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FAQ:
Pest Control Methods 101
By: Robert (Bob) Batman
1.
WHAT DO I KNEED TO KNOW TO BETTER UNDERSTAND PEST CONTROL METHODS?
Before
discussing the various pest control methods, some groundwork is necessary
for better understanding regarding this topic. This document contains
some detail: details necessary to properly answer the questions. If you
want to disregard question 1, and go directly to question 2 below: a listing
of the various control methods is contained in the answer of question
2.
Different
situations may require different solutions, and some solutions to certain
situations may be different depending on location (rural or urban). A
ranch house sitting in the middle of a forty-four thousand (44,000) acre
spread does not pose the pest control limitations and restrictions of
a single unit residence within a multiplex containing 200 single unit
residences, each individually owned, and located in an urban environment.
Just
because he wrote a textbook doesn't mean he knows anything! How many times
have I heard someone say, "with carpenter ants, you have to find the nest."
No
body can argue against finding and destroying the ant nest, however, other
considerations may overrule this option. Finding the nest is not always
possible, nor in some situations, is it economically feasible. What if
the customer doesn't want to spend the money for the search! What about
options other than seeking and hoping to find the nest? What if the ant
nest is on property owned by an uncooperative someone other than your
customer? What if you can't find the nest? How long can you afford to
look for the nest, if the customer is unwilling to pay a reasonable price
for that type of service? What if the ants are in an area of a building
where pesticide use is restricted? What if the ants are in a building
which has "no entry-restricted access areas," and they won't authorize
you entry? There
are alternative pest control methods and treatment techniques, and a good
pest control service technician knows them all. Look at the following
paragraph and picture a really bad carpenter ant problem in each of the
listed examples. Do you really think each situation requires the same
solution?
In
our area of operation we have a wide variety of living, working and recreational
environments. The range is staggering: from large ranches and farms in
the surrounding rural areas to high-rise multi-unit residential complexes
and a variety of institutional, industrial and commercial buildings within
a large metropolis. We have houses with no more than a few feet between
them. We have customers requesting service within and around a variety
of locations including the following: apartments, individually owned units
within multi-unit residential complexes, throughout multi-unit complexes,
houses, food processing facilities, professional sports stadiums, convention
centers, restaurants, casinos, bars, wineries, breweries, museums, art
galleries (containing priceless treasures), theaters, churches, warehouses,
offices, manufacturing facilities, powerplants, various media facilities,
airports, airbases and other military installations, shopping malls and
various retail sales facilities, city market areas, plant shops, pet shops,
hospitals and medical facilities, research facilities, nursing homes,
schools, libraries, child care facilities, horse barns, poultry houses,
various farming and ranching operational areas and facilities, shooting
ranges, picnic facilities and road side parks, golf courses, jails, other
places I'd better not mention here, and within commercial vehicles including
taxis, buses, over-the- road trailers, railroad cars, boats, and aircraft.
As you can see, there are numerous situations: some requiring specific
as well as various control methods and techniques, and a good professional
pest control service technician must know them all and which best applies
to the pest problem(s) at hand.
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YOUR
MISSION, IF YOU DECIDE TO EXCEPT IT, IS TO RID AN APARTMENT BUILDING OF
AN ANT PROBLEM: A luxury high-rise multi-unit residential building has
48 single family, individually owned units. Several tenants are complaining
about ants, lots of ants! The ants have been observed, by a specially
appointed tenant Studies and Observation Group (SOG), carrying food substances
out of the building and they (SOG) report the enemy trails going into
the adjacent high-rise building. The owner of the other building does
not want any pest control service nor will he authorize any pesticide
use on his property. The situation is now critical! Building security
is at stake: the tenants are threatening to move! If you employ the wrong
methods, wrong techniques, and/or wrong pesticides, you will cause the
problem to magnify and a tenant REVOLUTION is feared. If you except this
assignment, your action may prevent REVOLUTION: may the force be with
you. THIS DOCUMENT WILL SELF DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS.
2.
WHAT ARE THE VARIOUS PEST CONTROL METHODS?
Many
people think only of PESTICIDES at the mention of pest control. Surprise!
Surprise! There are, basically, two categories of pest control methods:
1) Natural Forces and, 2) Applied Methods.
