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Pest Control Specialists Contact Us

4012 N. Main Street
Dayton, OH 45405

QUESTION:

I have recently become certified in vertebrate management. I am looking for places in my local area where I can release the animals that I trap. What other options are available if I am unable to find locations to release these animals?

ANSWER:

I attended a seminar on wildlife trapping a couple of years ago, presented by someone with many years of extensive experience in this area. He had some thoughts that may not be popular with everyone, because quite often the best answer to dealing with the trapped animal may be euthanasia – a politically correct way of saying killing it. When you trap a pest animal alive because it was causing a problem in an urban area, taking it somewhere else and releasing it may just transfer that problem to other people. For this reason wildlife agencies often have very strong restrictions on this release of any wildlife outside of its normal habitat, which means where you captured it. Their guidelines often require you to release the trapped animal “on site”, so if you caught some tree squirrels in an attic your obligation would be to take them outside that structure and let them go, relying on Exclusion work to prevent them from re-entering.

The expert at this seminar works very closely with his local animal control agency, and probably for a fee he can drop off animals he has captured and they will dispose of them in the most humane manner. As much sympathy and love we may feel for squirrels, raccoons, and other urban wildlife we also recognize the potential they have for serious structural damage and even public health issues. We may enjoy them in the proper settting but should never be required to live in the same structure with them. So, my suggestion is that you begin by consulting with several local agencies – Animal Control, Wildlife, and your Dept. of Agriculture. All of these folks can offer their thoughts on what you legally may or may not be able to do, and staying legal is very important. You run the risk of incurring the wrath of local animal rights groups if they do not like what you are doing, so knowing that it is all done above board and legally will back you up.

We humans really have upset the apple cart with respect to Nature. When we create housing developments where only natural areas existed before we change the dynamics of that whole area. Predators generally are eliminated (no one wants coyotes or mountain lions in their yard) but the prey (squirrels, snakes, skunks, opossum) continue to live just fine, and now their populations may swell out of control. If we transfer these animals to some other area, even thinking it is a “natural” place for them to live, their sudden appearance can throw off the balance that may exist in that area too. Regardless of what vocal animals rights groups may try to tell us, “catch and release” is not always the best answer. However, there are plenty of times that it may be, so finding out for your region how you can do this legally and with minimal impact on the release-area is important to know ahead of time.

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QUESTION:

I have discovered upon using a B&G Electric Duster (M2250) with Delta Dust during attic dusting that it is very, very hard to not get some amount of DeltaDust on the B&G machine or on me, particularly after the machine has been used and needs to be removed from the attic (in many situations, from a ladder). I have considered some sort of PPE smock or raincoat for those moments in an effort to avoid the dropping dust. I don’t usually retrieve the duster until waiting a bit after it’s been unpowered. I think the product and idea of attic dusting is wonderful for some attic situations, but do you have any tips for dusting attics? How often do you recommend the duster be on with a product like Delta Dust to really effectively lay enough dust in the attic? I have been told it is not as popular of a method as it used to be and I have been using it situationally for Carpenter Ants and Little Black Carpenter Ants.

ANSWER:

Delta Dust is labeled for use in attics, but I am a little concerned about the use of it in what I will refer to as an overall application with this kind of power duster. The label is just a little vague and open to interpretation on this, but it states that you can dust in attics using a hand or “power” duster, but then suggests a duster similar to the Actisol DPA, which as a unit that would enable you to dust carefully into voids and crevices rather than a general dusting of the entire space. Further on in the Label it states that the dust should be applied in a manner that “avoids deposits on exposed surfaces or introduced into the air”. This further strengthens my belief that this particular dust should not be generally applied so that it ends up on the attic surfaces in general. You may want to consider switching to a different kind of dust, such as an inorganic material like Drione or MotherEarth dust. These offer an extremely low toxicity to people as well as lasting for a VERY long time – they simply do not decompose, being mineral in origin.

