All posts in “arizona”

Spider webs

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Spider webs and spiders

Spider webs are the worst, you’re walking through the woods and boom – spider web. You’re in  crawlspace and boom spider web. You’re in your garage and you are looking for a tool and you encounter a spider web – freaks you out. Yep, been there. Black Widow webs are crinkly and most often in a complete mess in direction. Sometimes you will find a egg sac and sometimes even the mama upside down just hanging out waiting to bite you. (They don’t do that).

Wear gloves ALWAYS when you are doing yard-work or working in garage.

When you’re hiking in the wood carry a stick ahead of you, by the way this also serves as a bear stick – I’m kidding.

Keep your garage area tidy, less chance for spiders to pop up.

Keep doors and windows closed and door trim in place.

Spider webs    Spider webs

Flocking

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Flocking

Flocking (is that a word) – Roosting and Nesting?

If you have an issue like this, you might have poop everywhere? Here’s your sign, right? They would gather and then fly to one roof where they would just roost and enjoy their day. At night they may go back to one particular home and nest. Poop everywhere and their nest are disgusting, poop and old dead bodies. Gross! I personally think pigeons are nasty, but there are ways to remove them from your home or business and you need a professional to combat them

  • Looks for signs like poop and feathers.
  • Maybe they nesting, check corners and areas where they can have their back against a wall.
  • Do they gather at your place or a neighbors?

Flocking

Clutter

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Clutter in and around your home

Clutter in and around your home is an open ended invitation to come hang out if your a pests. Don’t allow cluttered areas because they are ideal in hiding pests including, scorpions, rodents and cockroaches. The ideal yard is free from trash, trees and bushes are away from structure and block walls and water is only on plants and not excessive. Wood is OK as long as it is on some type of raised platform and I would prefer it to not be against a block wall. The wood needs to breath and not hold moisture.

If your not using the wood its better to throw it out. Throw away trash, my theory is if you haven’t touched it in a year throw is out. Watch for cockroaches under garbage cans and don’t allow water to accumulate in containers which might promote mosquitoes. Mow the grass and keep the weeds down – We do weed treatments. 602-249-7378.

Clutter

Mosquito Dunks

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Mosquito Dunks

Mosquito dunks and how to use them. I thought this was a great idea. First off they contain No Poison.  They are based on the naturally occurring bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, var. israelensis, or Bti. It is considered to be one of the most environmentally sensitive mosquito and blackfly larvicides used in mosquito control. Made with Bt-israelensis (Bt-i), a highly specific biological pesticide, this product represent a major breakthrough for people and the environment when compared with the traditional toxic chemical approach to mosquito control. Will NOT harm people, pets, wildlife or fish. One note I will make is that the time to kill mosquitoes is when they are in the larvae and pupa stage, in the water.

Wonderful for use in water gardens, flower pots, bird baths, rain gutters and decorative ponds! http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/bt.html

The mosquito female finds the water, lays her eggs and then when they hatch the oil does its job, death to the wigglers.

Mosquito dunksMosquito dunks

Facts just the facts

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Facts: remember the show – “Just the Facts please just the facts.

A few Facts.

  1. All scorpions are venomous but only about 25 species are known to have venom capable of killing a human being. We only have one in Arizona that is a concern however there have been no deaths attributable is some time.
  2. Termites were once classified in a separate order from cockroaches, but recent phylogenetic studies indicate that they evolved from close ancestors of cockroaches during the Jurassic or Triassic.
  3. New reproductive termites are winged, and able to fly. This is the time when most people think they are ants, but unlike ants they have straight antenna and no pinched waist.
  4. Scorpions are known to be one of the oldest animals on earth, 430 million years ago and emerged from the Oceans.
  5. Arachnophobia is the fear of Spiders. It is one of the most common fears in the world. It probably affects about 10% of men and 50% of women.
  6. Houseflies existed 65 million years ago! I hate flies!
  7. In Arizona we have wind scorpions or the Arizona sun spider, these eight-legged creatures aren’t technically spiders at all.
  8. Boxelder bugs can congregate on buildings and home, they are a real threat except to some plants and the best measure to keeping them out is home seal and vacuum when they do get inside.
  9. Did you know that the Arizona State Bug is the Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly?

Facts

Seal it up

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Seal it up, your house that is.

