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How do you know the problem is huge – when the cockroaches are everywhere?

The very minute you walk into the home, you know there are issues. How does the bug guy know? Let me share my observations:

The cockroaches are in the door hinges or above the entry door into the home.
The cockroaches are in the bedrooms.
The cockroaches are in the living or dining rooms.
The home has a distinct odor. Once you have been in a home with a severe cockroach problem you never forget that smell. The same applies to Bed Bugs and sometimes rats or rodents.

Did you know that a smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people’s moods and even affect their work performance. Maybe walking into a house where someone is baking cookies and you instantly recall your Grandmother in the kitchen or if your a pest operator walking into a place where the roaches far outnumber any other living things. Gives you the heebie jeebies right?

Tell me your instant recall of a smell you have encountered, maybe I’ll share a few more.

What do you want to know by ProBest Pest Management!

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DrBugKVBdidyouknow1

No two spider webs are the same.

Only three kinds of animals fight battles in formations: humans, crows and ants.

Ticks are second only to the mosquito as the most dangerous parasites to humans.

A group of Cockroaches are called a Intrusion, I’d say!!!!

I’m sure you know this but probably never thought about it – Animals that lay eggs don’t have belly buttons.

Cockroaches: An Asthmatic’s Worst Enemy.

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Cockroach. Just the word is enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine, and it’s no mystery why. Besides being unpleasant to look at, these creepy critters readily transmit disease, produce offensive odors, and trigger severe allergic reactions. Plus, they’re everywhere – according to the National Institutes of Health, detectable levels of cockroach allergens can be found in at least one location in 63% of all US homes.

For asthma sufferers, this is especially problematic – exposure to the insects can aggravate symptoms, trigger asthma attacks, and make life miserable. The link between cockroaches and asthma has been extensively studied, and experts agree that they pose a significant risk. Cockroach allergens are found in the feces, saliva, shells and shed body parts of the insects. It may sound strange, but dead roaches pose a greater risk than living ones! That’s because all of the aforementioned toxins readily diffuse into the air, and into your lungs – even if you’re not spotting the bugs on a daily basis, you still might be exposing yourself to the allergic culprits without knowing it.

Unfortunately (and ironically), the chemicals used to eradicate roaches can exacerbate asthma just as much as the pests themselves. Luckily, there are plenty of steps you can take to make your home a roach-proof, less-triggering place – without all the nasty chemicals. Read on to learn about how to kick the creepers to the curb for good, and get relief from the asthmatic complications they cause.

1. Don’t Let Them Get a Free Meal – Cockroaches will eat anything – crumbs from last night’s pot pie, stale dog food, and even the glue from book bindings! Obviously, you shouldn’t burn all your books, but you should restrict their access to food. Keep your kitchen clean – clean up crumbs and spills, make sure food is kept in tightly-sealed bags or containers, don’t leave pet chow in Fido’s bowl overnight, and take out the trash regularly.

2. Keep it Sealed – If there’s food and moisture in your abode, chances are that roaches will want in – but if you don’t provide any entrances, they’ll be out of luck. Carefully examine your home for cracks in the walls, ceilings, and floors; the openings around pipes are also common entryways. Close up any crevasses with a caulking gun, and make sure to fix leaky pipes or faucets – cockroaches are attracted to water.

3. Get Rid of the Grease – Grease and grime are irresistible to cockroaches, and the longer you go without cleaning your counter-tops, drains, ovens, and vents, the greater the risk of unwelcome visitors. Don’t give in to the temptation of leaving your dirty dishes to sit in the sink overnight, and clean vents, counter-tops, and drains often.

4. Vacuum. It’s not so much the roaches themselves that causes problems for asthmatics – it’s the microscopic particles they leave behind. Once you’ve made strides in roach-proofing your home, it’s important to tackle the debris. Vacuum your floors frequently, wipe down furniture with a wet washcloth, and consider investing in an air purifier to improve air circulation.

5. If all else fails, call a professional. Tackling a roach infestation takes a massive amount of time and energy, and it may be weeks or even months before your condition starts to improve. If you’re still having problems, reach out to a pest control company – but do some background research beforehand to see if they may offer low-toxicity, environmentally-friendly treatment methods. Do NOT try and take matters into your own hands with harmful chemicals – they will only make symptoms worse!

Cockroaches have been creeping around longer than mankind’s entire existence – hundreds of millions of years longer, to be exact – but that longevity need not translate into misery. By taking preventative measures against these meddlesome insects, you can protect yourself and your loved ones from asthma attacks and other pulmonary troubles.

Zoe Camp is an avid home sealing for http://www.justnebulizers.com and a student at Columbia University who spends her time researching and writing about health care, specifically pulmonary health issues. She hates cockroaches as much as you do.

Photo courtesy Univar

Who cares about bugs and rodents?

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Who cares about bugs and rodents?