The other concern with dusting generally throughout the attic is the perception that people will have who later go into the attic and who may end up with dust on their hands or clothing. When they find out it is a “pesticide” they may feel a strong concern for possible health problems, real or not. The use of one of the inorganic materials may be more acceptable to them, and these should also give good pest management. Again, the Label is difficult to pin down on whether or not DeltaDust can even legally be applied in this manner because the Label also tells you to apply about 0.5 lbs per 1000 square feet, a clear indication that it CAN be applied over general surfaces but seemingly contradicting the earlier Label information.

Whichever route you choose to take you definitely should keep the dust from spilling on yourself or your clothing or any surfaces below the attic opening. To prevent this you might consider placing the duster in a plastic bag before bringing it down, and keeping it in that bag in your vehicle so dust does not fall off and contaminate your storage lockers in the vehicle. Of course, wearing gloves, safety glasses, and long sleeves while handling any pesticide is important too.

The Label calls for that rate of application – 0.5 lbs/1000 sq ft – but this would be REALLY hard to calculate for an attic, because you would have to take into consideration all that surface area on the exposed beams, rafters, etc. where the dust could settle. You probably could make some basic calculation based on the square footage of the attic floor area, and then double or triple it to take into account all the other surface areas that would be contacted by the dust. Ultimately you want to apply the dust so the BAREST of layers ends up on the surfaces. Best you do not even see the dust layer it is so light, because a thick layer of dust becomes physically repelling to insects that may choose to avoid it. Within the product specs for the 2250 duster there should be some indication of the output volume of dust – “X” ounces of dust blown out for each interval of time it is on. Heavy dusts like DeltaDust may come out at a different rate than light dusts such as Drione, so this may require you to calibrate your own machine for the dust you use by using a specific weight of dust in the duster, turning it on until the dust is all expelled and seeing how long that took. You then know how long it takes to eject, let’s say, 1 lb of dust, and by knowing this you can then leave the duster on for whatever length of time is needed to eject the amount of dust needed for the attic you are treating.

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QUESTION:

I am having problems with German roaches inside Espresso coffee machines. I have used Maxforce gel but it’s too slow and I need a faster effect and action to control this problem in the machines. Can I use Advion gel or Arena bait with
Gentrol Point Source and place the Point Source and Advion gel or Arena inside the espresso
machines, or better on the outside wall
of them? What do you recomend for better and faster control results? Also, do these baits or the Gentrol have any kind of odor that the coffee could absorb and affect the taste?

ANSWER:

The Label is my Master here, and a look at the Advion Cockroach Bait Arena label finds that it is labeled for use “around” or “under or near” appliances, and it does not have instructions allowing it to be used within the appliance itself. The wording is similar on the Advion Gel label, calling for it to be applied “behind and under” appliances, and goes further to warn that it should NOT be used where the temperatures exceed 120 degrees, as this could cause it to liquefy and become ineffective (and probably run as well). In either case the MSDS for these products describes the odor as “bland” or “faint”, which suggests that a transfer of vapors from the bait to food is unlikely. But, it would appear that these baits should be used ONLY on the areas outside of the machines and not even on the machine itself.

Gentrol Point Source also has restrictive wording on its Label, allowing its use “a minimum distance of 3 feet from exposed food”, so using it in, on, or adjacent to the espresso machines would be prohibited. However, the nature of the hydroprene emitted from these discs is to move outward for several feet in all directions, redepositing onto surfaces around the disc itself. You do not need to place it any closer to the machines for the active ingredient to get to and affect the roaches.

Treating directly into food machinery is a dicey thing to do. There is just too much of a chance that insecticide will end up on the food contact surfaces themselves, particularly if you are shooting blind by injecting the material from the outside through openings to the interior of the machine. You also do not know what kinds of electronics are inside these machines today, and I will just bet that there are mother boards and electronic circuitry in them, and any pesticide landing on these sensitive devices will ruin them.

