pest control stories

Thumbnail image for The Ghost of Pest Control Owners Passed- Part 3

The Ghost of Pest Control Owners Passed- Part 3

As you are now standing alone, the dense fog thickens so that nothing is visible except the heavy droplets suspended in the air that surrounds you. Your mind is just as cloudy as you try to make sense of this strange and surreal odyssey. Should you feel sorry for these owners who should be on [...]

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Thumbnail image for In One Ear And Out The Other Part Too

In One Ear And Out The Other Part Too

Part of the pest control business is dealing with complaints. You can be the best tech in the world, have a golden tongue and still you are going to have bellyaching on the route. Bar none. So like any good tech I’ve learned to deal with such grumblings. One reliable technique is to not get [...]

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Thumbnail image for In One Ear & Out The Other: Part I

In One Ear & Out The Other: Part I

The legend of bugs (earwigs mainly) crawling in your ear and laying eggs in your brain is just that, a legend. But insects, including earwigs, finding their way into ones auditory orifice, or any opening of the body is something that does happen and can be quite traumatic. Perhaps not as rare is when a [...]

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Thumbnail image for What Customers Lost Treasure Have You Found?

What Customers Lost Treasure Have You Found?

In my job, it’s not everyday I get a BIG OL hug as the woman squeals with glee and kisses my cheek. Thankfully, it happens even less when it’s a guy. Recently I found the master keys to an entire apartment complex and the manager didn’t even know the set was missing. There’s no telling [...]

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Thumbnail image for Urticating Pest Control Accounts

Urticating Pest Control Accounts

Who would have thought that the mighty Tarantula would ever need any other defensive mechanism than it’s appearance just to protect itself? I mean besides the sheer size, these things have fangs that are clearly visible and not something I’d ever want to get close to. Add to that a full coat of hair and [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Unknown Comic Of Bee Work

The Unknown Comic Of Bee Work

I’m not sure why but early in my career I was the one always called out for the biggest, nastiest bee jobs. Maybe it was because I wasn’t afraid of heights or perhaps I was just too stupid to realize the danger involved. In those days protective gear consisted of coveralls and maybe a bandanna [...]

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Thumbnail image for A Pest Tech in Shining Armor

A Pest Tech in Shining Armor

Like a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock movie I pushed the door open ever so slowly with the only body part sticking out was my eye. The kitchen was clean and orderly with nothing out of place and no hairy beast pounced out of nowhere to confirm my worst fears. Tim was standing at the [...]

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Thumbnail image for Who Got Stuck With This Rat?

Who Got Stuck With This Rat?

Before the days of cell phones, computers and fancy sophisticated equipment the pest control industry seemed to get along just fine. Still, the trade marched on with every new innovation and some worked while others fell into obscurity. I must say, with just the advent of the simple beeper device our service did speed up [...]

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Thumbnail image for Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 2

Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 2

In an earlier article I wrote about the cold realities of the working world of pest control and two of the worst winters in my career. Actually I delivered #1 and only promised the 2nd. This is that story. Starting a new job is usually a good thing-fresh beginning, new start and a chance to [...]

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Thumbnail image for Ironies & Oddities And The Veterans Of Pest Control

Ironies & Oddities And The Veterans Of Pest Control

Do any job long enough and you’re bound to see some really off the wall things somewhere down the line. I’ve been doing pest control for 27 years and hardly a day goes by where I don’t do a double take at something that gets me scratching my head or just drops my jaw and [...]

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Thumbnail image for How Much Pest Control Do You Let Your Customers Do?

How Much Pest Control Do You Let Your Customers Do?

Recently on a trip to the Pacific Northwest I was reminded of a service that I thought had gone by the wayside and I just took for granted that it was now my lifelong task. I pulled into a gas station and before I could unbuckle my seat belt there was a man at my [...]

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Thumbnail image for Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 1

Two Winters Too Cold For a Jacket-Winter # 1

At one point in my career I came within a whisker of quitting pest control altogether. What started out as such an adventure and my ‘high calling’ had suddenly turned into this free fall of one bad experience after another. In the space of just about a year and a half I went from National [...]

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Thumbnail image for Undercover Pest Control Stings-Have You Ever Been Set Up?

Undercover Pest Control Stings-Have You Ever Been Set Up?

I’m pretty sure I’m not any more paranoid then the next guy, you know, the one over there who’s been following my every move for the last hour. So I’m sure I just imagined all those times that the customer dropped that $10.00 bill behind the dryer or that folded up piece of cardboard really [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Hollow Mansions On 39th part two

The Hollow Mansions On 39th part two

As with any mega pest control company the service contract was monthly for a year whether you needed it or not. In this time I came to know Dr. Muriez a little better but there was always a line I could not cross. She looked forward to my visits and was always ready with another [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Hollow Mansions On 39th

The Hollow Mansions On 39th

Pulling into the brick driveway so beautifully outlined with mature green hedges and flowers at their feet it’s hard to imagine that just seconds ago I was on one of the busiest streets in Baltimore. I’m sure the builder didn’t envision this stately structure would have much more traffic than the occasional chauffeur driven Rolls [...]

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