All posts in “mosquitoes”

Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes

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Mosquitoes are back and can be a real pain in the bod. Not on my list of favorite bugs but I guess they have a purpose. Not exactly sure what it might be but everything in its place. Annoying but they kill about 1 million people per year. Screens probably reduce the numbers to houses more than any other device.  How about a few facts:

  1. Only the females bite. OK they suck…
  2. Listed as the deadliest animal on earth, from Malaria to Zika virus.
  3. Been on this planet for about 210 million years.
  4. All mosquitoes water to survive, not a lot but just enough to lays eggs. Limit water sources and you limit mosquitoes. Unless your neighbors don’t care.
  5. What is the best time to kill them, in their larval stage? Kill them in the water where they can’t fly away.
  6. Mosquito in Spanish means “little fly”.
  7. I’ve read that mosquitoes prefer beer drinkers.
  8. That little bump you get on your skin is actually from their saliva.
  9. To avoid them completely you must stop breathing (CO2), get rid of body odor and your body heat, and stop moving. Ha try that….
  10. Worldwide 2700 species and in the USA only 176 species.

 

Snakes and Wildlife

Bat Rescue

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Bat Rescue at a DayCare, this Big Brown bat couldn’t make it home. She decided to take a rest in a corner of the playground and we couldn’t let her stay there. The children are the most important factor in this relationship. We sent out a technician and he captured her in a webber broom and transferred to a bucket. We then took her to Liberty Wildlife (our partner in the rehab business). This gave her a quick physical and will hold her overnight and then take her back to her home territory.

We extended Professional Courtesy on this Bat Rescue to her since she’s in the same business, killing mosquitoes and bugs. Did you know that a single bat can eat 1,200 mosquitoes each hour and maybe up to 8,000 each night. Bats can live up to 40 years. Bat droppings in caves can support whole ecosystems, including bacteria useful in breaking down wastes. Here in the desert many species of cactus including the Arizona Saguaro and Organ Pipe cactus rely on bats to pollinate.

Some useful tips:

  1. Never pick up a bat, it could be sick and bite.
  2. Call a Professional like this DayCare, I then explained to the kids the process and they were excited to learn about bats.
  3.  If you decide to use a plastic figure owl, it need to be moved frequently. Pigeons and bats become familiar with them not moving.
  4. Shining light on an area 24/7 can be useful
  5.  Again as I have mentioned previously, do a monthly inspection of your house and at night with a flashlight. Look up and chek all areas.

Essential Services

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Essential Services – In response to the Covid-19 virus

 

Essential Services and their providers are the FrontLine of defense to Pest Control.This virus has certainly made people think, maybe those Preppers were right? Maybe we all need to think about – what if? The President, Governor of Arizona all have weighed in and set guidelines and protocols to the Pandemic. So why is Pest Control an Essential Service?

We are the Protectors of Public Health!

As you quarantine in place, we continue to serve your home or business. I never in all my days ever thought this day would come, yet here it is. The scorpions, ticks, mosquitoes, and rodents will not go away on their own. They will continue to be a constant threat against our lives. While many carry diseases, we are the force needed to stop them. We have the tools and knowledge to keep them at bay. The key in my mind is knowledge, anyone can spray but do they know the enemy? There are numerous pesticides on the market one even touts yearly protection – if that was true I would use the stuff. Depending on time, weather conditions and other factors, most pesticides only last a limited amount.

Why has ProBest Pest Management stopped doing insides homes and when did you stop? I made this decision years ago, probably about 2005. The pesticides are mixed with water, put down wet which dry and children and pets can then come in contact with these pesticides. Once dry they can become airborne and nobody needs to breath that over time. Most all work can be done from the outside, this requires more time. These days pesticides have come a long way, only certain pests like German Roaches require inside treatment (can be done with specific pesticides such as dry baits or gels). Ants can also be treated with baits. Bed bugs are a different story but these days there are fungal spores ready to annihilate the blood suckers.

Long story short, we PROTECT the PUBLIC. I personally have almost 30 years of experience, many long hours of study and credentials ready to serve you. Read my bio and you decide, who do you want on your side? Someone who cares and loves his job, or somebody just in it for the money. ProBest Pest Management 623-414-0176 or 602-249-7378.

Mosquito Season

Mosquito Season

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What’s the best time to KILL mosquitoes, when they’re in the water phase? Any other time you are swatting them and they’re out for blood. Mosquitoes can be tricky, some are known to be in your area and others may fly in from over a mile away. I have seen mosquitoes in tires and in beer bottles with only 1/2 inch of water present. We all know what an absolute nuisance they can be.