Natural
Forces are those which are not the result of human application. The naturally
occurring forces can either hinder or aid in the development and/or control
of pests. Those which are considered an aid in control of a pest are referred
to as Natural Pest Control Forces, and they include the following: 1)
Climate affects pests and the things they depend on for survival(wind,
drought, rain, flooding, snow, ice, temperature fluctuation or cold or
hot, and humidity). 2) Fire. 3) Topography (mountain ranges, water bodies,
and soil types). 4) Food and water supplies. Some areas simply do not
have the necessary food (animal or plant) and/or water availability. 5)
Natural enemies (various organisms including vertebrate and invertebrate
predators of pests and various disease organisms).
Applied
Methods are pest control aids initiated by humans. These are methods which
aid in the control of pests. 1) Legal Controls: Some of these result from
government regulation such as quarantines (certain items entering the
country must clear a quarantine warehouse before being distributed) or
search and seizure (the state of Arizona has check points and they will
take certain things away from you before allowing you to enter their state:
among other things, they don't want your bugs in their state). Industry
and the general public have adopted a form of this type control aid: Certain
warehouses will separate incoming shipments (quarantine them to a predesignated
area where they can be safely held, watched, and in the event of pests,
returned to shipper or treated for said pest). People who buy antiques,
used articles, firewood, or certain other items should consider these
methods. 2) Host resistance (certain varieties of wood, field crops, and
household plants are more resistant to pest animals and disease). 3) Biological
control aids: the physical introduction of naturally occurring enemies
(disease agents, parasites, and predators) into an environment. 4) Cultural
control aids: these are considered agriculture aids such as plowing-weeding,
rotation of crops and/or pastures, altering planting times, planting certain
trap or repelling crops, altering harvest times (night harvest of grapes
aid in sugar retention and there are less bugs). 5) Mechanical controls
include various devices, mechanical or other, such as screens on windows
and doors, various barriers (doors, fences, etc.), radiation, heat, refrigeration,
lights, electrical contraptions, air shaft fans, firearms, fly swatters,
and others. 6) Sanitation: keep it clean! Tattoo artists, vets and doctors
should sanitize their equipment to prevent disease. Wash that dog! Clean
that floor! Wash your hands, and if you stomp on grapes to make wine,
wash your feet first! Remove those grocery sacks from between the refrigerator
and counter! Throw away old products made from grain that have been sitting
in you cabinets and pantries! Use pest-free soils for house plants! Keep
an eye on that old dried flower arrangement! 7) Pesticide control aids:
The use of pesticides to aid in the control of pests. Some people call
this Chemical Method. Actually, the word chemical is defined as that having
to do with the Science and Study of Chemistry. Everything of mass (no
matter how big or small) in the world is chemical. Therefore, I think
the word pesticide best describes this method because it deals solely
with the use of pesticides. Pesticides are, in a sense, economic poisons
and, in another sense, they're chemical tools, but they are still pesticides.'
Pesticides can be natural or synthetic, or any substance or mixture of
substances combined as dry formulations or liquid formulations which are
designed (engineered) to kill, repel, or regulate pests.FAQ
Pesticides 101
In
many situations, pesticide application is the fastest, most economical
control aid available: the best solution to the problem!
TAKE
NOTE: Pesticides must, by law, be used in accordance with the products
label and labeling instructions and, in some states, state administrative
regulations also set forth certain use requirements that are not on the
product label: these must be followed too. This requirement extends to
everyone, professional and non- professional alike.
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3.
WHEN ARE FIREARMS USED FOR PEST CONTROL?
Firearms
are used in some rural areas of our country because they are, in some
cases, the only economically feasible choice for certain pest situations.
Firearms should not be used for pest control in any residential area,
and only people who are properly trained should handle firearms. In some
rural areas, however, situations are such that firearms can be safely
used by properly trained people.
TRUE
STORY TIME: Mr. Coyote had been snatching chickens at a rancher's chicken
coop. She shot the critter: end of problem. How would you handle this
type of pest problem, if you were the rancher?
Brief
Analysis Of Control Options: The coyote killer could have: 1) tried trapping
the sneaky beast (mechanical), but would have probably caught something
other than the coyote, 2) installed appropriate and expensive fencing
around the chicken coops(mechanical), 3) she could have bought a really
big dog with a bad attitude (biological). Her old dog isn't up to such
challenges: he sleeps most of the time. 4) She could have risked, Repeat
Risked, poison bait placements (pesticide) or, 5) she could have tried
to shot the critter (mechanical): it's legal in the rural area where her
ranch is located.
Brief
Eye Witness Account: The lady rancher is a marksman of some local renown.
