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Strange fruit

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Strange fruit – I’ve never seen this

This strange fruit is a grapefruit tree at a clients home, I noticed it while doing a pest treatment. I spent a lot of time in Florida and now here in Arizona and I don’t recall anything this obscure and just plain weird. I see some pretty unique things along my path daily but this one was just different.

This just struck me as odd, but little limb is doing its best to live its dream. Maybe we should all do what the little tree to doing. But you will notice there is no fallen fruit for rodents to be eating. One of the ways to discourage animals and wildlife is to keep your yard clean, no clutter and keep an eye on the property each month. No surprises!

Wow huge YellowJacket nest, it would scare me?

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If you follow this home seal you know how often I remind you that you need to check your property. I recommend monthly and if this homeowner had checked, someone should have noticed this massive hive.

“Massive wasp nest removed from Winter Haven home”

Estimated to contain 15,000 yellow-jackets and it is expected to take 48 hours to completely get rid of the nest and inhabitants.

Photo by PPMA

Are window screens necessary to living in Arizona?

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Having lived in Florida and Arizona I know how easy it is for bugs to get into your home. Many things can be done to keep bugs out including having your home sealed, that J-trim often pulls away from the home and allows crickets and scorpions a path right into your home. Replacing door sweeps or installing garage thresholds can be another great add-on to stop those pests from getting into your home.

Ryan Van Velzer, The Republic | azcentral.com recently did an article on “What you should know about Arizona’s Kissing Bug“.

Is it worth the money to have a Termite Inspection done to purchase a home?

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I’m always amazed when people are willing to spend $100,000s of their hard earned cash and not ask for opinions on the important stuff. I would always (by the way I have always had a Home Inspection and Termite Inspection) when I purchased a home. One in Florida and one in Arizona, I wouldn’t skip this important second set of eyes for nothing! Even though I have years of experience I still have some company give me their professional opinion. We charge $57 cash day of inspection and $67 to go to escrow and honestly its not like its going to break the bank. But if there is an issue later I want someone that can answer some questions or give me insight into the problem. I have seen some realtors suggest that people not get inspections – are they going to answer those termite questions, and what happens if there are termites hidden?

If you look at a U.S. map, we have Heavy termite activity from Florida to Texas and North to South Carolina and Moderate to heavy from Texas throughout Arizona North to Nevada. Read what the National Pest Management Association has to say about termite inspections and what the says Arizona Department of Agriculture Office of Pest Management (Consumer Resources and Termites). So please think about the money as an investment in your home.

Will the winter weather help with Stink bugs?

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Well it turns out that “Polar Vortex” may actually help to keep down the numbers of Stink bugs. I won’t make a snide remarks about the snow, it was like evry other day and yet another storm was dumping tons of snow in the north. I did appreciate all the FaceBook cartoons of snow, my favorite was “whose tired of the snow, and all you could see was hands sticking up through the snow mounds.

Just for the record I grew up in Ohio, so I know what snow is all about. I’m also very thankful having lived in Florida and now Arizona. “Polar Vortex may slow down Stink bug invasion, reasearchers say.”

Photo by J.Stoner

Is knowledge really important?

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Do you really care whether someone has all the right knowledge on a given subject? I think that it is important to continue to gain knowledge. In my industry there are some that never let their employee’s go to class or other events because someone might steal that employee. I’m just the opposite – if they were looking and then left, they were looking anyway. So you need to figure out why they left.

I have always encouraged my employee’s to learn new stuff. One employee has his Qualifying Party license and he is excited that in just 6 months he can take his A.C.E. (Associate Certified Entomologist) test. I insist that each month they take an additional Continuing Education unit from a site like Univar and the best part is that it is FREE. Here in Arizona we are required to earn 6 CEU’s and in Florida where I also have a Certified Pest Control Operator Pest License I’m required to earn 2 for each category that I have and 2 for Core. On average I think I always have about 30 or so, you can earn them at places like Pestworld (which will be held in October 2013 in Phoenix) and other events sponsored by various groups throughout the year.

This is what happens when we don’t think!

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This is what happens when we don’t think!

How many times have you heard someone get tired of a pet and just discard it. Its a shame and really should be against the law, consider the pet and make a common sense decision. How long will it live, the larger cockatoos can live 30–70 years depending on the species or occasionally longer and Cockatiels can live for about 20 years and is that a commitment you have time for?

Well anyway back to the actual story for the home seal – 18 ft 8 inch Python (Associated Press) recently caught in Florida and weighed 128 pounds. This new Python exceeds the old one by an inch. The speculation is that during a hurricane a building was destroyed and the snakes got loose. But you hears stories similar to this frequently, sometimes even the giant alligator in the NYC sewers.

If you can no longer take care of the pet please do some homework there are usually shelters and rescue groups that will help. My best friends in Ohio take care of foster dogs and both of my dogs are rescues.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peace-and-Paws-Dog-Rescue/102601282167

https://www.facebook.com/SaveADog

Oh oh Demon dogs….

There are some real sicko’s in the world! Who can you trust?

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There are some real sicko’s in the world! Who can you trust?

This happened in Tampa, Florida but I really had the thought that these guys were pretty much scum. Men target elderly women in robbery scam

Two men, posing as landscapers, walked into her St. Pete backyard and said they saw spiders, but that’s the scam, there are no spiders, and they started spraying what they say is acid-based bug spray. It’s really water.

I know allot of people in Florida and I can definitely recommend some great folks like Beucher & Son Pest Control 727-388-6759 they are in Tampa and are top notch and in Deltona, Fl Jack’s Pest Control 386-337-1094 or in Ocala, Fl 352-237-0122 “The Bug Doctor”. Just a few I trust and know personally, I just recommended a former Scout of mine to Jack and David said ” I met Jack today, very personable as u mentioned. He spoke highly of you. Thanks for the recommendation.”

ProBest Pest Management BBB rated A+ and Crimshield Certified

Sometimes those termites drive you daffy…

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Sometimes those termites drive you daffy…

Every once in awhile you get that termite job that is either unique or somehow just different. No matter what you do, the termites continue to do some damage in a home.

Scenario

House is about 20 years old, no record exists for a pretreatment with the state – in Arizona (Office of Pest Management)we are required by law to report all termites treatments. I actually wrote a home seal “Termite Sleuth on the Job” same house – continued issue but in a different area.

Treated entire house with Termidor, down drilled all attached slabs and garage and have drilled various areas within the home on the wooden floors. I’m almost convinced that no pretreatment was ever done. No further issues along the exterior of the home, only on the interior and once we drill the area we notice activity later. Now I did mention Termidor, but if it isn’t where they are moving through it – it won’t work. So without taking the floor up I decided to use some bait stations – FirstLine™ by FMC. I used another product in Florida and have learned a few things on bait systems after some time in Arizona. I place the units in areas where there is some shade or something with a bigger footprint to help hold cooler temperatures and maybe water.

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