A much better recommendation, and your customer is not going to want to hear it, is to have a qualified technician OPEN the machines, thoroughly clean them and remove the roaches physically (a vacuum), and then do whatever is necessary to seal off entry points after the cleaning so that roaches no longer can get into the machines. I know this sounds a lot tougher and more expensive than just “spraying something”, but it is the best course of action. Even allowing the roaches to get into these food processing devices and hoping to kill them inside is asking for problems. Not only does this allow these filthy, disgusting, pathogen-ridden vermin (was that a little harsh?……sorry) to reside where food is made, but their feces, shed exoskeletons, or dead insects can also land on electronic circuitry or into the food materials themselves and shut the whole thing down.

I suggest this cleaning and subsequent exclusion to prevent roaches from re-entering the espresso machines. You can then determine where the other potential harborage sites near these machines will be and treat them with baits or residual sprays, or just seal them up permanently to push the roaches even further away. Ultimately this will make the customer a lot happier than trying to keep the battle in the most sensitive place in the account – within the coffee machines themselves.

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QUESTION:

I do a lot of commercial hotels that have flies around the beach area and food areas as well. I am using masterline bifenthrin 7.9 to spray ground areas and shrubbery. We use fly bait boxes with golden malrin in food areas, gold sticks inside, vector uv traps on walls. Other than zappers outside what else can you suggest? areas are cleaned as well and we spray two times a week all over. Any ideas please? There is no standing fresh water around either.

ANSWER:

Fly management is a huge challenge, particularly when the problem is outdoors. If all you are dealing with is interior problems you can rely heavily on exclusion, UV traps placed liberally inside, perhaps pyrethrum misting devices over doorways, as well as good sanitation indoors to eliminate all chances of fly breeding inside. But, outside you are facing flies that are attracted to the area because of all the wonderful food smells that come from these food courts and restaurants, and in your area in the Caribbean there likely is a lot of outdoor dining. The demand from your customer likely is to provide 100% elimination of adult flies, which of course is impossible, but nonetheless you need to try for that goal. To come anywhere close to it you need to throw every possible weapon at the flies.

The arsenal for fly management must include NON-chemical steps as well, so we’ll investigate IPM in a moment. There are fly traps of various kinds, fly baits of several kinds, and chemical applications of several kinds. The traps definitely capture and kill thousands of flies, but by themselves will never eliminate the overall problem. However, along with the other steps traps are one more important part, so these can be placed liberally in all areas, but keeping in mind that they are visible and often not very aesthetic to look at , so you wouldn’t necessarily want a hanging bag trap full of dead flies in the dining areas. These may be better in service entry areas or around waste cans outside. The Gold Sticks and other hanging sticky traps are the same – they help to reduce adult fly numbers and can be important tools, but placed where they are appropriate. One of the failures in fly management is the use of TOO FEW devices like these, so the customer needs to accept the difficulty in total fly control and understand that your service comes at a price that is profitable to you.

UV light traps are best used indoors where competition from sunlight is minimal. But, in outdoor dining areas they can be helpful when placed properly, which is best between 1 and 5 feet off the floor. This seems to be the best “fly flying zone”, and most likely to get the fly’s attention. However, the tendency is to put the UV traps WAAAAYYYYY up high on walls, and preferably behind some plants or partitions so people don’t see them, but then the flies won’t see them either. Use a trap that is attractive and looks more like mood lighting and the customer should have no problem with it. Also, use a LOT of UV traps to increase the chances that the flies will see them quickly and be captured before annoying too many patrons.

Fly baits are excellent, but also consider the paint-on / spray-on Maxforce baits that can be applied to surfaces where the flies are gathering. You could also use the Quikstrike fly bait strips in areas such as the service areas or waste areas where customers do not see them. Other granular fly baits in stations also are effective. Consider applying residual insecticides onto surfaces such as walls, fences, tree trunks, etc. where you see adult flies resting. These will work for a couple of weeks, and products such as wettable powders and microencapsulated formulations may work better than other kinds of concentrates.