Do you know what the biggest thing you can do to stop pests from getting into your house – seal it up. We have a lot of pests in Arizona that can get into our homes, from scorpions to rodents. So it is absolutely essential to seal up your home or business. Now I don’t suggest you do it now, it’s to hot but is can be a great winter project or better yet call ProBest Pest Management at 602-249-7378.

We have tried several caulks to see what works best, the more silicone the better. The only issue you will use all your muscles to squeeze it out, so pick a section of house and take your time. Also use a hose to maneuver the caulk where you want it. Scorpions are the biggest headache we have in Arizona. The National Pest Management Association (NPMA) has some suggestions and useful information at their site, check them out.

seal it up

 

Doors and bugs

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Doors and bugs

Doors and how bug get in? Have you ever noticed the abundance of flying bugs near your front porch door, it’s the light? Its not just the flying insects but spiders love to hang out near the abundant food source. So if you switch to a yellow light the bugs will reduce in numbers. This is actually a IPM or Integrated Pest Management solution to reducing pesticide in and around your home. You will notice I said reducing the amount of pesticide because you may still have to use it judicially on key areas of pest concern.

 

Doors

Fake News

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Fake News

Boy oh boy, nobody can win these days especially with all that FAKE NEWS out there. So I wanted to clear the air about pest control or termite control.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Pest Control

Let’s start with Pest Control. Do you know what my biggest liability is, its not the pesticide its driving to the appointment. Everyone is complaining about the low wages, so what did we do? We raised the minimum wage to $10.50 – Let’s think about this for a minute – that means that the business must make more than that per hour to make money. The business must also take into account all those things that they must pay for (insurance, workman’s comp, vehicle if needed and then auto insurance, chemical, additional employees like schedulers etc and according to a NPMA survey that is about 32.8%) I recently saw a poster on a pole out in Surprise for pest control for $25 – NOBODY MAKES MONEY ON THIS!

How long do you think a person can spend at this account? How long will they be in business. Are they even using chemical/pesticide? Are they insured, (liability, workman’s comp and auto insurance) probably not? If you hire an unlicensed person and they mess up, who will pay for their mistake?

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Termite Control

Termite control – I recently saw an advertisement for $275 – I also remember an article from Florida that suggested termite treatments should be the range of $1000 to $1500 based on the cost in 1930 something. What do you really get for $275?

Termidor HE Label – “Structural termite protection is achieved by establishing a continuous treated zone along the exterior foundation of the structure.” When I read this and interpret it, to me it says there must be a complete barrier around the structure. So either the garage must be drilled or across the garage door must be drilled  and what about patio’s?  In my book either the patio is drilled or the outside of the patio is trenched. Now to achieve the label how can you sell it for $275? YOU CAN’T! Again you get what you pay for….

So why is this FAKE NEWS – because I don’t think you are getting the right deal for what you pay. Someone isn’t giving you the right pesticide, all the pesticide you are supposed to get and all the areas the label requires. Now I used the Termidor HE label, but check out the offer and see what they are supposed to give you and then compare the options.

Trivia fact – Termites have been reclassified into the same order as cockroaches, they are more closely to roaches than ants. Did you know that?

Fake News

Desert Shrew

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Desert Shrew

Desert Shrew – this little guy eats invertebrates such as worms, spiders and insects, but it also eats lizards, birds and small mammals such as mice. They hunt at night, restricting themselves to areas with thick brush to avoid owls and other predators. They rest in the burrow of another animal during daylight hours. In the hottest part of the day (Arizona 120), the shrews enter a torpor – an inactive state similar to hibernation and so would I. They prowl and search for their prey at night, so it often falls victim to nocturnal hunters such as owls and snakes.

Desert Shrew

DE or Diatomaceous earth

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DE or Diatomaceous earth

DE overkill or not? OK you know how I am about Do It Yourself, right? Well this is a great example of over application. It looks like it snowed in Phoenix, Arizona. The weird thing about this, I’ve seen worse inside a bedroom. The bad thing is you can damage your nose and lungs breathing this stuff. It works really well on bugs/pests by dehydrating their exoskeleton and they bleed to death or absorb chemical faster.

First off only the food grade product works on bugs, not the pool stuff – it is cut differently. The fine powder absorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of insects’ exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate. Insects die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, and  considered to be relatively low-risk.

DE

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