Snow Bugs

We got an early snow storm this year int he Northeast and it got me thinking about snow bugs. Is there such a thing? I looked around and it looks as if there is a snow flea that you can see hopping about on melting snow. These "snow bugs" are not really true flea, but a member of the spring tail family. Although I have never been called out in the past to exterminate snow fleas, I thought it would be interested to see if there were any bugs out there that might cause an Eskimo to pick up the phone.

Are Roaches Coming From My Neighbor's House?

Are the roaches I am seeing possibly coming from my neighbor's house? This is a question you hear often, and the answer is yes, it is possible. Roach problems like this between neighbors often happen more in row home or apartment and condo situations. With the close proximity of a row home and sometimes with the common joist set up, or in the case of apartments where pipes and wires are all common, it is the perfect highway set up for roaches to travel back and forth.
If you are faced with this problem it is best to team up with your neighbor, swallow your pride, and set up pest control services for all the homes affected.
Once thing you don't want to do is set off "bug foggers" in your home. This will only spread roaches back and forth for sure.

Bed Bugs-Fastest Way To Kill Them.

If you are unlucky enough to have bed bugs, lucky enough to live in a single home, and wealthy enough to afford it, then fumigation is the fasted way to kill bed bugs 100 percent!
You can always fumigate the contents of your home if you live in a row home or apartment complex, but you still need to deal with the bugs that are embedded in home itself. tenting the entire home and having a bed bug expert pump gas into that tent, now you are talking.

The next best technique out there is heat treatments or thermal remediation for bed bugs. This is where a bed bug control company will come in and heat up your home, apartment, or dorm to about 130 degrees for hours and hours.

Then there are all the others. Chemicals, traps, monitors, mechanical means, are all options for the control of bed bugs. Did I just say control? Not elimination? Yes I did and unless you find a thorough pest control technician to do the proper job with the proper follow ups, then you will only get control at best. Chemical treatments are tough because of bed bug resistance and the fact that the bugs can be living in just about any crack or crevice, any pants pocket, and match book, any school bag, any hollow curtain rod, any screw head, any where.

So one two three would follow the above recommendations for the fastest way to kill bed bugs.

Repel mice and rats

Want to repel mice and rats? Stop them from running along pipes, duct work or other runways? Well now there is a new product out by a company called Bird Barrier of all people. It is called Rat Out Gel. This product comes in a tube of caulk and smells like Sunday dinner. A strong garlic smell comes with the rodent repellent, so a little goes a lot. This product is yet to have field results from what I hear. I sat in on a seminar given by one of their sales reps and it sounds like it can be used in an integrated program. Something to consider.

College and Bed Bugs Visit Home

In the old days when it was time to go home for Thanksgiving you'd toss some cloths in a bag and off you'd go. Maybe you were that student who saved all the dirty cloths for mom to wash at home and came back with bags and bags of cloths.
These days things are different. Bed bugs are out there. You have to think and act differently. If you want to limit the risk of bringing bed bugs home with you on a visit you have to limit what you bring home. Try to make things fit in one bag. A large duffel bag is the best. Take that bag and all the cloths you are taking home and throw them all in a large laundry mat style dryer on high heat for about 45 minutes. Be sure to put a pair of sneakers in as well. Bed Bugs love to hid in sneakers. Once this is done then you have a better chance of not bringing any bed bugs home. This is about the only way to hopefully not infest your mom and dad's house in these days and times.

Slow Big Flies

This is the time of year moving forward that you start to notice a fly that is big and slow. These flies are so slow you can almost go up and pick them off the wall. These flies are called cluster flies. They linger on the sunny side of your home or building and when the weather gets cold they find whatever crack or crevice they can find and come inside.
So what do you do when they are inside. These ugly flies are best controlled with a vacuum hose. This is more environmentally friendly than sprays.

Simple Bed Bug Monitor

College can be exciting and fun, but it can also be an opportunity to get bed bugs. Holiday breaks like Thanksgiving and Christmas when college students return home can be a time when these bed bugs can transport home with you and infest your mom and dad's home. So how can you tell if you have bed bugs in your dorm or apartment complex?

One simple and cheap monitor to use is a called a Climb Up Interceptor. It looks like a cup that you place under your bed legs and furniture legs. Bed Bugs will gravitate towards your bed and get trapped in the cups. If you are unfortunate enough to see bed bugs trapped in these traps, then you know for sure you have a problem. Bring this problem to the attention of your school and let your parents know. The next post will deal with how to travel to a fro without exposing others to bed bugs.