There are some innovative products available including this one from www.in2care.org and I also recommend Flyweb for inside the house.

Monsoon rain & dust

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Monsoon rain & dust will start soon and we all know what that will bring? Termites and more bugs including more mosquitoes and flies. It’s time to store your outdoor equipment before the winds grab it. Check your windows for gaps and repair, keeps the Monsoon rain & dust out. What should you do, now to avoid the mess. Remember the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared”.

  1. Check your yard for containers that may hold water.
  2. Fill in potholes that may hold water.
  3. Double check drip irrigation and flood irrigation for issues.
  4. Clean gutters.
  5. Repair screens, make sure they are in place.
  6. Check door sweeps and gaskets.
  7. Remember stagnant water is the enemy, flowing water good.
  8. Best time to treat for mosquitoes is when they are in the water.
Mosquito Season

Water grates

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It’s the time of year, Monsoon is on its way and water in any crack or crevice imaginable. Guess what, the mosquito Mom’s will lay eggs anywhere there is water? Water grates, catch basins or cisterns will hold water longer since they are deeper.

When is the best time to attack those littler biters, IN THE WATER, of course? Captive audience, when they’re flying it’s to late.

So what do you do?

  1. No freestanding water on you’re property, if it’s stagnant it can cause issue.
  2. If you are in charge of a HOA, check water grates and storm drains. Things can be done to prevent mosquitoes from using those.
  3. I’ve seen them in beer bottles along a roadside, so get rid of trash and no tires.
  4. Mosquitoes cause disease from Malaria to Equine encephalitis.
  5. Repair or replace window screens.
  6. Keep doors shut and repair door sweeps and door seals.
  7. Even gutters can hold a small amount of water, I know what’s a gutter in AZ. But I have seen some, so make sure they are free and clear.

Human Health

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Human Health

Human health should concern us all, have you ever considered how far we have come? From throwing waste into the streets where everybody walks through it, to kids playing in the streets.

West Nile Virus can be deadly, Arizona has among the highest incidents of this mosquito-transmitted virus. In 2017, 109 confirmed cases resulted in 8 deaths. A University-County (Phoenix metro area) collaboration (supported by CDC) prompted control of 8 mosquito populations carry the virus, reducing disease risk. Published Arizona Pest Management Center.

Human Health

I consider myself at the front lines of Public Health and Human Health. I also work closely with Arizona Pest Management Center on IPM.

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

Bug-Man

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The Bug -Man

Bug-Man strikes – My office staff has really stepped up this year, we incorporated a sign into our welcoming of our Post Office clients. We tell them the weather forecast and often underping the pest world into the mix. We even mention it in our message on our service slips.

“Bugs aren’t going to inherit the earth, they already own it”. Since the dawn of time, by the way I wasn’t there bugs have been gunning for us. We invaded their territory, we made caves our domain and then we build houses where they lived first. So technically they were here first but God gave us dominion over all creatures. In some cases people have to decided to just grin and bear it, but bugs can make it tough. I remember a campout once where the mosquitoes just wouldn’t leave me alone. By the way it is tough trying to breath when your all locked away in a sleeping bag. Have you witnessed those shows where the flies or gnats are a real pests especially for animals?

 

bug-man

Pandemic – How close are we?

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Pandemic

Just what exactly is a Pandemic, according to Wikipedia – an epidemic of infectious disease that has spread through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. One of the most devastating pandemics was the Black Death, killing over 75 million people in 1350 caused by fleas carried by rats or gerbils (new information). Mosquitoes continue to kill over 1 million people each year and have killed more people than anything else.

pandemic

pandemic

I don’t want to be the doomsayer, but the World is a scary place these days. Maybe more scary than the days of duck and cover which I don’t think I ever did in school. We did have Fallout Shelters in our school and I recall them being stocked with food and water. I also need to stop watching those shows on TV like “How the World will End”. What scares me the most is the ability of some to get their hands on weapons, like the IED in Manchester? Is it possible to acquire something and infect mosquitoes and to then transmit it to humans. As Rodney King said “Can’t we all get along”? I’m trying hard to not get political and in this day when people don’t just have ideas but are willing to fight in an instant instead of debating the virtues of their opinion.

Are we the smartest?

We are the smartest on this planet and yet often times the most opinionated and less likely to concede that our thoughts could be wrong. How will it end? I don’t know but anything could spark that moment – a trigger on the bomb, someone with a pandemic and the ability to spread it or as

Abraham Lincoln said “…At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

The Doomsday Clock is set to – two and a half minutes to midnight, the Clock is ticking, global danger looms.

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