Each and every day I’m reminded of the valuable service ProBest Pest Management offers, why you ask? Let me share some of my most memorable days of Public Health:

Customer called me because they couldn’t even get into their home because the fleas were so plentiful.
In all my 20+ years I had never seen Bed Bugs until 2009, that year we received our first call. In 2012 I witnessed over 1000 Bed Bugs in a very small home – I was amazed and also creeped out and itched all day. We were able to alleviate the problem but it stills worries me that people will put up with something like this until it virtually becomes a real BIG problem.
A young woman continued to call about Ticks, we treated her yard but she wouldn’t let us inspect her home. We did find ticks inside under a couch and solved the problem after finally finding the source.
I may have mentioned this before but a mobile home with at the every least 5 million cockroaches. I’m not kidding, I felt almost hopeless for this family. It took some time but I think we did a good job for them.
I once had the task of doing some Drywood Termite work in a church, the tower or steeple had more pigeon feces than I had ever seen. It was probably 10 foot deep and went down walls and was just gross, we fumigated the building and they had someone remove the feces and prevent them from gaining entry anymore.
Sometimes architecture often allows entry points into a structure, stucco not properly sealed or pipes or cable opening not sealed. I once particpated with a fumigation for cockroaches and never thought about rodents until the job was completed. Many, many dead rodents, by the way do you know that rodents love cockroaches?

Well anyway you get the picture, Public Health equals quality pest control.

How often do you check your A/C filters?

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How often do you check your A/C filters?

I think most replacement filters suggest every 60 days, but I think a more appropriate answer is when they are dirty. The rest of the answer is how many contaminates are involved with your home? Do you have pets, do you live in an area where they have smog days and how many people live in your home? What about allergies, do you or someone living in your home have allergies? If you answered yes, then you should consider special filters that collect more contaminates. Dust mites, German Cockroaches and other pests can increase asthma conditions and should be prevented.

Time for a change?

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Is it time for a change with your Pest Control company, do they answer calls promptly and do they provide exceptional customer service? If they don’t I think it is time for a change. What should they provide you for pest control?

Well they should be able to get rid of the bugs. A few years back I just happened to be at a house for a termite inspection refinance and we got talking about bugs. She complained about American Cockroaches getting into the kitchen, as I did my inspection I brought along my bellows duster and just started dusting wall voids and the block wall voids. Surprise – the roaches came out in droves, they were everywhere. I took that account away from another pest company that day, just because I paid attention to her complaint.
Are they members of their local, state and national pest management association. Arizona Professional Pest Organization (AZPPO), National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and are they QualityPro?
Does your Pest Company listen to you, do they answer your calls promptly and do they return calls promptly?
It’s the year of Social Media, do they have reviews from customers just like yourself?

The scourge of kitchens and restaurants.

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The scourge of kitchens and restaurants. The German Cockroach

What can you do to keep them out of your kitchen?

German Roaches love to hang out with their tops and bottoms of their body touching, so a cardboard box is a great place for a roach. So if you bring home boxes, take them apart and throw them out. Store the contents in Tupperware type containers.
These roaches don’t live outside, so if you caught something trying to get in – it’s not a German Roach.
Sanitation is important, I often find (I’m guilty of this as well) that you need to clean the sides of whatever is next to the stove. Grease splatters and a single roach can make dinner of a grease spot for a long period of time. These roaches will eat enything.
See that thing attached to the right hand roach, that is an egg-case and it contains 30 eggs and potentially 30 brand new roaches.
Don’t use a bug bomb, it will drive them deeper and make it all the more difficult to get rid of them.
These bugs carry and transmit diseases and germs so it is extremely important to stop them in their tracks.
If you find one, figure out where you think it came from and maybe it is time to call a Pest Management Professional.

What do you suppose cockroaches will eat?

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What do you suppose cockroaches will eat?

Well I would imagine almost anything! They will eat wallpaper paste, sweets, starch, glue, leather, hair, dog or cat food, grease and oils, soap – well you get the picture almost anything. They are not as picky as Bed Bugs who only live on blood! It is important to understand what they eat because if you are putting a gel bait out and they have enough food they may never get to the gel. I have on many occasions had to inform a homeowner that they must clean the refrigerator because there was grease running down the sides and it was competing with my program.

German Roaches (BugInfo.com) are the ones to watch for, here are a few tips to keeping them out!

Open food boxes after shopping and discard the box, roaches love to hide in between cardboard.
Sanitation is the key, isn’t there a saying “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”.
If you spot one roach, find it and see if there are others.
Handle the situation immediatley or call a Pest Management Professional

How the bugs get in? Part 2

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How the bugs get in? Part 2

This is one of those issues that most people don’t think about – at all. Let’s say you are a snowbird, or you have a spare bathroom that you hardly ever use except when company drops by? Do you ever consider the bathtub drain or the sink drain? Do you know what a P-trap or a S-trap is and what function it serves?

This device allows water to form and become somewhat of a seal against gases and other notorious stuff including bugs from coming up the drain pipes. So if you never check that bathroom or the drain, the water evaporates and allows those noxious fumes and sometimes bugs the opportunity to enter your home of business. I even recommend adding a little mineral oil to the drain, as this will protect the water from evaporating as fast – I understand that this will not harm the water treatment system. This also may prevent those bugs from swimming through the water and by getting it on their skin and possible stopping them from breathing.

See the American roaches – they are commonly called sewer roaches because they hide in sewer pipes and systems.

A Picture is worth a “Thousand Words”

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A Picture is worth a “Thousand Words”

I love this picture, this crack is about as thick as a credit card and this German Cockroach was making it’s way into it, without much difficulty. German Roaches love to have their top and bottoms of their bodies touching an object, it affords them comfort in knowing that they are out of sight and hidden. This is called Thigmotropic – The turning or bending response of an organism upon direct contact with a solid surface or object.

This isn’t the greatest picture but roaches and bugs are able to hide in the smallest of harborages, just think about the ability of Bed Bugs to hide behind baseboards and in dressers or just about any area in which they can flatten out and hide. Remember pests have adapted to us and have done so in remarkable a fashion, they can hide so well that it takes a true Professional to track them down.