As a matter of fact, she shot the coyote through the heart at approximately
200 yards using a 22-250 caliber rifle with a 3X-9X variable scope attached
to a flip-over mount. I'm an eye witness: I saw her do it! The coyote
stopped adjacent a pond embankment to look back, she (the rancher) had
whistled loudly to get it's attention; one shot, one kill. She didn't
employ IPM, but her do-it-yourself control method of choice was fast,
inexpensive, very effective, and appropriate, in my opinion, for the location
and situation. The story isn't over! She hopped in her old, fenders of
many colors, rusty beyond belief 4X4 truck, drove out and retrieved the
dead coyote and his snatch (the chicken). Upon return, she announced she
was having the chicken for dinner.
Caution
and Notice: only
properly trained people should handle firearms. Keep firearms locked-up,
out of the reach children. Firearms should not be used for pest control,
unless such practice is legal, the situation and environment appropriate
for such an option, and the firearm is being used by a properly trained
individual.
4.
WILL THE PEST CONTROL COMPANY (PCO) TELL ME HOW TO PROPERLY PREPARE FOR
THE PEST CONTROL METHOD(S) THEY PLAN TO USE?
They
should. If they don't, you should ask when you first contact the PCO.
Proper preparation by the property owner, or his tenant, is vital with
respect to successful control of certain pest problems!
5.
AFTER A PROFESSIONAL COMES TO MY HOUSE TO PERFORM PESTICIDE CONTROL METHODS,
I STILL SEE BUGS! DOES THIS MEAN THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN DIDN'T DO A GOOD
JOB?
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One technician cannot evaluate the work of another technician unless s/he is present at the time the service was performed. However, you should be aware of the following facts:
The
success of a pesticide application is limited by the following: 1) Obstructions,
existing conditions or situations which prevent placement of pesticides
where they need to be placed and obstructions preventing use of other
appropriate control measures, 2) A customer who, for whatever reason,
does not authorize the extent and/or frequency of service needed for the
existing pest situation, 3) Adverse climatic conditions if an exterior
application, soil texture and condition, if a soil application, 4) Type
of pest(s), 5) Conducive conditions, 6) Limitations and capabilities
of the pesticide used, and; 7) The knowledge, skill, and competency of the service technician.
Professional
pest control service is not "magic."
Insects and insect-like pests and most small rodents can get into any building.
They can access areas (inner-wall areas, inaccessible voids between floors,
voids behind exterior siding and/or paneling, and many other inaccessible
areas) which the service technician cannot access without causing damage,
therefore, more than one service trip may be necessary before the pest
problem is resolved or reduced to acceptable levels.
Sometimes,
following a pesticide application, the property owner or tenant may see
a temporary increase in pest activity. This may be good, as opposed to
bad, depending on the pest and the pesticide used. Many of these pests
will soon die! Liquid residual pesticides are designed to work after the
carrier dries. The pest contacts a treated area, obtains a lethal dose,
but does not die for several days or weeks: this pesticide is working,
doing the job as intended. Some pests, like silverfish, have members among
them that never contact a pesticide treated surface or come upon an area
where baits have been placed. They may wander out onto an untreated surface
for a while only to return to the untreated inner wall area, where they
breed and lay more eggs. This situation is common and does not mean the
pesticide application is not working or that the service technician didn't
do a good job: s/he's not allowed to spray and/or place pesticides everywhere
nor will s/he knock holes in your walls and ceilings to access the otherwise
inaccessible areas.
You
should have some degree of faith in the knowledge and ability (expertise)
of the company you hire to provide your pest control service. Most of the
service technicians in our industry are not formally educated (college
or university degrees in entomology, biology, agricultural sciences, or
other pest control related disciplines), but this does not mean they are
not properly trained to do their job. I've trained a great number of pest
control service technicians over the years including all of my company's
technicians. Our technicians undergo extensive initial training and testing
and a continual education (training and testing) program. One of the best pest
control service technicians I know, and I've known hundreds of pest control
technicians, didn't even graduate high school. The fact that he had to
go to work to help support his family at an early age doesn't mean he
had a lower than average I.Q.
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6.
HOW DO I KNOW IF THE PROFESSIONAL TECHNICIAN IS USING THE BEST PEST CONTROL
METHOD FOR MY PEST PROBLEM?
