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Bedbugs are here to stay – what can we do about it?
BCLocalNews Whether it's reports of the blood-sucking pests appearing at even the poshest hotels or rental apartment buildings being treated to prevent their spread, or even the fact that bedbugs can hitch a ride on clothing or in luggage, it's all enough to make … Don't let the bedbugs biteThe Barrie Advance |
Pests in the NewsNovember 11, 2011
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Home & Garden News: When pests make themselves at home
The Rock River Times “Fall cleaning activities such as sweeping spider webs away from windows and corners and raking accumulated leaves and grass away from the foundations help eliminate hiding places, eggs and easy access to your house by the pests.” Ferree said the best … |
Pests in the NewsNovember 11, 2011
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 BigHospitality.co.uk |
Over one in ten SMEs encounter pest infestation
SMEweb Pest infestations are a very real problem for over one in ten UK small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) according to new research. The research from Rentokil shows that 13% of SMEs have encountered a pest problem in the last year. … One in five hospitality businesses encounter pest problemBigHospitality.co.uk |
Pests in the NewsNovember 11, 2011
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Lakewood 'outs' bedbugs in timely, orderly manner
Asbury Park Press Once the insects were identified, the school contacted the Ocean County Health Department and followed to the letter its “bedbugs in school tool kit” — a seven-page memo outlining proper procedures for dealing with the infestation. … |
Pests in the NewsNovember 11, 2011
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QUESTION:
I have a one-year-old cat that is always eating things off the floor, like daddy long legs, pincher bugs, etc. If he ate a venomous spider, such as a black widow, would he die or get sick? I am crazy about this cat and keep the house pretty clean.
ANSWER:
I have a cat with a similar character. She’s intent upon catching dragonflies and small lizards, but do you think she’s ever done something worthwhile like killing a mouse or rat? I think the venoms from arthropods such as spiders and scorpions are dangerous only when injected into the skin by the spider or scorpion, and even this must be a deliberate effort on the part of the spider. I have often been asked by children if they could get poisoned by poking themselves with the fangs of a dead spider, and my answer is NO. They venom, first of all, is probably all dried up in the venom glands of a dead spider. Second, to inject the venom through the fangs requires muscles that squeeze that venom out of the sac it is stored in and through the tubes and fangs. Dead spiders cannot do this.
There also is a difference between “poisons” and “venom”. A poison would be a substance that could be dangerous no matter how it enters our body, such as swallowing it. A venom is a defensive substance that generally is effective only when it is injected into either our skin or our blood, affecting either the blood or the nervous system depending on the type of venom. When that same venom is swallowed it just does not have this immediate effect and access to the body system that it will affect. Most likely the stomach acids in your cat will digest the venom, and at the very least that venom will be so diluted in the stomach and gut that it would be passed along.
All that being said it still is a great idea to remove dead spiders and other venomous arthropods as soon as you see them. Sometimes that bug looks dead but may still have some muscle reaction left in it. I once handed a “dead” honeybee to my daughter to examine, and it stung her. I swear the darned thing was upside down and immobile on the sidewalk, but it must have only recently gone to that state and still had the muscles in the abdomen functioning, as it managed to plunge the stinger into her skin. And of course, she blamed ME.
Pest QuestionsNovember 11, 2011
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Roach infestation has city briefly consider rental inspections
Tonganoxie Mirror The owner has had a professional pest control service bomb and treat the home, which is now shut up for three months so that the treatment can be affective. The owner has paid the invoices for the treatment of five adjacent properties for pest control … |
Pests in the NewsNovember 10, 2011
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Virginia program collects more than 58K pounds of unwanted pesticides in 2011
Washington Post The program helps farmers, pesticide dealers, pest control companies, golf courses and homeowners with the proper disposal of unwanted pesticides. Since the program's inception, the program has collected and destroyed more than 1.6 million pounds of … |
Pests in the NewsNovember 10, 2011
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Renovations can reveal nests of pesky pests
Calgary Herald The pests had hollowed out part of the floor and wall structure wood to the point of making them cardboard thin. While the homeowners knew there was an ant problem, they hadn't realized how serious it was, says Litwiller. In the end, the solution was … |
Pests in the NewsNovember 10, 2011
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FERAL pests have a significant impact on primary production and biodiversity, as well as potentially spreading disease, on the Darling Downs but the work of the Queensland Murray-Darling Committee and a range of land managers will help to control the threat.
Pests in the NewsNovember 10, 2011
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QUESTION:
I began a new pest service on a house that had been empty for a few months. The new occupants were in the process of moving into the home and
told us they were covered over with roaches. Upon inspection I did not see any insects whatsoever, but for the initial service I treated with
Demand CS and Nyguard. When finished, I saw three roaches cross the top of the ceiling in the kitchen. Since the initial service I have treated
2 more times. I never see any roaches nor any sign of roaches even though I inspect each time that I service the account. The customer calls every two weeks and tells me that she has
seen absolutely no improvement. They are still in the process of unpacking and I am wondering if the problem could be in the unpacked boxes which are everywhere. I am feeling like a failure! Do you have any ideas? Help, please! Thank you so much.
ANSWER:
Well, this speaks to a whole bunch of possibilities, one of which is going to be a polite lecture from me, so we’ll get that out of the way first. On your first visit you inspected and found zero bugs of any kind, but you still applied poison to the interior of this home. In this case you took the word of this untrained homeowner that they had roaches, but this is a dangerous path to tread. I truly understand that we want to help the customer, and often give into their demand that you spray something. But, without knowing for certain what pest was present, if any, you would not know what product to use nor how to apply it most effectively to eliminate that pest. Homeowners are generally very ignorant when it comes to Pest Identification, so that needs to be our first role, and if no pest is found we need to have the courage NOT to spray pesticides.
So, thanks for hanging in there through my soap box, and onto possibility #2 – this customer has a sweet deal going where they just keep on calling you back out and getting their place treated for free. I assume that you are not charging them for these “retreats”, but if you are not finding any pests then you really need to discontinue the applications of toxic substances in their home. Instead, go to a very thorough program of monitoring to determine just what, if anything, is present there. Perhaps what they are calling roaches will turn out to be sowbugs, or earwigs, or Heaven help us, BED BUGS. You need to know what really is present there before you continue your program of management, and if your best efforts to capture some arthropod pests in this home turn up empty, this needs to be communicated to this customer and you should walk away from it. Perhaps you could sell them some insect monitors or glue traps and instruct them on where to place the traps, and if they actually capture something in the glue you can then identify it. But, all of this is costing you TIME, and you should be charging for every minute of it, just as any other service business will do.
Possibility #3 is simply that these folks have no tolerance at all for bugs, and the sight of a single insect on the floor or wall is translated to “They Are Everywhere!!”. Even so, a program of monitoring and trapping should be able to capture some of whatever it is they are seeing and you then can proceed with a proper knowledge of the problem. However, please be very careful about applying pesticides when you yourself have not seen any pests.
Pest QuestionsNovember 10, 2011
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