care Products Mineral can be sprinkled directly on your pet, as well as inside and outside to eliminate skunk odors. Clear The Air does not have to come into contact with the odor producer; it will pull the odors from the entire area. Clear The Air draws in odors like a powerful magnet. The odors are adsorbed, and neutralized without any fragrances. Clear The Air does not cover up odors; it literally “clears the air” leaving the air fresh and clean.

Clear The Air is made from an all natural mineral, is non toxic and biodegradable and safe for Planet Earth. It is safe around children and pets even if eaten. Granules are totally safe for all lawns and vegetation. No need to remove granules from your lawn or vegetation, as they provide an excellent time-released nitrogen fertilizer.

Should you have any questions about our product, please call (800) 611-1611 or email: pmolina@cleartheair.com.