Early Heat Means More Pests
By: Brendaliss Gonzalez
Updated: April 4, 2012
Kody Gay is an exterminator for pest patrol and says lately he's gotten a lot more calls from customers with bug problems.
He's used to keeping busy, except its all a bit too early in the season.
"They're not swarming quite as late as they did last year, they're swarming a lot earlier and that's odd for me," he said.
Termites are especially early, typically seen more toward the summer months.
Gay says the weather plays a big part when it comes to bugs.
"With moisture and stuff like that the dry heat, the warmer weather, it's going to cause a lot more problems," he said.
Planted areas with lots of moisture are especially for termite infestations. And with recent warmer temperatures, they're not the only bugs creating problems.
"A couple of the dogs having come in have been heavily infested with ticks so far this year," said Christy Frost, from the Abilene Animal Shelter.
The Abilene Animal Shelter offers free flea and tip dips every year, but frost says they've seen more fleas than usual this year.
She says the weather also plays a factor when it comes to ticks.
"I know one i saw this year, it looked like it had freckles and it wasn't a freckled dog, but it had so many ticks on it and that was early in the year," she said.
Bugs like ticks, fleas and termites flourish in warmer areas that are typically abundant in moisture.
Gay says spraying your house and pets is just one way to ensure bug free living.
"Have a regular pest service done and just keep the house clean, vacuum," he said.


