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House rodents in the toilet a myth?

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House Rodents – Rats and Mice?

House rodents are an issue. How are they getting in? During my my almost 25 years of servicing homes, I have only on one occasion found 1 rat in a toilet. But a guy in England has invented a flapper device to help keep them out. “MultiFlap helps special needs teacher left terrified by rat in her toilet”

To be honest I’m not exactly sure how it got there, 2nd story shared bathroom. That would have been one big climb, to get to a toilet 20 feet up but I suppose anything is possible. Here is the link to that device http://www.multiflap.com – I think this one is to fit US toilets is MultiFlap 2 (MF-2) and nobody needs to be half asleep and find something in the toilet in the dark. What a way to be jolted from asleep to fully awake in a matter of seconds.

House Rodents Rats Photo provided by Univar

The biggest issue with me is that once in and you have a issue with urine and feces being left everywhere. Rats and mice continue to urinate while running and often the first signs of rodents are their feces. It’s bad enough with flies and that whole regurgitation thing, but rodents will walk over and then walk over your stuff. So whatever they just walked over is going to pass to your food. Often times it isn’t the bug/pest that is the cause but what they do may cause the trigger to a bigger issue. Rats can carry diseases on their fur/hair and transmit that to us, so side on the side of caution. Always the safe bet, keep the pests out. They have a place and that is outside.

Door sweeps and guards.

Keep window screens in place.

Fix any holes.

If you can’t fix an issue call ProBest Pest Management and we can evaluate and come up with a plan. 602-249-7378

You know theres trouble when ….

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This story caught my attention because of the following – “The reports states the inspection was not completed because the “inspector was not feeling safe.” This story is out of Maryland and I was caught off guard when the inspector said he didn’t feel safe because he heard crying noises from a storage area.

I think all restaurants need to have pest control, I check bathrooms before I eat any out at any establishment. If the bathrooms are clean generally speaking so is the kitchen and prep areas. From my point of view we always get that call when it’s an emergency and it has gotten to the point of State Inspections. Now don’t get me wrong there are numerous great restaurants that understand the word -clean. But if you own a restaurant here are a few of my tips.

Cleaning is a daily job, if the employee’s are taught right from the very first day and held accountable it will help.
Set up specific duties on different days to accomplish goals. For example Monday – clean all deep fryers, Tuesday specifically clean under all stoves, pull out heavy items, Wednesday – use Biovade or grease eating scum products to prevent build up – making sure to keep drains full of water and clean, Thursday – clean pantry taking stock of all inventory and making sure to use first in first out premise and Friday – clean anything else specific to that restaurant and no taking off duties on weekends.
Post duties and make sure it gets done.
Management must be just as accountable as employee’s.
Don’t tolerate bad behavior.
Praise staff for cleaning excellence – especially if you pass inspections, I suggest a party after work or free food. If everyone buys in, the place will be clean and draw in more consumers.

Grease traps should be checked and evaluated monthly, along with drains and other areas of spillage.

Have you really ever thought about termites?

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According to the National Pest Management Association termites do about $5 billion in damage each and every year. Are they eating your home and do you know what to look for.

Subterranean termites enter by way of cracks or foundations here in Arizona. So if you notice soil/dirt/mud trails either outside on the foundation slab, or inside the garage or coming down from the ceilings it’s time to call a Pro.

The saga continues – with Bed Bugs of course

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I’m not trying to scare anyone but this Bed Bug thing continues, yes we are still getting calls weekly about these little biters. So really what is the answer, I just want to amke sure sure you are informed. Visit National Pest Management Association (NPMA) for all things bed bugs.

They are showing up at weird and unexpected places. Sometimes we become detectives in learning how and when they arrived at the place in question. This story out of Nebraska just goes to show where they may or may not pop in from “Claim denied for Bed Bug removal” the claimant believes his daughter picked them up from a 4-H camp.

Photo provided by PPMA

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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What is up with flies and dead things?

The life cycle of flies play an important role in the decomposition of dead bodies and in nature this is how dead animals etc are turned back into soil and nutrients.
It’s not just flies but beetles and other bugs help to turn flesh into soil nutrients.
Blow flies are most often associated with dead things.
Blow flies can find dead flesh within minutes.
A fly maggot mass can reduce the body weight of a dead animal by 50% in a few weeks.
The study of this is called Forensic Entomology and concerns the time and manner of death.

It’s not always about the Scorpions, how about visiting Arizona? Organ Pipe and Ft Huachuca

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Organ Pipe National Park and Ft Huachuca

First off these places are a distance to get to especially from Phoenix, so plan on spending some time out. Just a guess but it also is over a hundred miles apart.

To the local Native Americans, the land of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was an important cultural center. Hohokam trade routes bisect what is now the monument, and allowed for ease of movement through the Sonoran Desert as people looked to acquire resources and trade with neighboring cultures. To the O’Odham people, the fruits of saguaro and organ pipe cactus provided food during the hot Sonoran summer.

Here is a list of animals you might be lucky enough to see includes:

Mountain Lion,
Mule Deer,
White-tailed Deer,
Desert Bighorn,
Sonoran Pronghorn,
Javelina,
Lesser Long Nosed Bat,
Coyote,
Jackrabbit,
Kangaroo Rat,
Packrat,
Quitobaquito pupfish,
more bird species than can be listed and
several species of reptiles, including Rattlesnakes.

Fort Huachuca, constructed in 1877, was one of a chain of forts established to guard southern Arizona against the Chiricahua Apaches, led by Geronimo.

Hey baby I smell good – would you follow me?

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For many years researchers have used pheromones to lure insects into glue boards or catch devices. They are really isolating these chemicals that are found in the specific insects used for mating purposes. What the guys don’t know is that its a trap. “Female Asian Longhorned Beetles pheromone may be key to pest management” Caution sex pictures when you click that link… made you look.

The researchers found that when the proper ratio and amount of pheromone is produced by females and deposited on the surface where they walk, signaling that they are fertile, males come.

So some type of fungus, trap or glue-board could be used to kill males or females and this could possibly help to control certain beetles which damage trees. Science is producing some great and innovative ways to combat certain pests.

Truly an IPM fix to a problem.

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I love this story “Cats recruited to solve rodent problem at LAPD farm“, it really focuses on using all those tools available before we use pesticides. To refresh your memory “Whats all the fuss about pest control and IPM” – one of my favorite sites is “What is IPM”

So what is IPM?

IPM is an abbreviation for Integrated Pest Management.

Integrated Pest Management is a process involving common sense and sound solutions for treating and controlling pests. These solutions incorporate three basic steps: 1) inspection, 2) identification and 3) treatment. Treatment options vary from sealing cracks and removing food and water sources to pesticide treatments when necessary.

Customer cat by Candi

Local cat Muffin by Bonny

EndZone – Fly sticker

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A month or so ago, I mentioned this new product EndZone by FMC that really needed to be used by “Commercial Restaurants or Dairy Farms“. Recently at the Florida Pest & Lawn Care Expo, held Jan. 20-24, 2014, in Orlando it was voted “best new product“.

You know where I stand on flies, but this item really could be the saving grace for some businesses and farms. Just think of the flies this could get rid of and generations to come.

Bees are being used to fight poverty.

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An excellent article “Using bees to fight poverty“, appeared in the Christian Science Monitor by Cathryn J. Prince. I think this is a great way to produce extra food and maybe make some extra cash in places where cash or food is of great concern.

Some key items, they only go to places when asked and they help to teach people the trade or to increase honey production. Great job!

Photo by PPMA