Urgent Service: What to Do Right Now
Some pest problems can wait a few days for a regular visit. Others put someone at risk of a sting or a bite, or get worse by the hour. If you are not sure which one you have, the checker below sorts it out in a few clicks.
Is It Urgent?
Urgency Checker
Five yes-or-no questions. One yes is enough to call.
Your answer shows here.
Pest Emergencies
| Situation | Why it can’t wait | What to do until help arrives |
|---|---|---|
| Wasp, hornet or yellow jacket nest by a door or deck | A disturbed nest attacks in numbers, and some people react badly to stings | Use another door, keep children and pets away, leave the nest alone |
| Mice or rats in the living space | Droppings and urine spoil food and surfaces; gnawed wiring is a fire risk | Seal up food, clear the counters, keep children and pets away from droppings |
| A bat or other animal loose indoors | Bites and scratches, and a rabies risk with bats | Shut it into one room, open a window there, stay out, never touch it bare-handed |
| Bed bugs | They travel room to room in bedding, clothes and bags | Leave the room as it is, bag bedding and wash it hot, do not move it to other rooms |
| Termite swarm indoors | A swarm inside means a colony is feeding in the structure | Vacuum up the swarmers, save a few in a sealed bag, do not spray the wood |
Do Not Do This
- Seal up a hole while an animal may still be inside
- Spray a hornet or wasp nest yourself, especially one in a wall or overhead
- Pour gasoline or other fuel into a nest or burrow
- Set off bug bombs for bed bugs or cockroaches: they scatter them into the walls
- Pick up a bat, even a still one, with bare hands
- Carry bedding out of a bed bug room through the rest of the house
A wasp nest inside a wall is one of the jobs that looks simple and is not. Blocking the hole from outside sends the wasps looking for another way out, and sometimes that way is through the drywall into a room. It needs the nest found and treated from the right side first.
What Counts as an Emergency
What counts as a pest emergency?
Anything that can hurt someone or spread fast: stinging insects nesting by a door or play area, rodents in the living space, a bat or other animal loose in the house, bed bugs, or a termite swarm coming out of a wall indoors. Ants on the counter or a spider in the basement can wait for a regular visit.
What should I do if a bat is in the house?
Close the doors to the rest of the house, open a window in that room and turn off the lights; many bats leave on their own. Never touch one bare-handed. If the bat was in a room where someone was sleeping, or anyone may have been bitten, keep it contained and call your doctor or the county health department before it is released.
If anyone is at risk of a sting or a bite, call first and book the follow-up after.