You
have to have some degree of faith in the judgement and knowledge of your
professional service technician. Cost is sometimes a controlling factor:
some methods are very expensive and may not be appropriate or practical
(due to the cost) for the situation. And, frankly, sometimes pesticide
use is the most economically feasible method and the one which offers
the fastest potential remedy. When your service technician recommends
additional control measures (removing debris, taking pets to the vet for
pest treatment, correcting water problems, patching holes, or repairs
and/or maintenance) s/he is usually recommending services which are not
provided by his/her company. The service tech is simply pointing out what,
in addition to the service s/he is providing, should be done to aid in
the control of the pest problem.
7.
ARE THERE ANY PREVENTATIVE METHODS WHICH WILL HELP PREVENT PESTS FROM
GETTING INTO MY HOUSE?
Yes.
Quarterly exterior perimeter treatments using power spraying equipment
(tank truck application) is very beneficial. Property owners should remove
or correct conducive conditions (water/moisture problems, interior and
exterior accumulations of debris, weeds and brush, storage on floor or
ground, areas of wood rot, wood-to-soil contact areas, known breeding
and harborage areas) and perform appropriate maintenance and up-keep including,
but not limited to:
- repair
of wood rot areas and other areas of structural deterioration
- removal
of vegetation which contacts the house
- elevation
of interior and exterior storage at least 8 inches above the floor/ground
- keep
storage items at least three feet away from interior and exterior foundation
walls leaving room for inspection and performing any necessary control
measures
-
check out things for bugs and rodents before you bring them inside
- practice
good sanitation: keep everything clean
- keep
shrubs and weeds trimmed away from the building
- inspect
for and repair any accesses a pest can use to gain entry into the structure
including, but not limited to, cracks in foundations walls and concrete
flooring, areas around windows, exterior doorways, exterior siding areas
that are not properly sealed
- correcting
existing roofing problems will also help the cause
- simply
keeping doors (including overhead garage doors) and windows shut is
a big self help
-
paint exterior wood areas when needed. These are control measures property
owners can perform or have performed by qualified people which will
aid in preventing pest problems.
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8.
WHAT CAN I DO TO PREVENT BRINGING PEST PROBLEMS INTO MY HOUSE?
There's
bad news and good news. Bad News: Actually, certain pests can get into
any building regardless of what you do. Good News: A regularly scheduled
(monthly or quarterly) professional pest control service program will
help control those pests that get in. Do not shop at any grocery stores
which have pest problems: if the store management is too cheap to pay
for adequate pest control services, shop somewhere that isn't. Discard
paper grocery bags and cardboard boxes instead of saving them. Practice
good sanitation: keep everything clean. Don't place storage directly onto
the floor: off floor storage is better. Don't purchase grain-base products
on sale and keep grain-base products refrigerated. If you've been out
working in the yard, camping or hiking or fishing or etc., shake-out all
clothing before taking it inside your house and wash it as soon as possible.
If you have a dog or cat, hire a professional pest control company to
treat your yard at appropriate times for flea prevention. Don't store
firewood inside. Keep the chimney flue shut, unless you have a fire in
the fireplace. Keep doors and windows shut: use either the A/C or furnace/fireplace.
If you open windows for fresh air, you could also get a fresh supply of
pests: some are small enough to come through the window screens.
9.
WHAT IS INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT (IPM)?
Integrated
pest management is the combination of more than one pest control method
in attempting to remedy a pest problem. Example: Employing mechanical
controls and pesticide controls, both. It could be as simple as pesticide
application (pesticide method) to a pest nesting site and stomping on
the bugs (mechanical)as they try to run away.
Although
the acronym IPM may have recent (within the last 20 years) origin, the
concept and practice of integrated pest management is certainly not something
new. In about the year 1,000 B.C. there was a Greek poet by the name of
Homer. Homer wrote the burning of sulfur (symbol S. atomic number 16;
atomic weight 32.064) was commonly employed as a fumigant to rid living
quarters of bugs. This is the earliest known writing reporting the use
of pesticides. A highly placed and respected source informs me that the
Greeks, in the time of Homer, also employed a lot of swatting and stomping
(mechanical method) in the year 1,000 B.C. Therefore, the combination
of the pesticide method and mechanical methods (integrated pest management)
dates by to at least the time of Homer. Metcalf and Flint refer to Integrated
Controls and Selective Application of Pesticides in their textbook, Destructive
and Useful Insects (Revised 4th Edition: 1962). Want to know more about
Pesticides? FAQ Pesticides 101
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