“Eating bugs to survive, 30 bugs you can eat”
Some great information especially the bottom of the article where he addresses what not to eat, which is very important in the big picture of things.
Photo by PPMA
They hide in the dark or do they?
They hide how about you? Are you being bitten by something as you sleep or rest in that couch or sofa? Do you have bite marks on your body or that of a family member? Have you visited some place recently or had someone visit you?
If you answered yes to those first two questions you might have Bed Bugs. Don’t panic, become an investigator and check before you call a Pest Management Professional. If you find bed bugs, save them or take pictures. This helps the pest control technician to verify and then come up with the protocol to treat them.
I truly wish everyone who builds or does work on homes would talk to one another. Here is my list of things I would want to talk about, not in any order:
- Don’t plant anything under the roof dripline, it is impossible to stop roots from heading toward your foundation.
- Leave the bottom shelf loose when building cabinets in the garage, this way I can see the expansion joint and treat it. Since the bottom shelf just sits there, is there a reason to secure it?
- Don’t install water drip or irrigation systems to close to the home, have you ever seen the inside foundation wall just corroded and calcified.
- Bear in mind that anything wood or carboard that sets on the expanion joint in the garage could be attacked by termites and that includes books.
My list and answer could go on forever on this subject but I ran into a rather good article from Texas on this very topic and thought I would share it.
Texas has an updated online tool to help people make intellegient choices on who they pick to perform pest control services for their homes, families and businesses. Now if you are in Texas here is the link TexasAgriculture.gov, here are just a few of the remarks mentioned in the article.
Unlicensed pest control applicators might work cheaper but their work can be deadly to families and business employees, officials said Tuesday.
“Unlicensed people may potentially run a higher risk of being unfamiliar with laws and safety precautions and training and practices,”
“Safety and security are important factors when letting someone in your home,”
In Arizona the Office of Pest Management regulates the pest control industry and provides a Consumer link to various and very useful information. They also provide Termite Action Report Forms (TARFs) or a tool to see what termite work was done on a home.
Termites – Notice anything unusual?
Termites issues
termite
I was driving the other day and noticed this on numerous homes in one specific neighborhood. Well here is my take, the pretreat didn’t work. So why did the pretreat not work? Here are my clues on this one.
- Wasn’t done at all.
- Wasn’t the correct mixture.
- Maybe somebody thought they did these homes, maybe not.
- Maybe a chemical we thought would work in AZ and didn’t.
- Wasn’t done at all, oops I said that again. Many of these homes had limited angle drilling and that leads me to think something is amiss, I’m not dropping names but in my opinion it’s a scary thing.
“Harlem says rats to blame for telephone woes“, you may think they have their issues and yes they do but we also have issues with rodents. There was a issue a year or so ago where rabbits were chewing/gnawing on vehicle wiring and that can be a real headache if you need your car in a hurry.
- The front incisors of rodents never stop growing, In fact, continuously growing front teeth is a trait shared by all rodents from the tiniest mouse to the largest rodent. Observing mice & rats who have nothing to gnaw upon, its been found that these incisors can grow up to five inches per year.
- Rats have strong teeth that allow them to chew through glass, cinderblock, wire, aluminum and lead.
- Rodents need to chew four to five hours each day just to keep their teeth gnawed down to the point that they are able to eat. If their teeth grow too long they will die of starvation.
- There is a very high sodium content in electrical and cable wiring. This makes the wires taste good to the rodents, but can lead to wire failure & is a fire hazard. Check your home-owner’s insurance policies to see if it covers fire if it is a result of rodents chewing on wires.
Photo – Univar Environmental Solutions
Is child abuse, the actual hitting of a child or not providing for them? Is child abuse, the act of verbal abuse or not providing for them? How about a pest or rodent infested house, is that child abuse?
“Children found in bed bug-infested home ; mother arrested. This happened right here in Phoenix, Arizona. Of course this isn’t the end of the story, it turns out there were drugs involved – surprised – methamphetamine.
I have to give Kudo’s to my industry on staying ahead of the curve, the National Pest Management Association has a Online Program that addresses the new and upcoming technology and updated news. They produced a program a year or so ago on Bed Bugs and have just brought forth a update from OSHA to the change of the (MSDS) Material Safety Data Sheet to the (SDS) or Safety Data Sheets.
The Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is now aligned with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). This update to the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) will provide a common and coherent approach to classifying chemicals and communicating hazard information on labels and safety data sheets.
Spiders are not on my good list, big or small. I have always been terrified of these pests, especially one as large as this one. Big enough to carry a child away, OK I’m exaggerating a bit, right? Things to do to keep these monsters out of your home:
- Tight, really tight doors and screens.
- Home-seal your home.
- Install garage door seals.
- Use monitoring glue boards to see what is getting into the garage.
- Don’t bring in boxes from attic or outside without checking them.
- Always use gloves when moving anything from outside.
Some people are just plain out there, now I know what happens when someone really ticks you off and you want revenge. I believe in Karma, sometimes you just have to wait and see what happens but getting even doesn’t really help. Not that I know for sure about this. “Main Line Realtor fired for (Alleged) rodent dumping“. (Alleged) keep that in mind – I don’t suggest doing this, remember there are cameras everywhere.
