Scorpion Pest Management is a BIG deal here in Arizona. Some areas are worse than others, especially those that border hills and mountains.I’m sure you have seen the new treatment called scorpionrepel.
What can you do to avoid the STING?
Remember call a Professional especially QualityPro certified by the National Pest Management Association. “The Mark of Excellence in Pest Management”.
I have seen it a few times, people bring in firewood and all of a sudden we have PowderPost Beetles or something else coming out of the wood. I have also seen the Arizona Fish and Game send out flyers and web information on the spread of quagga mussels on the bottom of boats. Here are two stories or updates on these issues.
“Park changes firewood regulation to protect forests”
Invasive mussels now confirmed at Lake Havasu as well as Lake Mead
It is really important to recognize that animals, wildlife and pests can travel. Just like Fire Ants in potted plants or termites in lumber or other materials. So always stay vigilant and be on guard against invasive species.
Photo from AZGFD site
From almost the dawn of man, rodents and bugs have been trying to stay close to us. Why you ask, I think the main reason is that we tend to want to stay dry and we collect things like food. Animals, bugs and us want the same things:
So when we moved into caves, they followed. When we moved into houses, they followed. So as we became smarter so did they. Bed Bugs probably were Bat Bugs to begin with, they moved into caves because we did. When we moved into houses they followed.
With that movement came pest control, OK a version of it somewhat. When early man found Bat Bugs they might have thought of moving or washing the antelope skin they were sleeping on. Da da pest control, we might never really know who was the first to step on a bug but Pest Control it is!
Photo by PPMA
Those termites will find any way into the house, sometimes it just works out that it is a pipe. Originally a pretreat was done and this should work for many years, if the pretreat was done correctly. So as you are doing your monthly inspection, it would be wise to check any pipe penetrations through your foundation slab. I actually found one swarmer (reproductive) or alate termite walking around inside the shower.
It’s monsoon season here in Arizona so termites are usually a little more active, so please check your home or give us a call at 480-831-9328 or 623-414-0176.
There are probably no more issues than with a monolithic or floating slabs and some would say crawlspaces are easier to see.
I would venture to say that in my opinion Post Tension is probably better, the ability to pull concrete together helps to avoid the pitfalls of cracks developing. Crawlspaces can be tricky because I have seen some that were impossible to crawl, less than 18 inches high or so many obstacles in the way. But with the right height and limited obstacles crawlspaces can easily inspected. I would suggest a yearly inspection and that inspector can also mention things like:
Anyway you get the point, yearly inspections
What is an Occasional invader?
Occasional invaders are critters that enter structures because outside conditions become hostile to their survival maybe because its too wet or dry.
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:
Just when you think you may have heard it all something hits you hard like this story. Thank goodness it wasn’t a deadly crash but here is the story. “Millipedes Responsible for Australian Train Accident” slippery when wet, right!
So this is what happens when bugs or invasive species over populate to biblical proportions. This is also a reason to understand that just one mistake can cause serious problems.
Photo from Univar Environmental Solutions
I ran across some great information (BASF ran a home seal) and wanted to pass it along as it pertains to all you Do IT Yourselfers (DIY) pest control folks. The pest control industry is regulated and yes, I know there are some out there that just can’t seem to be honest and ethical about it. The use of pesticides – read the Label and understand before you use it, the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) or (MSDS) and all use directions.
So here is the homeowner site from “Pesticide Environmental Stewardship” site. You know my stance on the use of pesticides, they are essential to our lives. There are some that would argue and honestly I’m sorry that they just don’t understand the big picture. Without pesticides death would constantly be knocking at our doors. I’m not kidding we often hear of Hanta Virus and Bubonic Plague here in Arizona. Even West Nile Virus (WNV) rears its ugly head occasionally and in others states Lyme Disease. There are some that advocate oils and organics (if you want to argue – put your money where your mouth is and send me some to test – has to be labelled for scorpions) but they in general just don’t hold up long enough. If my tests are proved wrong I’ll tell you about it. We have scorpions in Arizona and in a perfect world we could exclude homes and do other things to keep them out and by the way we do that with home-seals. But not everyone has that kind of money, wish they did. I advocate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and prefer to do our work from outside (trying to limit the amount of pesticides within homes and if possible outside as well).
Don’t get me wrong here; I don’t advocate power spraying unless there is a need. We do it every once in a while on ticks but if possible we recommend that the pets to get properly treated and try to solve the issues to the benefit of our customers. That is the reason why we are members of PESP and QualityPro, to protect and serve our customers from the bugs that might be harmful and nasty.