Finally, IPM – have you done a thorough inspection (let’s call it a Sanitation Inspection) of these properties, inside and outside, to identify all those circumstances that are present that may be encouraging the fly problems. This includes dirty waste containers and waste can areas, spilled foods in dining areas, piles of vegetation that is decomposing, unnecessary wet areas, etc. Anything you can do to remove attractions that are drawing the flies will be a huge help in your other steps. Are the employees doing a good job of keeping doors closed and windows screened? Everything you can do non-chemically will be a long lasting control technique that should help reduce your reliance on all those other chemicals and traps.

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QUESTION:

I have mosquitoes that are getting into a bakery. There is a little swamp on one side of the building. I am wondering if these pests are attracted to light, and I would like to place a couple of fly lights and do a ULD monthly or something like that. Please advise.


ANSWER:

Let’s do a little math on mosquitoes first, and the most important number is that it takes only about 1 week for mosquito eggs to become adult mosquitoes, give or take a few days depending on the species and temperatures. While the monthly fogging would give immediate relief from biting adult mosquitoes in that area it will lose its effect quickly and new adult mosquitoes would quickly repopulate the area. This may be appropriate if this bakery is having some outdoor function where you need to knock down the mosquito numbers temporarily, but fogging is not a good overall control.
Adult mosquitoes are drawn to UV light, but not strongly, so UV lights are only partially effective in attracting and capturing them. Plus, many mosquitoes are day or dusk fliers when natural light outdoors will diminish the effectiveness of the UV light. Mosquito traps generally employ both UV and carbon dioxide, as the CO2 is a much stronger attraction for these blood feeders. Even then the traps are best seen as monitors rather than as a control device. However, each step you take does capture and kill adult mosquitoes, dropping their overall numbers. If you do use UV light traps it might be best to have them installed away from the building so you do not attract night flying bugs TO this structure.

Another chemical option is what is referred to as a “barrier” treatment, and this involves the use of residual insecticides such as pyrethroids, applied with a sprayer capable of treating the trees and shrubbery in the area, as well as other adult mosquito resting spots such as under the eaves or any other structures where they can find shaded shelter. Some studies were done that concluded that several weeks of good relief from biting mosquitoes could be gained by treating in this manner. It may be important to capture some of the mosquitoes and have them identified, at least to genus level. The different kinds of mosquitoes choose different places to rest, and if you have a tree inhabiting mosquito such as some of the Culex, and fail to treat up into the upper foliage of the trees, you could miss the adult mosquitoes altogether. Other kinds may prefer lower shrubbery or other ground level places to rest.

However, if you have any control at all over that adjacent swamp this is where your focus should be. It is likely that this habitat is a major breeding area for the mosquitoes, and the best mosquito control involves “source reduction” – killing the mosquitoes in their larva stage rather than waiting for them to become biting adults and then swatting them at this problem stage. There are several excellent larvacides available that can be used in aquatic habitats to kill mosquito larvae but cause no harm to other animals that use that water. These can be easily applied by hand or with equipment, depending on the area of water to cover, and some may last 30 to 90 days once applied. They include IGR’s such as Altosid or bacteria such as Mosquito Dunks or BTI Briquets, and also surface oils such as MasterLine Kontrol Larvacide. Of course, if this little swamp is not an environmentally sensitive aquatic site, but just an area of captured rainwater, perhaps it could be drained permanently and the problem resolved forever.

So, for immediate relief the fogging is good but provides no residual. Barrier treatments provide several weeks of relief but need to be reapplied during adult mosquito season. UV and CO2 traps will help reduce numbers but are best for monitoring. Larval control by treating the breeding sites is the best technique if you are permitted to treat that aquatic habitat.

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